sprout farm

im constantly revisiting the idea of.lowering our commercial feed dependancy for the critters. i dont know how i missed sprouting. ive read about chicken gardens and goat gardens.....but not until today did u run across sprouting!

i found several rather attractive shelving ideas for inside the house. and some more utilitarian ideas that can go in the rv. (we have a 36 ft long 5fh wheel with LOTS of windows).  here are some random picks i found online for inspiration. i will be off to the dollar store tomorrow to buy my trays.

new garden plot

Today i staked out the new garden plot. its small, only 180sf. Its intended purpose is to grow pumpkins , potatoes and a hanging garden so it will be big enough for now.
This garden is located on the south side of our home so it gets plenty of sun. Theres a huge palo verde tree in front of it so that will work as a wind break from that direction.

the end of the garden has a pergola type thing that the dog kennel is under. the sides  are just perfect for hanging upside down growing peppers and tomatoes. The tops of the upside down garsen pails will have carrots beats and radishes.

the pumpkins will be planted in the mulch basin that our greywater is filtered through.

if this garden is a success all we have to do is buy three more steel posts amd push the boarder of the garden out farther.

Here in the high desert gardens have to be shielded from extreme heat and high winds so a huge sprawling garden isnt very practical.

i know it aint pretty righ now but it will be!

hatching chicks

after checking on my broody campbell i noticed a freshly hatched deceased chick. i assume it got too cold at night or perhaps the duck rejected the baby chicken. i decided to bring the remaining eggs inside to the bator.

oddly enough NONE of the duck eggs were viable. my rare moment broody campbell was sitting on chickens!

One chick is almost out and number two is on its way. im not sure of number three. i didnt candle it because i couldnt find my flashlight and now i dont want to open the bator and screw with the humidity and temps. hopefully everyone will be out and fine within the next 48hours.

i guess i will be setting up my brooder today.

free chicken.....coop???

the day before yesterday i drew out a simple cheap EASY chicken coop. this morning the family and i were planning on going to The Orange Store to buy the supplies and pick up some cull lumber to finish the potato towers.

as i was out fiddling around a neighbor offered me basically a bunch of junk. i of course jumped at the chance.

i got two older sheets of plywood that had originally been part of a shed and therefore were already cut for a sloping roof. i also got several sheets of corrugated steel in different lengths and some two by fours.

This altered my orange store shopping list. this pile of garbage had officially become a challenge.

i set out to build my new coop. baaaaaaaad idea.
the wind was blowing everything around. when youre working with sheet metal that can be dangerous.

the space i had set up for the coop was smaller than what items were givin to me. i decided to work on something else instead of letting my frustrations get me down.

since my chickens never use their run ( they spend more time in the goat loafing area) i decided they didnt need it. i shortened it by about twenty feet , folding the flimsy field fencing over on itself to double up the strength for protection against the goats. thwy still have a spacw thats about 80sf (5 ducks and 8 chickens) in addition to the coop.  i know it doesnt sound like much but the loafing area they share is about 1800sf so everyone is happy.

i didnt get a roof on the coop. a tarp will have to do for now. i smashed my thumb pretty good with an iron mallet. youch!!

i figured it was time to go inside. i will work o  somethi ng less painful. seriously i should take some pictures of the monstrosity that will hopefully become a functioning coop! but for now im soaking in a bath licking my wounds....

seed starters

a friend of mine has these cool seed starters. they are sort of obelisk shaped , hinged on the bottom, and they snap together at the sides.

when the plant is ready to be transplanted you just open the plastic thingy and remove the plant with very little disturbance to the roots! they really are quite ingenious.

well i really an quite cheap so i set out to creat my own version. here is what i came up with using a yogurt container and some acrylic yarn. xant wait to see if it actually works!

my new old school wringer.

i bought an antique laundry mangle this weekend. the washer broke a couple weeks ago and ive been doing laundry in the tub....which was back breaking because we have a very high tub.

anyway- i priced new wringers and they were about 100 bucks more than i wanted to spend! i bought an antique on sale for 50. it has all of it parts and is in great condition.

Next i had to build a stand to support the water buckets and the wringer. this type of wringer was not made to clip to the side of a pail. this is what i came up with.

the design is loosely based on some of the antique folding stands i found online. mine does not fold. i used culled lumber and two more cabinet fronts given to me when she redid her kitchen. all of the pine is going to be painted barn red.