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Post by circumspice on Aug 31, 2012 5:30:29 GMT -5
Serendipity rules! Four years or so ago, as part of a gift package for my sweetheart (a cat codependant), I went to the offices of the monthly publication in which I advertise, to mine their back-issue rack for covers featuring cats (they print very arty covers). She recently got around to doing a project with them, and asked that I get some more, if possible, as she was short 5 for what she was making. So I went by the offices yesterday to find them clearing out to re-locate; another day and all the back-issues would have been recycled; they had exactly 5 that she didn't have copies of. Further, they had lots of industrial metal shelving units (2'x4'6"), which they were disassembling to discard. I almost felt guilty, they were so happy I was willing to haul them off (two heavy loads in my poor, overworked Nissan p'up). Moreover, they needed to dump an old metal 4-drawer filing cabinet; guess who has a "new" rodent-proof seed cabinet. Oh, damn! I just realized I now have room to triple my seed holdings. If I take that much out from under the mattress, it's bound to sag. Oh, well; I do; why shouldn't it? Dang Steev! You are sooo lucky to be in the right place, at the right time! But being prepared to take advantage of the windfall is probably more valuable than the luck aspect. Cheers!
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Post by logrus9 on Dec 30, 2012 7:54:03 GMT -5
A lot of great ideas here. I plan on using gutter sections for my lettuces and other greens. They should be deep enough for the roots and when seeded down the center, will allow me to water easily without much splashing.
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Post by steev on Jan 3, 2013 0:32:49 GMT -5
Yes; I am definately going to investigate the possibilities of starting seeds in gutters, then transplanting out the whole row into a furrow, this year.
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Post by steev on Feb 14, 2013 21:04:50 GMT -5
By my favorite produce market, there is a VERY upscale nursery, far too spendy for any normal need of mine, however, they commonly put out pots at the back gate, free to good homes. I often go to high-grade the pile for sizes of use to me; today there was an old Mantis, very lightly used, to my eye. I suspect it had been owned by a little old lady who only used it on Sundays and left it in the garage the past twenty years. It sure hadn't been worked to death by someone like Holly, who would probably have used it to excavate a root cellar, working its little tines to the bone. In any event, I figured at worst I'd scored a spare set of tines (rusty, but barely worn). Getting it home, it turns over when pulled, so I'll give it some oil and gas and I may have a second Mantis! Only downside is that it's a two-cycle, so another gas can to keep fresh; nothing screws up these small engines faster than old gas, grouse, grump; damned gift horses are so rarely Derby-ready.
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Post by MikeH on Feb 15, 2013 5:47:56 GMT -5
nothing screws up these small engines faster than old gas And ethanol. Carburetors and corn don't mix. I now run only premium through all my gas powered tools. Saves a ton on carburetor rebuilds or replacements.
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Post by nicky on Feb 15, 2013 9:21:42 GMT -5
Just reading this thread for the 1st time (so this post belongs on the last page about pallets!) & thought I would post a pic of my husband's chicken coop. It is made of pallets (skids) that he gets from work, pounds apart, pulls out the nails & reuses. The roof is shingles that we got for 10$ from Kijiji. The window is 2 pieces of plexiglass that were hanging around in the garage for years. Flower decor from the dollar store & dinner bell bought in a junk shop years ago! The only expense was the chicken wire. The side of the coop swings down for cleaning access and the back has jutted out nesting boxes with opening tops to collect eggs, although in the winter we insulate the nesting boxes from the outside, so we have to lean in through the side to collect the eggs. We also use chopped pallets for the woodstove in the winter. I love free!
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Post by ottawagardener on Feb 15, 2013 9:54:34 GMT -5
Seriously cute chicken house.
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Post by circumspice on Feb 15, 2013 10:37:04 GMT -5
I bet your girls love their house! It's freakin' awesome! :-)
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Post by steev on Feb 15, 2013 11:35:55 GMT -5
Good work!
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Post by nicky on Feb 15, 2013 11:59:06 GMT -5
He's a handy fella - my participation was "hold this honey!" and kijiji supply hunting! The chickens seem pretty happy in their home. It is a bit nicer than our own house. We have no wrap around porch or gable window! We are more pet owners that livestock owners. The ladies are also allowed to retire when they are done with their egg laying days. I joke that eventually that corner of of property will have a dozen houses with a miniature cobblestone road. Hmm.... at least - I think that I joke. We are up to 2 houses at the moment! ;D I'll work on the cobblestone this summer.
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Post by wolfcub on Feb 15, 2013 13:28:45 GMT -5
What a wonderful home you have provided for you lucky ladies.
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Post by hotwired on Feb 16, 2013 10:08:23 GMT -5
Saturday I tacked up about 150 feet of it and drilled holes in it, this will provide me room for several hundred of my alpine strawberries. In the winter they will freeze out, but since they self seed so easily and since I save a lot of seed from them that won't be a problem. I would think that it would be difficult controlling Ph in gutters. I try to maintain my plants at 5.0 to 5.2 using Jack's Classic Acid Special plant food. A couple of points too high on Ph, and Everbearing become Neverbearing. I used to start seeds in jiffy coir pucks, and if they didn't germinate I'd toss them in a bag in the corner of my garden shed. I was pruning out my strawberry runners one day (I have 3500 plants), and had a brainstorm. I used the expanded jiffy pucks for planting runners. Here's a PDF with more detail. I use them to get the runners to root enough to survive after being cut off the parent plant. This would really work well for your gutter planters, just letting them hang over the side. The dangers of letting your strawberries self seed, is that too dense of plantings means lower production. It is better to control the repopulation of plants. Junebearing have a 7 year life and a 5-6 year peak production, while Everbearing have a 3-year life and two year peak, with DayNeutral having a two year life and require replacement every year. I now grow my strawberries in raised beds, primarily because we have a huge slug problem around here. It didn't help, so I dug around in my junk shed and found a few lengths of drip edge. It made the perfect slug barrier. The slugs climb up the sides and can't maneuver over the edge because they lose suction. I had to buy more but at $0.30 per foot it was a bargain compared to what I was loosing in marketable strawberries. I was spending tons of money on bowls of stale beer to drown them before coming up with the drip edge idea. I think the beer companies bussed them in at night. Remember that the drip edge won't help if the slugs are already in the raised bed - lol. Here's more details. Hotwired NY 5b www.hotwiredgardens.com/pdfs.html
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Post by 12540dumont on Feb 16, 2013 13:44:27 GMT -5
I wish I was an engineer. Seriously cool idea about the drip edge.
Steev, you will be happy to hear that the parts for the BCS finally came from Italy, and she's back in the garden running, so the mantoid can sit and grumble in the barn.
New tines! New Carb! New shift lever! Ohhh she's a thing of beauty. The guys at Gardenland in San Jose are glad that they returned her to me. I've only called everyday to see if she was done! Off to bean land!
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Post by hotwired on Feb 16, 2013 14:23:46 GMT -5
the parts for the BCS finally came from Italy, and she's back in the garden running, so the mantoid can sit and grumble in the barn. New tines! New Carb! New shift lever! Ohhh she's a thing of beauty. Must be nice. I had to build my tiller. Got my parts from a scrap yard. Finally found a hydraulic lift off an old 140hp Merc Inline-6 Outboard motor. Gonna finish installing it next weekend. Sure going to be better than the winch lift I've been using. My friend has a BCS Brush Hog and it is built like a tank. I think DR used BCS as a model for designing some of their equipment.
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Post by steev on Jan 16, 2014 14:42:07 GMT -5
Checking the "free" list on craigslist, I found a fire-extinguisher company offering the monoammonium phosphate that they discard when re-charging tanks. Not strictly kosher for organic, but the price is right and it will provide the N to speed breakdown of the copious supply of brown waste that I have. They fill 5-gallon buckets, which I can return to them, so it's a win-win. It will hold me until I can find a free source of poultry-poo in quantity.
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