Monday, August 25, 2014

Water Harvesting Project, prototype one

One of the ongoing sustainability concerns for farming in the desert is water. This is a big issue, actually, with many large scale commercial farming practices using older methods of irrigation which often cannot be viable in the long term with the ever increasing number of people using the limited water supply.

Drought is commonplace, and extreme drought has brought frightening pictures and a concern for the future.  Some states have outlawed water harvesting in the hopes of recharging dwindling supplies in underground aquifers. 

I really feel that we can appropriately harvest water while recharging aquifers and responsibly reducing consumption, though it does require all of  to work together and not waste. 

We have put lots of research into making a water harvesting system for our veggies,  and as we get better, we will also apply this to our sprouting system within the livestock pens, which should also help with flooding concerns in the rainy season. 

This is our first prototype.  We began with a blue barrel. Even though it was considered food safe,  I soaked it three time with water and an ACE (apple cider vinegar) and water dilution before beginning. 




While my husband recommended a larger saw, I have issues with my hands,  and went for the smaller one! I used twine to set my line for cutting around the top. Despite the two holes already there, I know that I will need access to scrub the barrel out between seasons, as well as access for working on the bulkhead attachments.



Then I got to play with power tools. Off came the top of the barrel. That part was easy!


I had several of these blocks laying around- actually like five of them, so not enough for too much, but enough for this spot. I started off with two blocks- a single thickness, then added the additional since the overflow barrel is supposed to be a bit lower, and because I wanted plenty of clearance around the house bib.


Then it was time for MORE CLEANING. High power with the hose, then three more rounds with ACV, alternated with the hose. ACV is also great for keeping the algae down and the bugs away, so I put a little more in before I reassembled the while thing, too.


I just put the ACV straight in a spray bottle lots of uses for that!


Then I needed something to keep the top of the barrel on, so I improvised a little. I had some wooden dowels left over from another project, so I used roofing screws from yet another project to attached them to the outside. Note for future reference on this one- I put one of them right near a seam, and it is a little close to the lid top seam in that spot, so I have to be really careful putting the lid back on.


Here it is with the lid on, at the corner of the house. That is a pomegranate tree right behind, and there are several other plants along that edge of the porch.



I knew I neened a hole saw for the bulkhead that the hose bib would screw into. What I had was designed for wood. Rather than go crazy and buy another, I tried a test hole in the top first. It came out fine, so it was time to put the bulkhead hole in!


Fortunately, that was pretty easy. The sizes I had for hole saw bits were pretty close, and the first one I drilled was not quite big enough for the threads, so I ended up needing a second go round. That's okay, though, it worked.


The bulkheads are easily found at your neighborhood hardware store. Funny thing, these actually thread left handed. That was weird, but it went in easily, with a gasket to provide the seal from leaks on each side.


The outside was just as easy, too.


Then, with plumber's tape around the threads of the hose bib, it went in easily itself.  We chose for it to angle down and away fro the porch to make the hose work easier for me.


Then I needed something in the top to let water in and keep gunk out. That started with a hole around the area where the test hole had gone.


Things were starting to look almost functional by this point!


Here is the close up of the fancy-dancy hose bib and bulkhead work.


Okay, so at that popoint I took a break to actually get dinner on the table, and then came back to work on the screening. I decided to go a little crazy with the caulking. And to keep the mesh down, I went high tech with a plant from the porch.


Pretty fancy, huh?


In the end, that didn't stay very flat, so I may screw it down with washers. We will have to see on that one!


Well, here is the prototype. As I type this, a storm is threatening, so I am REALLY hoping to get to see how it works tonight! On that note, here is to reducing waste and reusing where we can, and farming sustain-ably!


What projects have you tried? We would love for you to share all you have learned so we can all learn together! Have a great night.




Monday, August 18, 2014

Last Tuesday's Big Storm

These are pictures and videos captured after the monsoon storm on 12 August 2014.
This is the driveway to go around back to the livestock. Yes, Running water higher than my ankles.
The chicken barn flooded as well.

My truck with ramps in front of it, it is just in our front yard.
Our neighbors across the street got some rain, the horses sure didn't seem to thrilled.
The main road running next to the house, flooded.
The farm truck was parked., right outside the gate.
Shine, the pygmy goat, in a flooded shelter. First time he'd ever seen a flood.
Again the driveway back to the livestock.
This was taken standing near the entrance to our little neighborhood. Yes, the whole thing is flooded.
And, last, but certainly important, the main road flooded and people drive anyway.


Tuesday, August 12, 2014

"White" Wicker Chair Project

I don't know about your house, but at our house, there is just never enough seating in the living room! I have long had a desire for a fun little wicker chair, though had no desire to spend much money on one since we have so many animals and animals don't tend to be good to the wicker. 

Nevertheless, when I found a black wicker chair for free on Craigslist, the wheels were turning. When I realized that I would be right down the street from where the free chair was located the following day, I couldn't resist!


Black, however, isn't really my thing. And while brown would likely have matched the living room better, there is just something in me about wicker being white to look its best. So out came the spray paint. I should have gotten a photo of the original color, but here is my project anyway =)... already in progress...


Slowly but surely moving toward its new look, and showing off the weeds by the back retaining wall at the same time!


You can see more of the original color as I was working underneath.


Overall, the project took a few days and a little over two cans of paint.


Here it is, coming along...


starting to look as though it was meant to be white all along...


And here it is with the cushion I bought for less than $10 at a thrift store and worked to make sure was clean before putting it on the chair. 


Our living room has lots of green with lots of animals- mostly elk and deer, and the like, but puppies fit in beautifully!


It took a bit for it to settle in, but my new chair that I thought would have no competition for me has also become a favorite of Wyatt!


All in all, I am pretty happy with the way my new twenty some dollar chair came out. What do you think?

Monday, August 11, 2014

Saturday Night Excitement- a Rattlesnake

Every family has different excitement in their lives. We are in that harried time as we get ready for the coming school semester, hunting season, etcetera.  I am often known for saying that my life is boring, that I just have too many chores to be that interesting, but then other things come along, like this visitor from Saturday night...


We treat the beneficial things around here like pets, so to speak. So with two non-venomous snakes considering our property home, we are careful to collect the eggs on schedule and watch what we are up to. We reason that they help with neighborhood rodents, but also with keeping rattlesnakes at bay.

Saturday night, I was working on dinner, and Bailey was working outside in the goat pen. Suddenly she came in, and brought me the dog, saying she thought there was a coiled rattler in the doe pen, and Shadow had alerted on it, not leaving it alone. (So much for that rattlesnake evasion training I paid for...)

Charlie was on the phone, so Wyatt went out to help her until Charlie could go help. I was appointed to keep Shadow from letting herself out to help and not burn dinner...

This was somewhere in the realm of four feet, and was not rattling, but was coiled to strike when Bailey pulled Shadow back and tried to look with her flashlight (the battery was dying, great timing, right/) Just a little Saturday night excitement and a reminder that boots are a requirement...

Monday, August 4, 2014

Colonial Boston Dinner- Well, Sort Of!

One of the home shooling thoughts for me was cooking our way through history. I let life get in the way, but Wyatt and I decided to go back and try it from Colonial times anyhow. So Saturday, we set out on our first adventure.

In the interest of getting through recipes which required hour hours of cooking before Charlie was ready to fall asleep, I let Wyatt use the mixer on the bread, which we began at 1:20 in the afternoon.


Wyatt made the Boston Brown Bread. He caught his sister glancing over, but not reading the history in the cookbook and called her out on it. I hadn't actually given her that instruction. Wyatt isn't exactly fond of raisins, so he wasn't too thrilled with making something that already had a strike against it! 


Also, we didn't have coffee cans to bake the bread in, so we used a metal loaf pan with really high sides in the water bath in the dutch oven.


Here is the roasting pan we used the way a dutch oven would be used, it was just a different shape to accommodate the pan...


Here it is with the pan in it.


 Here are the beans. The kids really tag teamed on this part. They boiled  the beans and bacon for over an hour and a half, before the other items were added and it was put it he oven. Good thing wood was plentiful during colonial times, as otherwise things would have taken a great deal of fuel!


The brown bread when it came out from cooking.


And once it was turned out on the plate.It is very dense, and you can easily taste the course grains. We all tried it, it seemed best with butter to offset the dense and dry nature of the bread.


And the Boston Baked Beans were also a hit.