Since we put the fall garden in we have been experimenting with different dripper heads for the drip system we installed. We have finally found one that we like, it is the Jet sprayer. It puts out between 7-10 gallons per hour and pretty much covers a whole mineral tub for watering. The small drip head that puts out 1 gallon per hour just wasn't putting out the coverage needed. Now our only problem is that 1/4 inch line that we have it set on. Our set up is 20 mineral tubs set up under 20+ feet of cattle panel that is acting like a trellis. We have it set up in 2 separate sections, each section watering 10 tubs at a time. Since installing the new watering heads the 1/4 inch line is just not large enough to allow enough water flow to run 10 of the jet sprayer head. So we have decided to experiment with some low pressure PVC pipe, since there wont be constant pressure on it like a water line we can get away using this and by the way this is cheaper!

  We found that you can drill a small hole into the PVC pipe and put the jet sprayer head directly into the hole. Instead of attaching this to the bottom of the trellis like we did the plastic drip tubing we will just set this right across the top of the tubs for great coverage. This will be a nice set up as when the fall garden is over we can put the drip system away out of the sun to make it last longer. We also want to do a set up for the strawberry raised beds, while perusing the sprinkler isle we found some pop up sprinklers that do rectangle patterns, they are a few dollars each and we would only need 4 but this would make watering so more efficient over hand watering or sprinklers that put water everywhere except where you want it!. With the water rate that the jet sprayers put on watering of 3 gallons per tub we would only have to water for approx 15 minutes! It takes me longer than that to hand water. I will post more on this when we get it up and going to let you know how well it works!


   For everyone that doesn't know what a mineral tub is here is a few pictures of my mineral tub garden!

Since the weekend weather was so nice we decided that we should take advantage of it and get the fall garden in the ground! We planted:
Cucumbers
Beets
Radishes
Spinach
Leaf lettuce
Rocket salad
Carrots
Squash

We then installed a drip system on it to help with the watering and to tell you the truth i don't know why we didn't do it earlier!! Now we are going to get a system to put on the raised beds to make for easier and more efficient watering!

I also found a few recipes for some household cleaners that will make your home smell great!

Grapefruit abrasive cleaner:

This will clean your sink right up! avoid using on fiberglass fixtures.

1 cup fine grade pumice
1/2 cup clay powder
2 tablespoons grapefruit essential oil
1/4 cup baking soda
1/2 cup boiling water( or enough to make a paste)

1. Mix all ingredients together and stir. Store in a labeled airtight container
2. To use: Apply gently with a damp cloth or sponge and scrub


Creamy nonabrasive cleaner

Perfect for acrylic and fiberglass surfaces

1/4 cup washing soda
Vegetable oil based liquid soap
1/2 teaspoon lemon essential oil

1. in a bowl, combine washing soda with just enough liquid soap to create a thick paste. add essential oil and mix well.
2.To use: scoop a small amount of cleaner onto a sponge. scrub surface and rinse.

Since we are still in gardening season i thought i would post some helpful tips for, around or in the garden.

Get an earlier tomato harvest and a bigger one, too! Just stretch aluminum foil on the ground between your plants and anchor it along the edges with stones or bricks. The reflected light can increase your yield, especially in cloudy weather, and speed up the ripening of your fruit by a full two weeks!

Grow stronger seedlings. Young vegetables that don't get enough light when you are starting them indoors tend to grow week, leggy, and spindly. To prevent that problem, just spread a long strip of aluminum foil on the shelf or table under your grow lights, and set your seed flats on the top of it. Then lift each end of the foil and tape it to the outside shade of the light fixture, using some tape. The foil walls will focus light on your baby plants and help retain heat, forcing them to grow bigger, stronger, and faster!

Make a hanging garden. Are you a little short on garden space??Here is how to gain more ground. Poke a few small drainage holes in the bottom of heavy duty plastic bags, then take them to a board. Fill each bag with soil, add a few seeds and water well. Before long you will have a lovely vertical garden.

Make compost. Brown paper bags are a first class source of carbon. To tap into their riches, just tear up the bags, or run them thru a shredder, and toss the pieces into your compost bin. If you don't have a compost bin, just bury the scraps in the ground. They will break down in no time, improving your soil in the process.

Make plant labels. Just cover empty seed packets with plastic wrap, and tape or tack them to whatever upright supports you can come by easily like chopsticks skewers, Popsicle sticks or paint stir sticks. Then put them in the ground at the appropriate spot in your garden.

Turn a lamp shade into a planter. Just turn the shade upside down and line it with a heavy duty trash back, Trim away any excess plastic, and staple the liner in place along the sides. Cut a few slits in the bottom for drainage, add soil and plant away.This also works with wicker baskets, wooden boxes or any container that is not waterproof.

Over the weekend we decided to try something new on the Rabbit barn. Since we haven't had rabbits for a few years keeping the barn cooler wasn't a big deal. Now that we have 15 rabbits in their it is again time to be keeping them cool. We have a mist system installed on the barn from the last time we had rabbits, we just needed to clean some misters. During the winter we put cardboard around the outside so it will stay warmer for the goats and chickens, but after we took all the cardboard off the rabbits just got too much sun! So after some thought on what we should do, we thought tarps, tin, plywood but this next idea was just what we needed! Landscape fabric!!! Breathable, air can move through it and water can get it wet! So we happen to have some so we attached it to the side of the barn under the mist system with screws with large washers. Now that fabric when wet acts like an air conditioner but it still lets air move through also! It worked so well on the side we redid the front with it also!

We also added some shade cloth to the new chicken run that we built a few weeks ago out of used snow fence. The cloth we put on top is called a planket size 10x20, it is for covering plants when the weather is getting cooler. I found this on clearance for $4 and it has grommets like a tarp so worked awesome for this project!

When things get tough around here sometimes we take stuff in to the local metal recycle center. Since we cant burn copper off i spend hours setting in my recliner stripping copper. The only thing i hate about that is all the insulation casings that have to be cleaned up! But it always makes it worth it when i take it in and they give me more money since my copper is clean. I see right now that short iron in my neck of the woods is down right now along with some other prices. Whats great it just some time sorting thru things and loading them up and taking them there you can make a decent tax free paycheck!  I took what i made and paid a bill then bought our animal feed for the week, it sure is nice when it seems like it is free since it doesn't have to come out of the weekly budget! This posting is just to remind people that there is money to be made out there if you have it laying around, don't throw it out cash it out! I even save my tin cans as for every 100 lbs of them pays out between $7-$9 just as well make money on our veggie cans! So here is a scan of what I took in and what i made off of them. I took in a load last week that paid out $200 so just in a week i got $363.42! Take a look around you never know what you have that will pay well!!

The insulated  #2 copper is old extension cords! They don't strip well so we just throw them all in a bucket and they go too!

We recently got a tractor and Mr ingenuity wanted to get a bale mover for it. Of course they are several hundred dollars at any farm store so he went digging through all of his junk piles and came up with parts to build one that would fit on a 3 point tractor, a flat bed truck and a regular pickup. Of course looking at his plans that he had drawn out i thought he had lost his mind. I sure couldn't see what all of those lines were gonna come together and make. I am glad that he knew what he was doing as if he was dependant on me to make some of the things he does we would be in debt as i would have to go purchase all these things!

What seems like weeks but was just a few days he got all of his parts welded together, parts painted, truck modified and this is what he came up with.

He has built it so that he can haul 2 different sizes of bales. He also included a ball mount to tow a trailer behind it if needed, or another bale mover..lol. Here is a side view

I have no idea how he comes up with these things, but I'm sure glad that he does! It sure helps around a farm to just look at something and come up with an idea to fix it, build a new one or improve somethings!

Its been awhile since i have posted. Just been keeping up with the garden and the animals. It is starting to get hot and the garden is showing it! The cucumbers here are pretty much done but have another planting coming up soon. I have made several batches of salsa so far, have enough tomatoes to make a few more. I dont know how many of you check out craigslist.com but i was pointed in the direction of a great deal the other day. Any of you with animals know that fence is always in need. I have all the perimeter fencing done and some cross fencing, but i still have some pockets that are not fenced and would love for the animals to be able to eat it instead of mowing it. Well here is what we got. 2000 feet of orange snow fencing. Now in states that it doesnt snow it is called safety fencing. I checked the price on this fencing and it runs $30 for  a 4'x100' roll. I got it for $5 used!

Now i have no excuse for the goats to not be eating down the back areas that i dont have fenced. It goes up fast and since it is temperary we didnt install alot of posts.

Here is a picture of my first batch of homemade chunky salsa. It has yellow pear toms, roma toms, banana peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, chives, onions, lime juice, salt. Everything except the onions we grew here on the farm. I bought the onions at a farm stand~