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Roy Creek Ranch

a Log Home in the Hill Country

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How to Add an Awesome Wood Stove for Winter Heat

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on November 8, 2023 by JimDecember 7, 2023
photo of the first fire in the woodstove

With 8 kilowatts of Solar panel to meet our power needs, it was time to think about winter heat. The solar power could be used to pump water, provide lighting, charge various devices and run small appliances, it just wasn’t going to be enough for heating — especially at night. We have a nearly endless source of deadfall live oak here at the ranch though, and a wood stove was the obvious answer.

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Posted in solar | Tagged build, castings, DIY, energy, fireplace, Georgetown, hearth, heat, hill country, homesteading, how to, howto, independence, intrepid, off-grid, patio, power, pump, solar, stove, Vermont, wood, woodburning, woodstove

A Break in the Texas Drought — Nature’s Resiliency

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on October 9, 2023 by JimOctober 9, 2023
photo of a Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) butterfly

It’s been a tough couple of years. The last two years have seen below-normal rainfall. While not unusual in the Hill Country, they have been remarkable for the depth and severity of the Texas drought. During the years ending September 2022 and 2023 we measured just 11.75 and 10.65 inches respectively. That compares with an average rainfall of between 30 and 35 inches.

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Posted in Gardening | Tagged glaucus, hill country, homesteading, howto, Leucophyllum frutescens, papilio, polyxenes, sage, swallowtail, Texas, texas hill country, tiger

Solar Power Eases A Bad Ice Storm

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on February 14, 2023 by JimFebruary 15, 2023
photo of 5 Kilowatt Solar Array with ice

Solar Power Update With several posts regarding the installation of solar power at Roy Creek Ranch, one might wonder whether or not it worked. Read on and learn about our experience in an emergency situation. The Solar Array is enlarged … Continue reading →

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Posted in solar | Tagged charge controller, controller, DIY, electric kettle, hill country, kilowatt, kilowatt-hours, kWh, off-grid, panel, solar, space heater, storage, tankless, toaster oven, update, water heater, wood stove

Discovering Square Foot Gardening

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on August 22, 2020 by Marilyn McCrayAugust 22, 2020
photo of My Square Foot Garden

I have been interested in gardening since I was a child and spent time with my great grandparents who were gardeners. The Square Foot Gardening method was developed in 1976 as a simple alternative to labor intensive and inefficient row gardening. Explore the possibilities . . .

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Posted in Gardening, Food, Projects | Tagged Belton, canning, DIY, fair, hill country, homesteading, how to, howto, ih, international harvester, lee Klancher, mel's mix, Mother Earth News, octane press, red power roundup, square foot gardening, Texas, texas hill country

How to Build an Inexpensive Storage Shed

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on July 29, 2020 by JimJuly 29, 2020
photo of The finished shed

I’ve been threatening to build a storage shed at the ranch for some time now. After going through everything in the shop and selling, discarding, or giving everything away I could, it was still too crowded to work effectively. I needed more space. A friend had recently mentioned a sale on small buildings at Costco — it was worth a look.

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Posted in Projects, Woodworking | Tagged build, building, DIY, hill country, home depot, how to, howto, shed, storage, Texas, wb0mmc

How to Mount a Solar Panel Array – Framing

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on February 5, 2020 by JimJuly 2, 2020
photo of a completed solar array

In a previous post, we selected a site, cleared trees and installed foundations. Now we were ready for framing. There were four 8-inch concrete piers defining the four corners of the array. The plan was to mount two 10-foot 4-by-4 … Continue reading →

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Posted in solar | Tagged build, DIY, headlok, hill country, homesteading, how to, off-grid, panel, renogy, solar, Strong-tie, Texas, wb0mmc

How to Mount A Solar Panel Array

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on December 10, 2019 by JimJuly 2, 2020
Photo of the Solar Panel Mount site with Piers

With the Solar Generator Project underway, it is time to mount the solar panel array. Last May, I purchased eight Renogy 270-watt solar panels similar to those in the Solar Rainwater Project. At 65 by 39-inches, and weighing 65 lbs., they require a substantial mounting system. In the Solar Rainwater System, I had the advantage of an existing building with a south-facing roof that could hold four panels.

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Posted in Projects, solar | Tagged build, concrete pier, DIY, foundation, hill country, how to, quikrete, renogy, solar, solar panel mount, solar power generator, wb0mmc

Farming Bluebonnets is Easy

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on November 6, 2019 by JimDecember 2, 2019
photo of Our backyard filled with Bluebonnets

For the last ten years, we’ve been farming bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) around the place. It started when I planted a few seeds and gradually, they’ve bloomed and spread. Because I’m impatient, I also helped them along by mowing the plants after they had gone to seed and spreading the clippings to other parts of the ranch.

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Posted in Gardening, Greenhouse, machinery, Rainwater | Tagged back to the earth, Bearcat, bluebonnet, bluebonnets, chipper, equipment, farming, ferguson, harvest, hill country, how to, howto, Lupinus texensis, Massey, model 65, Mother Earth News, saving seeds, scythe, shredder, snathe, Texas, texas hill country, wildflowers

Weber Piano Action Rebuild – New Hammers!

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on June 29, 2017 by JimAugust 27, 2017
photo of New hammers!

We got back from the Red Power Roundup and it was time to catch up on the Weber project. Bernard texted me (with pictures!) that the hammers had arrived from Renner, and I was eager to see them. I went to his shop a few days later.

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Posted in maker, Music, piano, Projects, repairs, Woodworking | Tagged action center, action rebuild, animal hide glue, back rail cloth, Bernerd, blanco, blanco texas, DIY, felt bushing, hammer rest, hammers and shanks, hill country, how to, key end felt, key pins, keyframe, Mollberg, piano, punchings, restoration, Texas, texas hill country, weber, weber grand piano, windex, wippens, woodworking

Solar Powered Rainwater Project – The Chinese Connection

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on June 26, 2017 by JimJuly 15, 2017
photo of The inverter box

It’s been a while since I reported on the Solar Powered Rainwater Project. Since that early-April post, I’ve been gathering the rest of the parts, and we took our annual trip to the Red Power Roundup — this year at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. The biggest part of the delay was waiting for the inverter/charge controller. I wasn’t thrilled with the delivery delay on the device, but it turned out well in the end.

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Posted in Central Texas, maker, Projects, Rainwater, solar | Tagged battery, build, charge, China, Chinese, controller, deep cycle, DIY, hill country, homesteading, how to, howto, Interstate, inverter, panel, rainwater, renogy, solar, Sun Gold Power, Texas, texas hill country

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