Turning old into new

[miss_thenorth]

Wow, you must have moved alot of dirt!!!!! Looks good!

 

[cknmom]

We just got several more telephone poles given to us and it looked as though we had an ongoing supplier. We were just told that CA. just passed a new law saying that Edison Co. MUST cut up all their used poles, put them in the dumster and take them to the LANDFILL!!! Can you imagin all the cresote leaching into the soil!! They say that since creoste is soo poisonous they can't give away or sell them to be used for other purposes. So they would rather poison our soil and waste money rather than recycle them. It upset me greatly. Since we had a good future source, we were talking about using them to put up a fence in front of the ranch for dust and wind controll, now that's out.

Monica

 

[cknmom]

Yes DH did! He made our new tractor pay for itself in about 2 months. If we hadn't had the tractor this would have taken him at least 1-2 yrs, as he has a bad back.

I can't wait until he finishes the other side. We were also going to put in a cactus garden but I just lost several cacti to an early frost, so I don't think it would work unless they all were in pots so I could move them in the winter.

Monica

 

[tfpets]

Yes DH did! He made our new tractor pay for itself in about 2 months. If we hadn't had the tractor this would have taken him at least 1-2 yrs, as he has a bad back.

I can't wait until he finishes the other side. We were also going to put in a cactus garden but I just lost several cacti to an early frost, so I don't think it would work unless they all were in pots so I could move them in the winter.

Monica

Your place is really neat! We have a similar slope at our place.
You have put those poles to great use too!
Our family needs to put our new tractor to such good use. Right now its anchoring one of our chicken kennel/coops. The coop got blown over in a gust of wind, and we havent had a chance to fix the problem yet, so the tractor is holding it down!

Cactus are a desert plant and can survive in the snow, so were yours really young or a tender variety? Mine have weathered the snow fine - they're that paddle looking kind - and we're at 1500 ft elevation...Very hardy!

Your dogs are sure having fun! Nice pics!
Tina/tfpets

 

[enjoy the ride]

Cknmom- I guess I need to join the line admiring your and your husband's work. That was really nicely done.
Isn't California an amazing state? Where I live, it's about 60-70 inches of rain from November through May- wet wet wet. No rain barrels here either because they would be over flowing for half the year then empty the other half.

 

[cknmom]

My neighbor uses their tractor to hold up their horse stall when it gets blown.

The latest ones were transplants from my stepmom, they hadn't took hold completley yet. My other ones that I lost last year wasn't from the snow, DH backed into one with the car trailer and bent it, then when I broke my ankle it was too much trouble for anyone to water them for me, so after 1 yr with no water but the rain and snow, they keeled over. We are at 5800ft.

thanks for the compliments, I wish I had done more than hold poles for DH to read the transit for grading. He says my job is to just stand there and look pretty!
Monica

 

[xineohpoel]

When I wore out my old floormats for the car I cut the good parts up and use them as nestbox liners for my hens. My big Jersey Giants always dig a hole in the middle of the box and drop their eggs on the wood and break them. This stops that and I can hose them off if they get dirty and hang on the fence to dry.

 

[miss_thenorth]

When I wore out my old floormats for the car I cut the good parts up and use them as nestbox liners for my hens. My big Jersey Giants always dig a hole in the middle of the box and drop their eggs on the wood and break them. This stops that and I can hose them off if they get dirty and hang on the fence to dry.

for the same reason--I line my nest boxes with pieces of cardboard. I bring my gorceries home in boxes--I just rip off the tabs and put them in the nest boxes--toss out when dirty

 

[xineohpoel]

I'm going to pick up a large aluminum/tin frame that was a 2 yr old greenhouse at our feedstore. The wind tore it down and twisted a few parts. Should make good roofing and frame for my chicken coops/runs. Might get some meat birds to keep in this.

What is leftover will be sold for scrap.


Cardboard is a good idea for nestbox liners. I shred my cardboard up though and use for litter.

Coroplast (plastic cardboard) advertising and campaign signs I use inside the coop for interior walls with insulation. Just ask a convenience store if they'll save their old adverts for you. Also cleanup after campaigns is awesome! Coroplast is coveted too with some model airplane peeps because they make wings etc from it. Can be painted and hosed off.


I built little storage areas into the roofs of my smaller coops and use The large plastic kitty litter containers. One to hold water and one feed. Sometimes seed if the wild birdfeed I can find on sale (treats).

 

[big brown horse]

Yesterday I had dinner with a friend and she showed me what her husband (a big time collector) did with an old large satelite dish. He took off the metal screen "skin" leaving just the skeleton. He then flipped it over and attached it to a long pole like an umbrella. The umbrella contraption was placed along the trunk of their young cherry tree. (You see where I'm going here?) Then he draped it with that bird proof mesh all the way down to the ground to keep the birds out. She said this was the first year she could enjoy her cherries.

He told me that he got the idea from a friend who turned his old satelite dish into a gazebo. You would not have even noticed there was a satelite dish in the design because it was covered with grape vines.

I read here on this thread that someone else used a satelite dish to shade their picnic table. All great ideas!!!