Umbrellas and Compost

I've started my third stack of tires for my composting. This third stack actually has real household trash in it. The other two are just straw and dirt. I planted 9 pea seeds in the top of each of the full ones. According to the label, they won't produce peas once the temp goes above 75F on a regular basis. Our temps went from freezing to the upper 80s inside 3 or 4 weeks. That means I should see no pea pods from these plants. Pea plants, however, are nitrogen fixers. That means they enrich the soil regardless of whether it produces pods or not. That enrichment of the dirt is primarily what I'm after, so pea pods are optional.

I sat down and worked out a typical roof truss construction for my house roof. There are several ways to do it, buy I've decided to go with the Japanese Umbrella look. At the peak, the rafters will be every 2 inches at the peak and every 24 inches out by the eve. There will be about 80 of these.

I worked up a model for an 8 foot peak and a 10 foot peak. Considering my observations of roofs around here, I think I will go with the steeper 10 foot peak, as steeper roofs tend to survive long enough to qualify as old.