The Secret of Farmhouse Life

THE SECRET OF FARMHOUSE LIFE
by Kevin Wilbeck
June 2010

The property on which our "Farmhouse Life" sits was a former working farm with lots of standard farm outbuildings. Inside those buildings was lots of "stuff." No, I did not say "junk." In my mind, the place housed decades of "resources" that any working farm produces.

At a very early age, my great-grandpa, "Pa" Halleen, introduced me to the concept of technologibus converticus. What?? This is just a fancy way to say converting junk that used to serve one purpose into an object that serves a new purpose. Pa Halleen was well known for his ability to dive into his chicken coups full of junk and emerge with a shiny new assembly that didn't cost him one red cent to build. I guess it struck a chord with me, because I love to dream up new functions for old "stuff."

So, the secret behind Farmhouse Life is that it is really just a very large recycling project. The back part of the Shelter House was an old boar shed. The galvanized tin roofs on the Camp Coyote buildings are from old hog shelters. The tent platforms are built from dismantled shacks and wooden grain bins. Fence posts were used to make the horseshoe backstops. Curved beams from a friend's windblown barn were used to make the roof of the information kiosk. And, if you've seen The Pool Bin, well, you know that bin wasn't originally built for a pool!

So, our accommodations were built on the basis of using as much existing material as possible. Call it a theme of sustainability. I know Pa Halleen would approve. They didn't call it recycling back in those days. It would have been called "farming on a budget" or "backyard engineering." Nothin' wrong with that!

Camp Coyote's information kiosk made from recycled fence posts, old tin and curved beams from a friend's windblown barn.