We are SO glad you’re here! We know a lot of you have wondered who or what is TFTWood - why are they always having so much fun - and what are they working on lately? Well grab a cup of coffee and get comfy because we’re going to give you the inside scoop on all of the above. Plus, if you love good old fashioned hard work and real talk about running a full time small biz while raising four kiddos you’ll feel right at home here. We’re giving you a front row seat as we transition to full time woodworking homesteaders. Welcome to TFTWood, it’s about to get REAL!
Who or What is TFTWood
Y’all that is a great question! For years we have wanted to create a space where we could share our story with you. But to understand who and what we are we have to first tell you where we began…and that my friends takes us back about 20 years! While it seems like yesterday, we met in a drafting class in high school and have been attached at the hip ever since. Luckily for us, Zach’s father is a handy fella. From general carpentry to plumbing his father has always worked with his hands and his work ethic has been ingrained in Zach’s blood from birth. Tricia on the other hand grew up running the books for her parent’s motorcycle shop. Between the two of us we knew we had the basics of what it took to start a business from scratch. That’s when TFTWood was born! TFTWood is actually an acronym for The Family Tree Woodworking. It’s been a dream of ours for a solid 20 years now to raise a family of 4 kiddos, build a home out in the country and to spend quality time together doing every step of that together. TFTWood has been an incredible blessing to us and our family and we are so pumped to share it! It’s messy, it’s loud and it’s amazing y’all.
Zach & Tricia at a show in Albuquerque, NM.
Why are they always having so much fun?
Guys…real talk here for a moment…have you ever found a person that just gets you? From your humor to your views on religion, child rearing, life in general…that is seriously what it’s like to run a business with your partner. We can find the humor in any situation, one of us can dream up an epic design while the other can execute it, and one of us is always balancing the other out! Honestly, most times it hardly seems like work at all!
What are y’all working on lately?
This question is a tricky one. As you may know, we currently retail our kitchen gadgets, accessories and gifts line on our website and wholesale throughout the U.S. (more on that here). But what you may not know is that we take one 1-3 custom builds per year of epic proportions (more on that here). We find so much joy in being able to bring custom builds to fruition for our phenomenal clients. In fact, the bigger dream here is to eventually open a woodshop/gallery up in Montana when we relocate! How cool would it be to be able to experience the process of a custom build, in person, by the artisan who is handcrafting that piece? Pretty stinkin’ cool if you ask us!
REAL Talk:
Here’s the important stuff y’all! We are obviously new to this blogging world but we intend to update monthly! We will show you custom builds and plans for items that have been handcrafted by Zach as well as update you on the relocation process as it unfolds for us. In the meantime, you can Subscribe to our YouTube channel which will give you a more in depth look at those custom builds, our favorite tools in the shop, and any substantial updates at TFTWood! You can also hop over to Facebook or Instagram for an exclusive up to date look into our wood shop.
Leave us a comment below if there’s a build you want to see us tackle, content you want to see us focus on or just want to say “hi friends”! We are so happy to have you along for our journey because it’s about to get real!
Exclusive Preview:
Homesteading Hacks - The Raised Garden Bed
For the last 18+ years we have traveled the globe. We’ve lived in 7 states, 2 countries, and 14 different homes. That’s a lot of moving y’all, a LOT! What we have learned is that when our active duty time comes to an end, we want to be somewhere in the country. To wake up and not hear the blaring horns of traffic, to rise and be greeted with the sweet sounds of farm animals and fresh eggs. To truly live off the land - it’s idyllic isn’t it? Truthfully, we are counting down the days until we can break ground on that journey. Until that time arrives, we figured the best way to prepare is to test a few basic skills now. This will allow us to see what works and what’s an epic fail (while we have the safety of a paycheck lol). The first thing we decided to build for our homesteading adventure is a raised garden bed.
Homesteading Hack #1 - The Raised Garden Bed
Why a raised garden bed? Honestly the answer to this is two-fold. Primarily, and selfishly, a raised garden bed is convenient. It allows our plants to grow and saves a ton of back pain when tending, trimming, and harvesting. The other reason is quite frankly the more important of the two. This bed is self wicking y’all! So what does that even mean? Let us tell ya…Picture a regular garden bed, are you picturing it?? Ok, so now imagine that below the soil there is a “built in reservoir” that will water your soil - fro the bottom up! Seriously, how neat is that? Contrary to the way you’d typically think to water your garden bed right? So when the reservoir disburses the water under the soil it essentially eliminates the need for a water can and frequent trips to the garden for watering. After using the integrated watering system you’ll find that the frequency as well as the amount of watering required is significantly lower than the traditional way we’ve been doing it for years. It’s mind boggling y’all! And for folks who are looking to eliminate work this is an epic solution.
Ok, so how do I even build this thing?
Grab a pen and paper, or just bookmark this page because we’re going to tell you what materials you’ll need and how to build this efficient raised garden bed!
What about that discount you promised in your email? Here it is! Just enter Thankyou324 for an exclusive 20% off all in stock purchases valid through March 31, 2020! Thank YOU for supporting our small business. We appreciate each and every one of y’all!