Skip to main content

Garden Upcycles & The Missing Link {June 2012 Blog Link Up}

We had a big let down in June...



Yeah, that's a really bad photo edit of a "dead chicken."  Seriously, I have to have a sense of humor about the whole thing, because otherwise, I'd probably cry:  all of our meat birds were killed.  About a week before we had planned to butcher.

It sucks.

Needless to say, the blog post I had promised about sharing the butchering is not happening.  Something managed to get into the coop and killed them all (we had around 30 chickens).  We're thinking it was probably a weasel.  Now we are stuck with a loss; all the money we spent on feed, the time my husband put into building new feeders and setting up a watering system--poof!--gone.

I guess that is the nature of farming, whether it be chickens killed by weasels, rain washing away your seeds, or frost killing off all your apple blossoms.  Mother nature doesn't play favorites.  But, as Babe Ruth said, "Every strike brings me closer to the next home run."  The only thing you can do is figure out how the chicken murderer got in, predator-proof the coop, and try again.

Just as dreary as the loss of our chickens, so has been the weather this year.  Rain, rain, rain!  This delayed the planting of our garden, but luckily, it is finally in.

This year, the theme in our garden seems to be "vertical."  Can you guess what these are?

The sides off an old crib have been upcycled to create some lovely trellises.



If you guessed squirrel ladders, you're wrong.

But if you guessed the sides of an old crib, you'd be right!  My mom-in-law was selling an old crib, and it sparked an idea in that huge, churning brain of my husband's.  Trellis!  And so it was.

Another idea for you:

A ladder and some buckets can be used to grow cucumbers vertically.

This one's pretty simple, just a ladder with buckets placed inside the rungs.  We have cucumbers planted in these buckets, and are hoping that the cucumbers will cascade down the ladder.  Don't forget to drill drainage holes in your buckets!

Speaking of ladders, try this one on for size:

Ladders can be used as trellises; here, birdhouse gourds have been planted beneath the ladder, and will be trained to climb upward.

I realize that this just looks like a ladder sitting in the middle of our garden, but it is much more.  Remember, we're thinking vertical here; we have to make good use of our space on our little city farm.  Birdhouse gourds have been planted at the base of this ladder, and they will be trained to grow up it.

But ladders aren't the only vertical grow spaces we have in our garden.  We also have a special spot for our carrots:


Carrots are grown in planters attached to a pallet.



 These large rectangular planters are attached to a pallet, and filled with loose dirt in hopes of growing long, straight carrots.

And finally, I will share with you a re-purposing idea I had:


An old chimney liner gets new life as a planter.

 This was a ceramic chimney liner I saved and turned into a planter.  Growing from my chimney planter are peas and scarlet runner beans, with some marigolds planted in the middle--they were a gift from my son.  I am hoping that they will flow out and down the sides of this old chimney, giving me some pretty red and white flowers that turn into edible treats as the season progresses.

Along with our garden projects, there are also many online projects I have come upon that are worth sharing:


A perfect summer drink:  lavender lemonade with raw honey from They Call Me Oystergirl.

A recipe for rose wine--who could refuse that?!

Learn how to make an alcohol-free hand sanitizer from Naturally Mindful.

Make your own homemade mayonnaise and save yourself from the healthy industrial oils used in commercial brands.

Do you raise chickens?  And have you been thinking about making your own feed?  I know I have!  Especially since GMOs have become so common in commercial animal feed.  Try this recipe for Homemade Chicken Feed from the Elliot Homestead.

Any pizza lovers out there?  Try this recipe for whole wheat pizza crust from Natural Family Today.

And finally, have you given any thought to making your kitchen a paper-free one?  I have, and Whistle Pig Hollow has some great tips if you are considering going over to cloth.


Comments

  1. Why not still use the chickens if the kill was fresh? My friend had hers killed recently and she was sort of grossed out by the idea, but couldn't come up with a valid reason...

    ReplyDelete
  2. These blogs are quite incredible that have provided the best knowledge. Your blogs are absolutely value bountiful time and also endeavor. his explanation

    ReplyDelete
  3. خدمات منزلية جيدة تحل لك الكثير من المشاكل المنزلية التي تكون مزعجة لكم مثل تسريبات المياه التي تظهر بالحوائط والاسقف وتحتاج الي
    شركة كشف تسربات المياه بالدمام تكون متخصصة للحصول علي سبب التسريب بدون تكسير وتخريب فالتعامل مع
    شركة كشف تسربات بالدمام لديها خبرة كبيرة في التعامل مع مثل هذه الاشياء فهذا يحدث مع شركة ركن البيت التي تكون متخصصة في مثل هذه المجالات في السعودية لدينا اشهر المدن التي نقدم بها الخدمة وهي الرياض التي يمكنك التواصل معها من خلال شركة كشف تسربات المياه بالرياض والتي تصل بكم الي قمة الاعمال في مثل هذه الخدمات فلدينا في شركة كشف تسربات بالرياض اهم الفنين والاجهزة الحديثة التي تساعدنا علي انجاز هذه المهام فمن الان لا تقلق بشأن التسربات التي توجد بالمباني الخاص لانك سوف تحصل علي خدمة جيدة

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I will just take a quick peek at your comment before it posts to avoid getting bombarded by spam. Please don't take it personally, I'm sure you're a lovely person.

Popular posts from this blog

Homemade Drain Cleaner

To avoid clogging and bad odors, sink and tub drains should be periodically cleaned. A once a month cleaning with a non-toxic, homemade cleaner prevents needing a stronger, usually sodium hydroxide (lye) based, cleaner to remove clogs.  Sodium hydroxide is extremely caustic, and will damage the lungs if inhaled, burn skin and eyes, and can be fatal if swallowed.  In addition, the heat generated by using sodium hydroxide can soften PVC pipes, and damage old, corroded pipes.  It also changes the pH of water and can cause fish kills. A much nicer alternative to this harsh chemical is the simple combination of baking soda and vinegar, followed with boiling water.  When baking soda and vinegar are combined, they foam and expand, cleaning the sides of your pipes and dissolving fatty acids.  The boiling water then washes it all away.  This method is a great way to use up the box of baking soda in your frig that is not longer doing a good job of deodorizing. Ingredients: 1 Cup baki

Soapmakers: Why You Shouldn't Use Vinegar if You Come into Contact with Lye

It was one of the first things I learned when I began making my own soap; I read it in books and on the internet: "Always keep a jug of vinegar on hand when you are working with lye.  Vinegar neutralizes lye." Soapers, have you heard this?  Do you practice the habit of keeping vinegar nearby when you make your soaps?  So did I, until recently, when I read an interesting post on a soap forum, and then decided to research the claim myself.

Why Did My Chicken Lay That Strange Egg? {Decoding 10 Chicken Laying Issues}

What do you got? A huge egg with two yolks in it?  A wrinkly misshapen egg?  An egg with a soft shell?  Or perhaps the all-inclusive just plain weird looking egg? Whatever it is, I hope to help clear up some of the mystery behind: Why Did My Chicken Lay That Strange Egg?