We’ve had great weather. Either winter had been mild and kind, or spring came early. Regardless, it allowed us come out of hibernation and get a jump start on some spring cleaning and other projects. For now, everything is centered around our Morton.

We have this giant building full of stuff, and organization has been lacking. With a little help from my sister’s and brother-in-law’s generator, we had electricity at the property for the first time. We harnessed the power to create organized areas in a few zones of the building.

In this area, we wanted most of our tools at the ready. It’s right next to our walk door, which is the entrance we use the most, by far. I really let my OCD loose here, and we decided to use both slat wall panels and pegboard. In order to install both systems, we first built 2×4 frames and installed them between the building’s posts; that gave us traditional studs to which we could affix the panels.

We were able to use the same cabinets, workbenches, and accessories from our current garage, which saved us a lot of money in the end. Because our Morton building is exposed to wide ranges in temperature and humidity, we chose composite materials for our slat wall and pegboard.

The second area that desperately needed some organization was the southwest corner of our building, next to one of the overhead garage doors. There, we wanted a workshop and storage area for our chainsaws, brush saw, and brush mower.

Here, we opted for only slat wall because our tools and equipment in this area are fewer and larger than those we keep in the first zone. Same as before, we built 2×4 framing between our building’s posts and then installed the composite slat wall.

We still needed to get stuff off the building’s floor and organize further, so we started going vertical. In the area above zone two and extending further west, we installed lumber racks to the building’s posts. That gave us space to store the extra roof and siding panels from the construction of our building.

Remember that “work smarter, not harder” mantra I always preach?

I devised a plan and the rigging to safely raise and lower the big, heavy stuff to and from their storage locations using block and tackle pulley systems.

In the same spirit, we had a stack (or three) of salvaged barn wood—beams and siding—ranging from 13 to 16 feet in length that we also wanted to store up off the floor. For that, we installed additional lumber racks along the building’s east wall. We also reused homemade pipe hooks from our current house to store our massive windmill wheel off the floor until the new house gets built.

We still have more organization to do, but most of the other zones in our building are designated for long term storage and door restoration. We’re calling the inside-of-the-building projects good for now and moving our attention outside.

Speaking of…I mentioned a brush mower earlier; did you catch that? Here’s a sneak peek at our latest addition to the land-clearing arsenal.

For Christmas, we gifted ourselves the capability of more work. Instead of cutting, piling, and burning all the brush, we want to chop and mulch the brush in place. The next area of focus will be a section of land located between the main road and the future house site. But first, we have to remedy a problem along the west wall of our building.

**Update**

Within a few weeks of “calling it good,” we had to add another zone. Yes, the Caitlin Clark Effect hit our house too…