Of Mice and Various Snakes and new Duck Feed Station

As mentioned in the previous post, our region is experiencing a near-Biblical plague of mice. "It's due to all the moisture we had this Spring, plus the flood displacing so much wildlife", someone mentioned. Unfortunately, where there's a plethora of mice, there's snakes, and not just the cool ones that mind their own business and snarf down a rodent now and then. Like the rat snake we adopted from friends, which was captured due to it being lazy and hanging around the chicken coop for easy eggs. That's a cool snake.

First off, mouse management soapbox: I implore you, do NOT use sticky traps outdoors. It will trap ~anything~ that crosses its path, including small bunnies, squirrels and the aforementioned snakes, cool ones or otherwise. It's a horrible way to die. Instead, we had the local pest control company come out and install poison-bait boxes. They double-checked for us and confirmed that any poisoned mice (the product they use causes quick death via severe dehydration) are safe for consumption by both mammals and other avians, including chickens.

[Oh, speaking of chickens, "Veronica" made a full recovery, yay!!!]

Next, we're reconfiguring areas close to the house and animal shelters that are conducive to mouse habitat. We knew for sure there were mice living under one of the duck shelters. Demolishing the shelter moved to the top of the timeline lickety-split when I found a @#$!! rattlesnake in the nesting area.

Thankfully, I was awake enough during that morning egg check to see the snake before I reached down. It was having a nice snooze. I didn't recognize it at first, so got a long stick to lift it up in order to check for rattles. Rattles there? Yep. It didn't start getting annoyed until I tried to move it out, so I closed off the area to keep the birds out, got on some boots & jeans, found the square-edge shovel, and went back out. The snake was now gone. Kinda glad I didn't have to kill it, but that also meant there was a rattlesnake on the loose, the first we've seen since we moved to this property. Eep.

New duck feeding station, front view. 

Spouse made a new, bigger feed station to replace the old duck shelter /feed station (we still have one other shelter, which is plenty big enough for all). It's configured with the roof slanted and on a hinge, so the roof will shed water off the back, and the roof can also be lifted up if you don't want to bend down to grab the feeder. This weekend, he started moving the old duck shelter out of the pen and found... a couple of dead mice, and two very comfy & satisfied rattlesnakes living in the old mouse nest. No wonder the ducks were avoiding the shelter.

Spouse decapitated the snakes as quickly/humanely as he could (see square shovel still on roof of new feed station), created a stable base, and installed the new feed station to replace the old one that had been part of the now-removed old duck shelter. I may end up putting a rain gutter and spout on the back, connected to a large tub, as an additional source of water for the ducks to play in during the rainy season.

New duck feeding station, back view.

The dogs have been taken in for rattlesnake vaccines. You get the first vaccine, then a booster at three weeks, then a shot every six months. It doesn't prevent illness from bites, but instead gives the canine more time to be taken to the vet for treatment. The vet reported that one poor local dog was bitten four times, and the owner said it was the first time in 30 years they'd ever seen rattlers on their ranch. Seems like the Hill Country is a buffet for the snakes this year.

When all's said and done, it doesn't bother me too much to have found rattlesnakes on the property. We've been fortunate to have avoided them for this long. It does mean taking a few more precautions before doing certain kinds of work, however, but that's manageable. As the area settles in for the Long Hot season, the mouse population will start dwindling, which should do the same for the snake population as well.

I Love This Goose & Duck Feeder, Okay?

Installed the last new poultry and waterfowl feeder a couple weeks ago. It took the place of an old goose feeder station that used two baby pig troughs mounted on a backboard. While prepping for replacement, dug out the sunken pavers that held up the old station so it could be re-leveled. When I saw all the worms wriggling in the dug-up soil below, I called over the hens so they could have a snack.

I've seen at least one of these girls swallow a small snake, whole. Despite those kinds of instincts, these hens did not understand the concept of eating worms. What???

A few brave souls would eyeball a worm, pick it up and give it a shake. They'd then drop the worm and walk away. Ooookaaaay. I had to make up for that obviously bad call by scattering some scratch for them to eat. I have a reputation to maintain as the biggest providing rooster, you know.

photo of the Saturn 3 (smaller feeder)
courtesy Premier 1 Supplies

Moving along: All the moving, digging and leveling done in the area of the old feed station left me smelling of waterfowl spit and old fermented grains. The work (and smells) were worth it all, however, as the new station is nice and level, and there will be so much less waste with these new feeders, Saturn 15's from Premier 1 Supplies (and no, I'm not getting paid for this review, it just took a long time to find a good feeder large enough for ducks and geese).

The Saturn 15 has larger feed openings than the Saturn 3, and easily fits most duck and goose heads, although you could always remove every other "bar" on the grill if you needed larger openings. The feeders have eliminated a good 80% or more food waste, which is a significant cost savings when it comes to organic chow.

Some things I've learned about using feeders - in general, and specifically the Saturn 15 - for ducks and geese:

Photo of ours, the Saturn 15.
Not as pretty as Premier 1's photo. 

1. Since they need to drink water to wash down dry feed, one needs to keep drinking water near the feed station. They will often grab a mouthful of feed then dunk their beaks in the water. This can lead to drinking water needing refreshing twice a day, so the grains don't start fermenting.

2. When ducks & geese move from water bowl to the Saturn 15 feeder, their wet beaks can leave moisture in the feed, which may clump and block feed in the tower from refilling the base. You'll want to raise the tower to sit at its highest level on the base, and to check the feeder to ensure free-flowing feed. I give our feeders a few shakes every night to ensure the base is filled.

3. If you don't hang the feeder, the small "hat" at the top of the feeder can get knocked off by a stiff breeze or a curious goose. I use a carabiner clip at the top to keep the hat on the feeder. The hat also keeps chickens from trying to roost at the top.

4. Although feed gets eaten rather quickly around here, the fats in organic feed/grains can go rancid if kept too warm for long periods of time. Keep feeders protected from direct sunlight. Spouse built these wooden feed protectors for both sun and rain protection.

The one downside: we had hoped the new feeders would keep out the dogs, who believe that being fed twice a day is not quite enough. Since they no longer have the easy access like they did the old feeders, they've taught themselves to lick the feed out from between the grill bars instead. *sigh*. Dogs.

Project: Ugly Drum Smoker (holiday blog bonus edition)

d.a. writes: I've been waiting for Spouse to write an article on how he made this amazing smoker. He finally did. Consider this a holiday gift to all of you, our half-dozen readers who make the time to grace this humble blog. Thank you!

Spouse writes:

Pic: racks of ribs

We have had a side firebox smoker that I have written about before. I have stopped using it for smoking except for Thanksgiving when there just isn’t enough room in my new smoker for two turkeys, a prime rib, and three racks of ribs. That is right: new smoker. I got tired of the side firebox because it used a lot of wood and needed to be watched constantly to keep the temperature right. I did a lot “research” (a.k.a. clicking links on the web that were sometimes tangentially related to what I was looking for). I stumbled upon a pre-made big drum smoker that looked right. It used very little wood, kept an even temperature and had great reviews. The price was a bit more than I wanted to spend but d.a. approved it, figuring she could not afford to buy any more ladders after my last repair of the side firebox smokers. [If you can’t make the connection then you must be new here.]

I did some more clicking, err... research and found this: the mother of all Ugly Drum Smoker threads. Ugly drum smokers are the DIY version of the Big Drum Smoker I posted above. The thread has been actively open for 4 years and there are thousands of posts. I read the whole thing over several weeks. I decided that this is what I wanted to do. In fact, I have done it three times, with the first two being given as gifts to family and friends. I love this smoker. Although the temperature inside is 225℉, the outside is not nearly as hot as the old side firebox. I have asbestos hands due to childhood labor issues (thanks Dad), and can move the grill even while it is running.

It makes good smoke on just a small amount of wood and does it for a long time. I can get 12 hours of smoking with just the initial load of wood (actually, the only load because I have never needed to smoke anything longer than 10 hours). I'll smoke two or three different things during the day. The first three hours I will smoke 5 to 10 lbs of beef teriyaki jerky. The next 6 hours are for three racks of baby back ribs. And if I time it right, I can put on chicken for dinner.

You can read the thread to get your own ideas but after the three different builds I have refined what works well for me. 

pic: firebox

• Take a 55-gallon food-grade steel drum - thoroughly cleaned using fire inside the barrel (a big fire), then steel discs and wire brushes.
• Build a firebox – something that holds the wood while still allowing air to circulate. Here is my current one made out of expanded steel and a Weber grill grate, bolted to an aluminum pan that catches the ash.
• Drill holes in the bottom to allow air into the smoker. Since all but one of these is closed after the smoker comes up to temp, I use press-in caps that fit the holes, but some people use flexible refrigerator magnets to cover the holes as needed.
• I also have a valve installed in one of the holes to regulate the air. You can see it at the bottom of the smoker below.

I also drill holes – lots of holes. You need holes for the screws that hold the grates, holes for the temperature gauge, holes for handles, holes in the lid to let the smoke out, etc. I found that a stepped drill bit was the best way to drill different sized holes in the thin metal walls of the barrel. I used to think these kinds of bits were a toy but they really work for this application.

pic: completed smoker

It just so happens that a Weber kettle grate fits perfectly inside the barrel, and if you have a full size weber kettle barbecue you might also find that that the lid fits your barrel (but your mileage may vary as it depends on the barrel you use). I use either the original lid to the barrel or a commercial wok I got at a restaurant supply store for $25.

The things to remember if you decide to do something crazy like this:

1. Wear the appropriate safety gear. I have been to the hospital several times in my life because I thought that safety goggles weren’t fashion-forward for the tragically (un)hip youngster I was. There are dangerous things involved with this project:

• Fire (a big one and possibly lots of little ones)
• Flying hot metal bits
• Power tools with sharp things attached
• And in our case – hormonal geese (which should always be treated with caution and a good pair of heavy welding gloves.)

2. Keep the distance from the food and the fire at least 24 inches. My firebox is a little tall so I actually have the grates within an inch of the lip of the barrel and have to use the domed lid.

pic: wok lid with holes

3. Clean the barrel very well. A lot of food grade barrels have a phenolic coating that has to be removed to prevent bad things getting into your food. You might be able to get a new steel barrel without any coating. If you have a local source that is what I would recommend. It takes a lot of work to prepare a 25-dollar used barrel and it might be worth the extra 40 for a new one.

4. Do not use galvanized metal in any of your internal fittings. Galvanized metal starts to off-gas once it reached 400℉. I use black iron or stainless steel in all the fittings.

5. Do some research: there are lots of web pages that show you how to make a ugly drum smoker for anyone at any skill level. Go learn from their mistakes and figure out ways to make new ones.  d.a. says I am the king of finding new mistakes. Did ya hear that? I am the KING…wait a minute. 

Project: Domestic Goose Nesting Boxes

Pic: these ain't "love" bites.

2012/02/06 Update to article: the geese are using these nest boxes, hooray!!

Soon it will be time to dust off the Kevlar arm braces and prep for egg gathering season! Depending on the weather, our geese start egg-laying anytime from Winter Solstice to late January, and will continue to lay eggs anywhere from April to late May. It's a dangerous time... if you're not a goose. The geese get wicked crabby, extremely territorial, and will gang-up, bite & wing-beat ANYTHING that gets anywhere near a nest. Our geese like to nest in areas they can defend from other animals (including each other), and wherever they're not supposed to be. We don't let this batch hatch little ones - too many genetic problems from the commercial breeder we bought them from - but we do gather and sell their fresh eggs. If Maggie didn't steal so many before we can get to them, one season's-worth of eggs would probably pay for their entire year of feed.

Pic: A-Frame nesting box.

Dave Holderread briefly discusses goose nesting options on pages 96-97 of his book "The Book of Geese". We decided to try out the A-frame nest box this year. The author also suggests setting the nesting boxes out several weeks early so the geese can get used to them - ahh, we may be cutting it a bit short. 

We put the new mitre saw to work on this project. Two pressure-treated 2"x4"s, cut 24" 30" long at the base and at a 30-degree angle. Two pieces of 24" 30" x 28(?)" outdoor plywood for the angled walls. We traced the outline of the back of the nesting box onto plywood to get the backing. A couple screws, some holes drilled into the backing for air flow, some caulking at the top to keep out water, and that was it. I staked down the front of the boxes with some bent rebar Spouse had laying around to keep any gusts of wind from tipping the shelter over. Dave Holderread suggested one box for every six to eight geese. We only have six females, but we went ahead and made four boxes - we've seen how our girls fight over nesting spots.

Pic: modified again goose shelter.

We also modified the big goose shelter (yet again). It's gone from having one opening, to three openings, to now having two openings. It is consistently ignored by the geese, although the chickens like huddle inside when it's raining. Spouse closed up the the middle opening and put in a divider wall down the center, so two geese can (hopefully) feel snug enough and private enough to nest in peace. Now there's six nice nesting boxes for them to use this year. Anyone care to take bets on whether they'll use these boxes or not? Anyone??

Project: 2x4 Basics "Easy-Up Enclosure" - Greenhouse Version

It was a slow start to the temporary greenhouse project. First I moved the side yard 10'x20' shade structure over next to our shed, so Spouse and I could have a protected area to do our construction projects, rain or shine. That led to cleaning up and organizing the wood piles (they were in the way), adding more shelves to the temporary shed (to hold the tools and other stuff that was in the way), and carting off two bags of junk and detritus. It was a roundabout way of getting started on the greenhouse project, to be sure.

Here's the box that contains the Easy-Up Enclosure parts...

...and here are the parts. You provide the cut wood, and slide the parts into or through the various pieces, then screw the plastic parts to the wood to ensure a stable connection.

Goggles on, safety first!

The chopsaw Spouse modified to cut wood. He swapped out the metal cutting blade for a wood cutting blade. Probably not what the manufacturer intended, but don't laugh. It works. (Mama still wants that compound mitre saw for the holdiays, ya hear?)

The required wood, all cut to specification. 

The pieces would not easily slide onto the 2"x2"s, so I had to (gently, gently) tap with a rubber mallet to get the pieces onto the wood. See the groove marks the piece is scratching into the wood? Those are from little nubs on the inside that are supposed to help the plastic piece(s) grip the wood tightly. It's doing a dang fine job. 

Next? 

One of the pieces busted.  There are no spare parts. 

Even if I put together the rest of the enclosure, there'd be some serious weakness in the structure. I no longer have my receipt from Amazon, so I can't even return the box, nor the greenhouse cover (which was a separate purchase). 

I am flummoxed. 

Waiting for Spouse to get home to see if there's a way we can rig up a fix. Regardless, there's no guarantees that the other plastic pieces won't break as well. Aiiieeee!!!!

Holy Smokes, Thanksgiving Already?

Where has the time gone? Oh, now I remember: Section off a portion of property. Rake out dead grass and rocks. Lots of rocks. Scratch up soil. Seed. Scratch again to cover. Reseed. Cover with manured/rotted hay. Water. Watch it grow while I ice my back. I imagine it's similar to having a Chia Pet, but on a much larger scale. So far I've regrown five large sections of lawn. The poultry & waterfowl are so happy to have grass to graze upon once more. I've a few more sections to grow to ensure erosion control over the Winter, and the temperatures look like they're going to stay fairly warm at least through the end of December. Come Spring, I hope to develop larger sections of pasture bermuda & native grasses further down the hill.

Pic: a Thermo Cube

Other projects: we don't get alot of long-term freezing here during the Winter, but last season we had a week of below-freezing overnight temperatures, which were enough to freeze the well pump. Nothing will put you into a full-scale panic like having livestock and NO WATER for their needs. This year not only do we have a brand new 4'x3'x3' enclosure for the pump (nicely built this past week by Spouse), but we're also experimenting with heating it via a fairly low-cost method: a temperature-control plug (Thermo Cube) and a lightbulb. The cube will turn on the electricity to a 60-watt light located within the enclosure when the temperature dips below 35℉, and then will shut off the light when temps reach 45℉. Between the heated enclosure and the rainwater collection from the chicken coop roof (temporarily delayed due to other pressing projects, but hope to get to it next week), I'll feel much better about having accessible water available over the Winter.

Pic: Gertie bathing in a drinking bowl. The pond simply
isn't good enough for His Majesty. Pic has nothing to do
with this blog post. He's just cute.  

(Speaking of the Thermo Cube - we also use it to power on/off an Eco-Heater in the chicken coop. Works nicely! If the light-bulb method doesn't work for the pump enclosure, we'll shell out the cash for another Eco-Heater.)

Then there was a rash of duck egg disappearances that needed solving. Maggie the dog, of course, was figured as the culprit. We found one way she was getting into the pen (using some hay bales to get over the fence), fixed that, then put up electric fence wire around the top of the pen. We got a full complement of eggs for two days, then the disappearances started again. Found that Maggie had been pushing up a section of the duck fence and going under. Secured the bottom of the fence, and set electric wire around the bottom of the pen. No more egg disappearances. I don't know who's more determined: Maggie for eggs, or the chickens for the compost pile.

Pic: Gertie again. Can anyone guess his breed?
I'm flummoxed, and really would like to
get more of his type - he's a sweet boy. 

And now that the cooler temperatures are in full swing, so are the container tomatoes. Tomatoes. In November. We could barely keep them alive over the summer, even with afternoon shade and regular watering. Now the cherry tomatoes are going nuts. I'm not complaining, I swear. I toss any bug-eaten fruits to the chickens, and toss the others into salads. The fig trees that we covered against the last two overnight freezes are putting out a few fruits as well, but I consider those bug treats at this point.

So, two pressing projects in the queue before Winter temperatures settle in for the season: install the rainwater collection system, and build the temporary greenhouse. These projects will have to wait just a few days, however, as we've got family coming into town and a whole lot of gratitude (and libations) to be had. Spouse is smoking two turkeys and a prime rib (I really need to get him to write a blog post on how he made his metal barrel smoker, and how he smokes meats). Me, I'll be drinking wine with Spouse's Italian father. Lots of wine. And icing my back. To those who celebrate, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Stopgap Erosion Control

Summer lasted way too long, with sustained record-setting heat killing off all the grasses around the house. As we were in a drought anyways, watering seemed not only wasteful but useless to boot. The only survivors were a few tough weeds and wild salvias, which I refuse to dig up out of respect for their will to live. Bonus: they're still green! Anyhow, Fall has finally arrived, bringing cooler temperatures and (we hope!) seasonal rains. Now's the time to plant cool season grasses and nitrogen-fixing legumes and grains, especially before the seasonal rains start in earnest, else our downhill neighbor will receive even more of our soil...

Pic: Ducks at the buffet.

First planting test was around the young orchard trees. Grasses can be nutrient hogs, but the trees are close to going dormant for the season anyways, and the need for erosion control is paramount at this point. Rye grass was planted in a circumference around the base of the trees, then covered with old rotted/manured bedding hay. [I smelled reeeally special after spreading that stuff around.] The first week the areas received spot watering to keep the soil moist for germination. Then the trees received their usual scheduled watering - recycled duck/goose pool water - about every 5-7 days in rotation. The grass continued to grow, and is doing fine. The trees all have a wide circumference, short height wire fence around their bases to keep the geese from chewing on their trunks, but am now opening one tree-fence at a time to let the poultry & waterfowl graze.

Pic: Geese take a turn at the buffet table.

Next test: fenced off & seeded a 6' x 12' section of upper "lawn" with a combination of rye grass and bermuda. The bermuda grass is a warm weather grass, but it was leftover from previous plantings, so tossed it in with the rye seeds. Soil temperatures should sprout both. Recycled a rotted bale of hay, loosely covering over the seeds so the still-warm sun wouldn't fry their sprouting efforts. In two weeks time, there was a lovely patch of green. This patch should anchor the soil, and hopefully stop any runoff from sections that don't have grass yet. I'll only open the grassy area every other day or so, lest the birds eat the grass to the bare soil. They do receive regular greens - I feed them heads of romaine or other lettuces every morning - but it's not the same as grazing grasses on their own.

Pic: Now some of the chickens get their feed on. OMG, BUFFET!!!!

Yesterday I fenced off an 8' x 12' section (overlapping a small part of the original 6' x 12'), and have seeded it not only with annual rye grass, but with cereal rye, leftover bermuda, leftover native grasses, and a trio of clovers. Kitchen sink planting! Clover doesn't do well here in the summer - too hot & dry - but it just might be okay as a cool season annual.  I overseeded the rye grass by comparison to everything else, as that's the one thing most likely to sprout at this time. Plus, rye grass seed is cheap. The native grass seeds will hang out just fine until Spring.

Today I am working on seeding the slope in front of the house. Raked out the majority of the rocks and dead thatch, and am getting ready to fence off and start seeding once I finish typing this entry. [If I finish typing this entry. Strangely, my arms are kinda tired!] Come Spring 2012, will seed all these areas again for the warm season with bermuda, buffalo grass, and as much native seed as we can afford. What the heck, let's throw in some wildflower seeds too, I think there's some leftovers in the back closet...

Plastic Zip Baggie Opener Holder Thingie

Spouse was eyeball-deep into some computer issue or another, and I needed to get the big vat of chicken stock put away stat. We had decided not to can this time, but to freeze instead. I pulled out a box of quart-sized freezer bags, and was stopped short - how the heck was I gonna get the stock into the baggies all by myself without a huge, complicated mess? I needed some way to keep the baggie open so I could pour the stock inside.

Not sure what exactly created the "Eureka!" moment, but here's the outcome: a 44-ounce plastic soda cup from the local gas station will quite handily hold open a quart-sized freezer baggie, without need for clips or other manipulation. The "how to":

1. Have the 44-ounce cup and quart-sized freezer baggies ready. Check!

2. With clean hand, push the bottom of the baggie into the cup.

3. Example of what the baggie will look like in the cup...

4. Fill with whatever you're processing. Here's a 16-ounce measure cup pouring stock, for a total of four cups of liquid.

Due to being made of thicker plastic, the freezer baggie held up easily without assistance, even while being filled with liquid. I don't know if a thinner sandwich baggie would hold up as well, but maybe one could try using a paper/binder clip of some sort to hold one side (or more) of a baggie to the rim of the cup. I could see this technique being used for any type of filling needs - liquids, solids, etc. Anyhow, though I'm sure someone on the interwebs has to have already thought of and posted this idea, this was the first time the idea occurred to me, and it worked so well I'm passing it on to you. Hope you find it useful, too!

Power Washer for the Win!

Spouse purchased a low-end consumer power washer to try out a few weeks ago. The input connector, made of plastic, broke off immediately (I did say "low end", right?), but it was fixable with a few hose repair parts, and has been chugging along ever since. It does give me pause now & then when I contemplate that it runs off electricity, as we all know how well water & electricity get along with the human body... regardless, there are excellent water-saving benefits using this machine. It quickly powers off the morning Apocalypse of Poo that the geese leave on the porch overnight, and yet it's not so powerful that I have to worry about flaying skin off my body if I accidentally mishandle the nozzle.

I've also used this power washer to clean out the tenacious algae on the waterfowl kiddie pools and all the drinking bowls. What took serious elbow grease, a stiff brush, and a bit of bleach (which I try to avoid using as much as possible), the power washer takes care of in seconds flat, and does a much better job.

One other cool job it does: cleaning shoes. I like to clean all the warm-weather flip-flops, water shoes & clogs at the end of the season, before they go into cool-weather storage (also known as the "back end of the closet"). The shoes with nylon webbing or a bit of cloth on the straps can be especially tough to clean. The powerwasher got all the dirt out and off with two passes of spray. The toughest part was keeping the shoe in place - the pressure sometimes would knock the shoe out of the way. By the way, watch carefully the footbeds of your shoes when pressure washing - a softer plastic footbed may tear a bit.

Eight pairs of shoes cleaned in just a few minutes. I feel like a 1950's housewife with a newfangled washing machine!

Pic upper left: Pacific Hydrostar electric pressure washer (no, we're not affiliated with Habor Freight, we just spend alot of money there. 

Pic upper right: shoe getting washed - impressive!

Pic below: some of the shoes drying in a safe place. It's not the dogs we worry about chewing the shoes, it's the geese, and that's another post coming up...

Potato Tower Wrap-up - Out with a Whimper

Lucky the Roo, surveying his domain.

I ended up harvesting the last of the potatoes within two weeks of the initial harvest. I never got around to writing about it, as the yield was okay, but nothing to write home about (although others have had better results). That said, I like the compact growing method of the tower, and will try again next year. Definitely want to try growing sweet potatoes, and I think our weather here will support the process. In the towers themselves, will probably try a 50/50 compost/soil mixture next time, with a bit of organic phosphorus added, instead of using pure compost. Some day I'll test the compost we make here on the property, but I imagine it's fairly high in nitrogen due to the large amounts of wood shavings and chicken poo from cleaning out the coop.

Another thing I learned: if you want fresh potatoes to last for more than a few days, you need to cure them. Whodathunkit? Not I, and I was hoppin' mad at myself for letting the spuds go to waste like that. Tsk!

Project: Entry-Level Rainwater Collection

I've been jonesing for a massive rainwater collection system. I dream of freedom from the 40-pound salt bags, and no more heavy mineral smells. I long for squeaky-clean shiny dishes, clothes that line-dry soft, and hair that doesn't need a weekly vinegar soaking to be rid of mineral buildup. I've promised Spouse, however, that we'll get his the garage-slash-pottery studio built first. It's been a slow process saving up the money for the build, but I'd much rather build as we can afford than to take out a loan in this economy.

Anyhow: rainwater collection. Right. There's a bit more involved than one would think at first glance. Our neighbors down the road have a wonderful system, and they've graciously pointed out some of the issues and pitfalls we need to know. But in the meantime, I've decided to ease that rainwater collection jones a bit by doing something much smaller in scale, and out of my own discretionary funds: fitting our chicken coop with a miniature rainwater collection system.

Our chicken coop is a 10'x10' modified big-box hardware store pre-fab shed. The measly 100 square foot roof could potentially collect 1500 gallons of water a year (with below-average 25" annual rainfall) according to Tank Depot's online calculator. The roof is made of corrugated metal, which is a good medium for rainwater collection but has its issues like any other roofing material. Some are of the opinion that to be absolutely safe for drinking (potable), metal roofing should get an approved protective coating of paint to guard against oxidized runoff, but for the chicken coop, I might hold off until/if we decide to get our house roof covered. If an emergency comes up, we can always use a commercial filter like a Brita to get any possible metals filtered, and then for pathogen deterrence either do solar pasteurization in our Sun Oven or use a bit of chlorine bleach.

Some of the bare bones of initially gathering the rainwater: gutters, debris filter (to filter out leaves and such), and "first flush" diverters (which divert the "first flush" of roof-caught rainwater away from storage in the rain barrels. The first flush usually has dust, pollen, bird poo and the like that has collected on the roof since the last rain). Our hardware store has the gutters, no problem. The debris filter and "first flush" diverter I would have to either make on my own, or purchase online. I've opted for the latter, and have ordered
Rain Harvesting Pty 3" First Flush (model WDDS99) and the Rain Harvesting Pty Original Leaf Eater Downspout Filter (model RHLE99). There's a couple of all-in-one filter and first flush models, but am thinking I'd like to get to know the basics before getting fancy. Once the filter and diverter are received, I'll purchase the gutters and start installing on the coop. Of course, I'll have to get rain barrels acquired and set up as well. More on this project to come...

photo: metal chicken sculpture getting soaked during a rare Summer 2011 rain.

Potato Tower Update - July

I've been helping out at the Bountiful Sprout co-op this month, filling in for the gracious Cindy while she takes a well-deserved vacation. I noticed that several of the farmers were selling fresh potatoes, and it got me to wondering, are mine finally ready for harvest?

The tops have taken a beating with the sudden & continued onslaught of heat this season, but keep re-greening. Despite the remaining green, figured I'd go ahead and check out at least one tower. If the contents looked good, I'd harvest the rest.

The growing medium - nothing but pure compost - has done some settling, like a box of cereal or bag of chips. It was easy to dig through with my bare hands (like I'd take the time to find gloves anyways, right?). Besides, using hands to harvest the tubers would be much gentler on the potatoes - much less chance of nicking or gouging the tender 'tater - than if I used a garden spade.

The harvest itself? Kinda disappointing. Two large and one small seed potato yielded slightly less than two pounds of potatoes, of which most were very small. Looks like I should have left this tower alone for a few more weeks yet. I'm also wondering if I should have blended some topsoil into the compost. Potatoes can be heavy feeders, but too much nitrogen and not enough phosphorous might have affected tuber development, and I really don't know what the balance is/was in that particular batch of compost. Ah well, two more towers of 'taters await in the wings, and we'll see what the harvest is like for those in a few more weeks.

An enterprising chicken, digging through the remains.

More Fun with Power Tools - The Pressure Washer

The front porch has been a long-time repository for tools, lumber, garden equipment, tarps, more tools, more lumber, and of course, goose & chicken poo (which was sprayed off regularly, of course, but you knew that... right?). The temporary shed - up and in place since January - has been patiently waiting for all of our chaos, and we finally got the goodies transferred these past few days. The moving of all our white-trash goodness, however, left behind a very dirty porch.
I have a pressure nozzle on the garden hose, but this was three years of ground-in dirt, kiddies. It wasn't going anywhere: 

Rented a small pressure washer from the feed store, with "small" in their mind being 2700 PSI (the "big" pressure washer they also had available would have needed a trailer to haul to our place). The pressure washer needed gas, and I needed a refresher course on how to use the choke (snickeringly provided by Spouse, who said "Don't worry hon, I'll make a  man out of you yet!"), but eventually the machine got to going, and started revealing that it was grey-colored concrete, NOT tan, under all that dirt:

Not only did the concrete get a power wash, I also sprayed down the windows, screens and the doors. During the spray-down, we quickly found out that whatever weatherstripping the doors may have had at one time was now long dead and gone. As I washed, water sprayed through the top, the sides, and the bottom of the door. Spouse had to stop the process at one point, as the water almost reached the floor computers in the office. Yikes!

Still, only a couple hours worth of work, less than $20 for the half-day rental, no scrubbing, and look at how clean... w00t!

Wish we could use one of these things on the inside of the house!

'Taters, 'berries, and more...

Here's the latest photograph of the potato towers:

The plants are about busting out of their towers! One thing I'll do differently next time: either find one big piece of cardboard for the liner, or duct-tape (or otherwise attach) the cardboard pieces together before filling. As you can see, the pieces are shifting. I topped out the compost fill at around 18 to 24 inches high. No wonder the leaves and flowers look so lush...

For a bit of perspective, here's Bandit with Billy-Bob and a couple of the ladies...

The strawberries survived the slapdash planting they received (and the above average heat we've been having), and are putting out flowers. Maybe - just maybe - I'll have some June berries!

In other events around the farm, we've planted another apple, two pear, two nectarine, another peach, two cherry, and two almond trees. Left to go: two more cherries, two white mulberries, two elderberry bushes, and two pomegranates. I've also a bunch of blackberry canes (a wonderful trade with Joy, for goose & duck eggs) and grape vines awaiting their support structure to be built (*ahem*). Oh, and some good old-fashioned rugosa roses, for their vitamin-C packed seed hips.

There has been some non-food planting going on as well. I've given up  trying to get healthy blackberries and grapes to grow in the southwest-facing garden beds in front of the house. The garden beds abut a three-foot high concrete foundation (the house is on the side of a hill), and it gets too danged hot in the Summer. I'll leave the current scraggly vines and canes in place for now, but in the meantime have planted another variegated privet (to match the mature one on the other side of the steps), two "Sangria" esperanzas, and will put in some "Dallas Red" lantana flowers under the esperanzas - all perennials, and all adapted or native to this area. On the northwest side of the house, the Japanese barberry bushes just couldn't cut the combination of Winter's bite and the constant nagging at their roots by the chickens, so I've planted a couple of Texas Sage bushes in their place to match the single Texas Sage in the same garden bed. The dang thing is bullet-proof - geese, dogs or chickens, nothing bothers it.

Whew!

Another Potato Tower Update - Plus Container Strawberry Goodness

These photos were taken on March 31st, and the potato greens are now a good couple inches above the tower tops! I ran out of home-made compost, and had to buy a couple bags to continue filling the towers. Not sure if I'll do a pure compost potato tower next year. I realize potatoes can be heavy feeders, but thinking maybe a half-and-half mix of good soil & compost might do just as well.

Miracles upon miracles, the chickens have stayed out of the towers so far, and the geese have not destroyed the potato leaves.

I also (finally!) received the order of low-chill cherry and white mulberry trees. I'll write more about those later, but with that order came 50 (yes, 50!) FREE bare-root strawberry plants, which I had totally forgotten about. Eep! The raised beds hadn't been filled with the custom soil mix yet, and I needed to get those strawberries planted ASAP. I grabbed a bunch of three- and five-gallon recycled plastic plant pots, filled them with a robust potting soil, and covered with well rotted (and poo'd upon) straw and hay for insulation and moisture retention. Good thing the straw was there, as we had an unexpected freeze just a few days ago. The berries (and potatoes) survived just fine, probably with a radiant-heat assist from the slope they're on, which faces southwest. The last average freeze here is March 15th, but some veggie gardeners won't put anything into the ground until after Easter.

In the picture below, about two-thirds of the strawberries are potted - there's even more pots on the ground now. The wooden boards you see below the pots are to keep the pots level for watering. The three-gallon pots have three strawberry plants in each, and the five-gallon have four or five plants each. I don't even know what kinds of strawberries these are; I'm guessing annuals of some sort.

This is the first time I've planted strawberries, and doing so in containers is another grand experiment. Hoping this works out - it would be so lovely to have fresh berries for eating and jam this year, and right from my own back yard!