Saturday October 5, Underhill House will be part of the National Solar Tour — the world’s largest grassroots solar event. We are so thrilled to part of a coalition of over 5,500 home and business owners, volunteers, solar installers, public officials and grassroots organizations who conduct open house tours of […]
Doug and I have had several houses with shingle roofs and even lived in a house with a thatched roof in the Netherlands, but a living roof is a whole new beast. In fact, it seems a lot like having a pet. To learn more about our sodded roof, check […]
When Doug was hiking in Nepal years ago, he saw many examples of how the people in that steep land terrace the garden beds they depend on. We decided to do the same on our own slanty land. Fortunately, our rock wall builder still had a few more rocks that […]
There are many trees holding up our house that I remember with the same detail. Where they stood, why we selected them, working on finishing them, watching them come together into the timber frame of Underhill House. It’s easy to forget how much we rely on these amazing plants. The […]
One of the unexpected outcomes of building Underhill House was the bond that formed between our building crew members, and Doug and me. For some of the crew our project was the first time they’d worked together. This amazing team generated lasting friendships. Getting together this weekend to help Prairie […]
Doug and I have just returned from a week of visiting his mom in Seattle. Dorothy loves flowers, and when she lived in Wisconsin, we used to bring her bouquets from the Dane County Farmers Market throughout the growing season. I normally do not buy flowers through commercial outlets because […]
Want to make a significant difference in the world in a beautiful way? Plant native flowers! According to the Xercise Society, fruits and seeds derived from insect pollination are a major part of the diet of approximately 25 percent of all birds, and of mammals ranging from red-backed voles to […]
One of the biggies on our list of things to finish Underhill House this spring was seeding the roof. We got about 20 tons of screened, topsoil up there and planted see my post Planting Our Roof – A Prairie in the Sky https://digginginthedriftless.com/2013/05/21/planting-our-roof-a-prairie-in-the-sky/ about a month ago in mid-May. […]
It’s been a year since we framed up Underhill House. We spent the year before that selecting and preparing those timbers. Watching them come together and sketch the shape of our home against the sky was beyond thrillling. So here’s a photo replay of some of the most amazing days […]
Getting all the bare ground covered with growing things around Underhill House is a bit daunting. I’ve been spending my evenings with an ice pack against my back and Ibuprofen is my new best friend, but we are making progress. Our first step was to try transplanting a hedge of […]
Digging in the Driftless 