Archive for March, 2009

March 3, 2009 – Getting Ready to Fence Cement Yard

With some mixed species barn, we’ve been having to work harder than we need to to keep the horse away from the lambs.  So, I’m going to put up an electric fence across the cement pad adjacent to the barn, so everyone can easily get outside.  Once the pastures firm up it will be easier to manage, but in the mud season, it will be nice to have a solid place for everyone to be outside.

I’m going to drill holes in the cement, insert some fiberglass poles, and run electric rope.  Since the animals are on a cement yard, I’ve been told I’ll need to run an alternating hot/cold rope fence since the cement prevents a good ground connection – so the animals won’t get shocked until they touch two wires.

one year ago…”Back to Reality”

March 2, 2009 – Real Raised Beds

I stumbled across this design for a raised bed from the Noble Foundation.

If you can move a lot of soil, this would be the cat’s meow to be able to site between the raised bed and plant, weed, or harvest.  It is much cheaper per square foot than the overpriced raised bed kits found in gardening magazines.

one year ago…”Final Thoughts on Costa Rica”

March 1, 2009 – Old Wood Cookstove

I’ve been looking half-heartedly for a while for an outdoor wood cookstove and finally snagged one off Craigslist.

This picture shows it with the top off  (there are two cookplates) and the four foot chimney I added.  The urgency to get it now revolves around wanting to try to make a small batch of maple syrup from the trees on our farm.  I think it would be fun to go through the process to get some real maple syrup and it’s something all the kids could help with.

one year ago…”Costa Rican Beaches/Pacific Forests”