Posts Tagged ‘reuse’
Spring Projects
We are certainly giving a lot of attention to our labyrinth to have it ready for visitors on May 6th, but several other projects need timely attention. Spring growth does not wait for any of us. Raspberry canes are sprouting new leaf buds already. The red raspberry patch at the bottom of our backyard hill was munched by deer last year so Cyndie wanted to take a stab at protecting the plants in advance this year.
We wrapped up the patch after we finished installing the water pump in our landscape pond beside the back deck.
If you look closely at that image, the fenced raspberry patch is visible in the background. I made myself embarrassingly proud over a little trick I devised to successfully close the filter box for the pond pump so it was leak-tight on the very first try. The groove for the rubber gasket that seals the container is not deep enough to hold the gasket in place. The gasket needs to be stretched to fit. It’s a recipe for endless frustration. I know from experience.
Every year I have tried different techniques to get the cover on in a way that will slide the last portion of the gasket into the groove for the clamp to fit. If I’m off even an imperceptible amount: water leaks. Some years I get lucky and get it in two tries. In a bad year, maybe five tries. This year, I cut a six-inch piece of a few strands of polypropylene bale twine and wrapped it around the gasket. With the cover on and most of the gasket seated, I slide the strands of twine along, pulling the last portion of the gasket into the groove.
The cover dropped flush against the base and we tightened up the clamp. First-time success. I should have thought of this trick a long time ago. I asked Cyndie where I should store the precious bit of twine strands so that we could find them again next year. We both quickly agreed that I could toss them and simply cut new strands next time they are needed. Another good use for old bale twine.
Another thing we have been reusing over and over around our property is the webbed fence material that has at times been used to keep domestic animals contained and other times to keep wild animals out. The raspberry patch wasn’t the only spot we finished yesterday. Cyndie’s ever-expanding strawberry garden received a new border fence for a start.
When the fruit begins to appear, she will take the barrier to another level, seeking to slow down the always-interested squirrels and birds with a netting drape over the top.
I was asked to use the power trimmer to clear growth in the area of Cyndie’s vegetable garden. That little Stihl small gas engine fired up on my first try. Then it was down to the labyrinth to rake and spread wood chips.
We are full-on in spring projects mode and the progress thus far feels very rewarding. Almost as if we are actually keeping up with growing things.
As if.
.
.
Overnight Success
It was a treat to find obvious evidence yesterday morning that at least one of the horses took advantage of the new surface to rub against.
It sure is nice when a plan works out just as we hoped.
.
.
Reuse Wrap
We got a start on the great idea that keeps us from throwing our scrap bale twine into the trash. After making a few long strands of braided scraps, yesterday we wrapped our first post to create an improved surface for the horses to rub against. I wish we would have known about this trick sooner because it is not uncommon to find lengths of the horses’ manes or tails snagged in a splinter of wood grain on the edges of the vertical boards of the posts.
It was cute having the horses be only mildly curious about the strange new decoration in their environment. They took turns approaching to sniff the braided twine and I wondered if they could smell that our hands had been working the twine. They definitely witnessed us working on braiding multiple sets of twine scraps over the last few weeks. After giving it a sniff, they seemed perfectly satisfied that our project was harmless and we could be left to wrap uninterrupted.
When we stopped back at dinnertime, I noted there wasn’t a single hair of evidence that any of them had rubbed up against it yet. There was plenty of hair on the ground where one of them had laid down and rolled around, so there is no question they are still heavily in spring-shedding mode.
I really like the new feeling of happiness each time we cut another bale open and pull off the twine as compared to the old feeling of frustration over what we were going to do with the mountain of cut pieces proliferating non-stop. Now, it’s more like a perception of not having enough twine to braid.
I want to offer another shout-out to Kim Hallin of Unbridled for posting her helpful video about the concept of putting our old twine scraps to good use.
We are looking forward to our horses developing an appreciation for this upgrade to their hangout space. I’m particularly hopeful that they will like rubbing up against it a lot more than chewing it to bits.
.
.
Recycling Quest
Almost daily, two 6-foot lengths of polypropylene twine around a hay bale are getting cut in our barn and instantly become waste. That’s just at our place. Imagine how many get cut in the rest of the county and all the horse properties around the state. It does not feel right to me to have this end up in a landfill somewhere, or worse, forever floating in an ocean.
I checked locally for an option to recycle our accumulation of cut-up plastic twine and learned it isn’t financially feasible. The volume of twine that would need to be collected would end up costing more in handling than could be recovered if and when they could find a potentially interested party to accept it. The person I spoke with at our county encouraged me to search wider on the internet for other possibilities.
I thought I was searching for other collection options but I soon discovered a variety of ways other people were crafting uses for plastic bags and used bale twine.
To my skilled sisters, I thought you might appreciate how this person spins HDPE grocery bags into a cord that can then be knitted or crocheted into useful items:
.
.
For bale twine, I was inspired by this video of uses that benefits horses:
.
.
I started experimenting with braiding because the posts supporting our overhang often have horse hair caught in the splinters of the wood. Wrapping the posts with messy braids of plastic twine will be a great enhancement the horses can rub against with abandon.
It will require a LOT more braiding, but for each length of twine I can reuse, that’s one less ending up as trash.
.
.
Updating Benches
The old log benches around the firepit up at the lake have aged to the point of being overly mossy and crumbling from decomposition. Another perfect opportunity for making use of the store of old lumber we saved from the resurfacing of our deck at home.
Elysa is up at the lake this weekend so I asked her to send me a photo of the benches as they looked yesterday.
It’s fitting to use leftover lumber because that’s how the original benches were made when the log home was built at the lake. Twelve-inch cedar log pieces made for excellent firepit seating.
My idea for replacements won’t be made of logs but they will have some cedar boards and be custom made.
I mixed in some green-treated boards for the added strength and weight to bolster the finished benches. After measuring the old log benches, I designed one tall one and a pair of shorter versions to match.
The results are satisfying and I look forward to testing them out by the lake next time we get a chance to drive them up. The simulated firepit on my driveway didn’t quite match the desired ambiance.
Gives me extra incentive to make the trek up to our favorite place as soon as possible!
.
.
Reclaimed Materials
After leaving work early yesterday in order to ride up to the lake with Cyndie’s mom, we made quick work of slapping some shingles on the woodshed before the impending rain arrived. While still in the car, I watched a refresher video about shingling a roof. Then, I immediately disregarded the details about properly staggering the rows and made it up randomly as I went along.
It’s a shed for firewood, after all. Plus, the slant of the roof and the trees behind the shed make the rooftop hardly visible.
We were racing darkness, the dusk-related onslaught of mosquitos, and the dinner bell to achieve, at the very least, the top row before the evening rain started to fall.
I love that I was able to make use of old spare shingles from both our home and up here at the lake –two different colors. I think it contributes nicely to the rustic “at-the-lake” appearance of the structure.
The only materials I needed to purchase for this shed were the screws, the four concrete footing blocks, and a roll of roofing felt underlayment. All the lumber and shingles were reclaimed material retrieved from storage.
I still want to put the finishing touches on the peak and trim some edges to feel my work is complete. I can accomplish those after the rain stops.
All that needs to happen after that is to fill the shed with split firewood and it will look just perfect.
.
.
Cooking Compost
Does horse manure attract flies?
Yes, it does.
It also cooks at over 160°(F) given the right conditions. Just the right amount of moisture, air, and shape of the pile trigger the microorganisms to go wild. Unfortunately, at that temperature and above, the microbes start to die off and the pile can go inert.
I did a little cooking of my own in the hot sun yesterday, working in front of the hay shed. I’m cutting up old cedar boards ripped off our deck to make a small woodshed for up at the lake place.
I’m creating a kit of cut boards that I can fit in my car for transport up north where the plan is to assemble it in place. It’s a little tricky because I tend to make design decisions as I go on my building projects. I’m wrestling with the mental challenge of envisioning each step in advance and knowing what pieces and precise dimensions I need for each step in the process.
I anticipate the assembly will stretch over several different weekend visits up north. As if we need excuses to spend more time at the lake in the months ahead.
.
.
Wood Pavers
Over the weekend I processed the latest accumulation of pallets that I salvaged from work this winter, removing the blocks from the top for use as pavers on a stretch of trail prone to being muddy.
It frustrates me that the company that sends their equipment mounted to these pallets doesn’t want them back. The least I can do is find additional uses for them. I’ve already built an entire chicken coop out of dismantled pallets. My other common use has been to place them on the ground in the hay shed to allow airflow beneath stacked bales.
Unfortunately, we haven’t been stacking bales for a couple of years now. That doesn’t mean we won’t be doing that again in the future, should we have another chance to have horses on the property, so I need to keep some percentage in reserve.
I plan to offer up any growing surplus to the surrounding neighborhood. What farmer couldn’t use more pallets when they are free for the taking?
Most of the boardwalk that we already created out of the blocks is three-wide. I’ve decided to change things up now to cover more distance by placing them single-wide. We basically walk down the middle anyway, and the 4-wheeler is wide enough to straddle the boards so driving the trail won’t dislodge them.
I have to drive timidly over the existing portion of the “boardwalk” to limit the disruption.
Originally, I imagined the blocks would push down into the mud to become “grouted” in position, but that has only barely started to occur. Now I’m just waiting for decaying leaves to fill the seams between them. Hopefully, the wood won’t all rot before the blocks finally become more firmly seated in place.
.
.
Neglected Properties
It’s a shame that the neighboring houses around ours have fallen to such neglect. It reflects badly on the value of our property. I wish those responsible would put in a little effort to maintain the integrity of their homes.
I think maybe birch bark isn’t the most durable choice for roofing material. That unit is probably a little drafty.
I’m going to light a fire under the owners to inspire them to make some repairs to those houses before the tenants start spreading bad rumors about our neighborhood.
After Sunday’s initial excitement of making progress on the garden terrace using reclaimed fence posts, Cyndie pointed out the creosote smell of the wood posts. It reminded her of the railroad tracks by her grandma’s house.
A little research has us both feeling disinclined to proceed with burying the chemically treated posts in the same dirt we plan to grow our future food.
It will be a lot more work, but I’ve suggested making a low retaining wall of rocks. A more feasible alternative that holds promise would be to use the cedar planks we removed from the deck last fall. Although much of the ends of those boards were rotting, there is probably enough solid wood to serve our purposes.
Whatever we end up choosing, I hope it will look classy enough to offset the derelict birdhouses around here that threaten to give this place a bad reputation.
.
.
New Garden
Sunday afternoon launched our effort to create a new produce garden at Wintervale on the slope at the end of the driveway.
We plan to use old reclaimed wooden fence posts for a retaining wall that will create a terrace for a flat garden plot. There is space below it to add a second level farther downslope but we are going to start small. If all goes well, next year we can expand.
After my first challenge of devising a way to connect and secure all the posts, the more complicated next step involves installation of barriers to the local wildlife who are known garden pests. Cyndie wants me to bury hardware cloth to block burrowing critters. Great idea, in theory. A hassle to accomplish in reality.
I’m recommending Cyndie put in a giant hasta spread nearby to offer deer a more enticing alternative to leaping over the fence I plan to build. Then I can make that barrier primarily designed with rabbits in mind.
Cyndie got right to work breaking up the turf and confirming how much of our soil is clay. There will be a fair effort to doctor the soil toward maximizing the plant growth potential. Of course, there is a handy resource of composted manure available a short distance away, but she is talking about also adding some sand, too.
I’m just the muscle on this project. I’ll leave those decisions up to her for now.
Before calling it a day and heading in to shower, I snuck down to hook up the come-along winch to the pine tree stump to see if it would stand up straight.
Close enough for my purposes, of which I currently have none. Just seemed like something to do. I have a high suspicion it will tip again at the first trigger of high wind or excess moisture since the roots have all been thusly stressed and held for months in that previous lean.
That fact has me hesitant to plot any significant artistic endeavor for the stump until it has had time to settle in the upright position.
It is located beside Cyndie’s perennial garden, so carving it into a gnome seems like a great idea. Unfortunately, I don’t have any plan to learn how to carve a gnome out of a tree stump, so that most likely won’t happen.
If it stays standing for a year or so, I’ll have had plenty of time for inspiration to strike.
I’ll likely be busy fixing garden fencing in the meantime.
.
.
