The Red Barn Project Begins!

So today I decided to start jumping in on my 'redo' of the red barn.  I've had the idea of building a new chicken coop in the SE corner of the barn where there is a platform area from the previous corn crib storage area that was once there.  Currently the area the chicken coop is in now is an old mini-horse stall.  I made higher sides so we could enclose the top with chicken wire to keep barn cats and actual predators out.  The barn cats used to get in and sleep in the nesting boxes, guess they are warm.  Altho there is nothing 'wrong' with the current chicken coop its just makes the space in the barn a bit awkward.  You have a small area north of it where we have some firewood drying and the old mower and carts stored, then you have a small walkway between the platform and the coop and south of the coop I had most of my garden equipment/supplies.   So by building a new one off to the side it will open up the entire barn.  Right now I have some equipment stored in the big barn, some in the red barn - so it will be nice to just have everything in the one barn, and can be pulled in and out of either north or south doors.

General Plan

So today I started by clearing out the area where the new coop will go, and then pulling up the HEAVY rubber floor mats from my garden area (which also used to be a stall).  Those things have to weigh 100lbs... what a workout!  When I originally took out that stall I left the back wall and made a little garden work bench - well the rubber mats were sitting underneath the legs of my workbench so just decided to rip out the bench as well as the entire back wall.  These are 2x8" of rough saw oak lumber - HEAVY as well.  With the help of my handy-dandy sawzall I was able to cut right thru the nails attaching them to the posts and then out to the garden they went.  Was able to get enough boards just from that for about 4 sides.  Still have 8 more sides to get lumber for - but I have a feeling after I get the the old coop torn down that will be close to the amount I'll need and no need to buy anymore. 

Here are some photos of the red barn as it stands after the work done today.  Its a mess, I'm almost ashamed to post it but its just one big storage area right now and I have to keep moving things around as I work in different areas.

Where my garden workbench used to be.  All but the bottom
board removed, its down in the ground which is frozen, so will
have to wait till I can dig out the ground to remove it.

The mess that is my gardening supplies as of now.

The current chicken coop (plastic to help keep wind out in winter - they still have lots of holes for ventilation tho.

Area that will be chicken coop - rubber mats on floor.
Will have to add to walls (plywood & insulation) on left side. 
I will be building framing on the right side - this will be covered in wire fencing
for summer and then in winter will screw on plywood boards to close it up.

The narrow walking gap between platform and current coop.

North side of coop - equipment and firewood mostly.   All the wood boards
for the walls will be used in garden when taken down. Will be
so nice have this entire area opened up after its all done!
On the left side you can see a white door - this was our old door that was
replaced on our back porch - hoping the 'recycle' it in this project for the man door into the coop.

Some of the oak boards removed from garden bench area.

on sad note - behind the wall of the garden bench I found this on the ground.
We believe it used to be a cat.  =(   

Also started on my mini hoop house today. 

 You can also see the load of  cardboard I added to the one path.  This will help keep the weeds under control as well as keeping the mud off my shoes since the paths are lower and tend to stay muddier/water logged a lot longer.  I will also be adding newspaper on top of that and then a thin layer of straw to make it look a bit nicer.  The worms usually love the area under all the pathway mulch. 

I had the piping from when I tried to make a wooden structure for the hoops last year.  This year I've added 2' rebar into the ground, leaving a few inches above ground to connect the pipe onto.  There will be 8 hoops in total - putting them 2' apart (using one of the rebar as a spacer).  Mo bought me clips for Christmas that I just put the poly on the hoops and then the clips hold it in place and can be easily removed to get into the hoop house to work.  I plan to put the poly on soon so it can act as a greenhouse to warm up the soil - then start some greens in early March.  I will probably attach a 1x1" board to the top of the hoops to keep them from leaning one way or the other.

The rebar I used (3/8" x 24"), and one of the hoops attached to the rebar in ground.