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Foundation Progress

In a recent post I mentioned I am redoing my house foundations.  The permit application process is nearly complete.  Stared items are still pending, but expected in the next few days.  The application consists of the following:

  • Architectural Drawing of the Houses
  • Asbestos Survey
  • Test for Ground Contamination*
  • Test for Ground Stability, where they send a probe some 20+ meters into the ground to look for the beginning of the stable ground layer.
  • Pile plan, where a technically oriented architect uses the building drawings together with the ground stability tests to determine how many of what type piles need to be placed, together with their pattern.
  • Archaeological study waver, where the city determines (hopefully) an archaeological study is not needed under my house before starting the construction.*

After the application, a building inspector will come and do an inspection.  This could be very superficial or very involved, I’m not sure yet.

So far no asbestos or toxic materials have been found yet, but not all the test results have been returned.

The new piles will be about 22cm in diameter and 21 meters deep!  The ceiling clearance on our ground floor is only about 2 meters, so they will have to drive them in segments.  They will be made by driving a hollow casing into the ground, filling it with concrete, then removing the casing (I think).  In total, 19 piles will be needed.

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Kitchen Garden in France

Here’s a new food growing blog, located in southern France:

Kitchen Garden in France

Ian: I tried to leave a comment for you today, but was unable because I am not a Blogger member, nor do I have an Open ID. You also don’t seem to have any other contact information on your blog. I would suggest changing your settings to allow everyone to leave comments on your blog, or there will be some people like me who don’t have any way to leave you a message.

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Food Growing Blogger Get-Together

Kate of Hills and Plains recently posted a suggestion of a get-together in Australia.  If anyone thinks they might be interested in participating in something like that, you should certainly have a look at her post.

If any readers find themselves in Europe and would like to meet me, and perhaps get some seeds or plants from me, please send me an email.  Certainly if you are visiting Amsterdam, we should try to get together.  Depending on the circumstances, I may travel within Europe as well, particularly to nearby countries like Belgium, Germany, France and the UK.

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First Harvest!

Spinach

A bowl of spinach is the first thing to come out of our new garden.  I planted it in the greenhouse about a month before the tomatoes, then planted the tomatoes in and amongst the spinach plants, and it seems to have worked pretty well so far.  It was really yummy!

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Awards: Nominations and Voting

This blog has been nominated as a finalist for the 2008 Best International Blog award over at the Mouse and Trowel website. Voting starts immediately, and if it works the same as last year, everyone is allowed one vote per day. It’s not clear how long the voting will last. Vote early and vote often!

In particular I want to thank everyone who made the effort to nominate me. It’s very gratifying to know that enough people appreciate this blog and took the time to nominate it as a finalist.

I’ve also been nominated for a Fork’n Monkey award, in the category Most Unusual Vegetable Based Blog (thanks Simon). Best of all the nominations are still open!

Since there’s bound to be some disappointment over the Mouse and Trowel nominations, here’s a chance to nominate and discuss the other great blogs out there too.