Find…

DIY pond raft

Pickle Raft Crushed, Rebuilt and Refloated

Published October 11, 2020

Crunch! Last winter a tree crushed our beloved Pickle Raft. This week, we rebuilt it. Here’s a quick (30-sec) video of how that went followed by some pics.

Introducing the Pickle Raft

A few years ago, my wife Julia and I assembled what looked like a patio on top of a bunch of plastic barrels and pushed it in to our pond.

We christened it the Pickle Raft and life was good.

Bernie Harberts building the Pickle Raft from plastic barrels and reclaimed lumber
Building the raft. We scored the barrels on… Continue reading →
Posted in Around the Homestead, Built and Grown by Hand, Travel by Sail | 3 Comments

How I Built the Pickle Barrel Raft (Budget, Materials and Photos)

Published May 15, 2017
Dolphins off the bow contrasted with pickle barrels lashed under a deck at the Harberts farm pond
Some voyages include dolphins off the bow (Falkland Islands, Southern Ocean). Others entail pickle barrels lashed up under a deck (western North Carolina). Both are fine ways to sally forth.

Some days, a man dreams of sailing away in a schooner, dolphins dodging the striker stay. Others he’s content with a pond and a pickle barrel. It’s okay to take a break from pursuing something big to take a shot at something a bit, well, tangential.

Thing is, there’s an… Continue reading →

Posted in Around the Homestead, Built and Grown by Hand, Splinters | 3 Comments
General Store Too Proud to Ride a Cow

Designed by Christian Harberts.