Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Calm Before The Storm

Here is a shot inside the little garden area of the Mini Farm and of the finished greenhouse we recently assembled. It is smaller than the one I was going to build but the wife says it will do just fine.
If you were wondering, yes that is the garden solar bathhouse to the right.






The potatoes have grown and now all the levels have been placed on the bins. All together they are five 2X6's high. One problem we are having is the potato bugs now.



This big boy to the right is the new and up and coming rooster who will replace the one we have if he does not start doing his job a little better. Even though we continue to hatch every month, the fertile percentages are only at about fifty percent with the other rooster. He can only find that right spot half the time. This one here is a little younger but he has already started topping the hens like a pro.

A friend of mine stopped by last night and brought me some more windows. Even thought the greenhouse is done, I still have a use for windows.
The two tall ones here in the picture will be used for the next project I just started, the solar dehydrator.
 Another friend of mine gave me this 1940's commercial incubator a few months ago and I did not have a clue what I was going to do with it until now.
This old non working incubator will be stripped of all the hardware and the windows pictured above will be set off to the side longways in a triangle type fashion to collect the heat. A little solar fan will draw the heated air through the windows, up through the box and out the top at hopefully around 140 degrees .
If you can't picture it then just wait. It should be done by next weekend.    If it don't work then I haven't lost nothing. I have everything to do this little project on hand.




The youngest girl "Wee" is a new momma. She is really excited about her new little bundles of joy.
They are baby rabbits if you don't know what they are.  

   




Huge storms are moving in tonight and the wife is getting ready to bug out as we speak. The wind is blowing so hard I feel like I am in a ship at sea with all the house movement going on.
If you don't hear from us for a few days then we will be in the van down by the river.
(If any of you ever watched Saturday night live back in the day then you would have thought that was funny)

34 comments:

  1. Said a prayer for the safety of you and yours (and your neighbors).

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  2. Stay safe you guys! We just had a heck of a wind/sand storm blow through here.
    BTW, I actually DID live in a van down by the river, many years ago, lol!

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  3. Prayer's have been made for you and family as well as all those in the path of these destructive storms. Although we get high winds here in southern Idaho, fortunate not to get the twisters.

    Again, praying all is well there.

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    1. The prayers worked for this area Jim. I can't say the same for the ones to the North of us.
      Thanks for the comment.

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  4. I hope all will be ok thru storms. Seems like everything is coming together out there for the new structures. I can't wait to see it all.

    Lana

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    1. Lana we were spared once more from the worse of it.
      Thank you for stopping by.

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  5. Stay safe. I know its been rough in your neck of the woods. Have family & friends in OK, so far they are well.

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    1. Oklahoma and Kansas got the worse of it Rob. We got high winds and some rain is all.

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  6. Praying you all are safe during the storms.

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  7. LMAO...van by the river! Priceless!

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    1. I thought it was funny too Mandy. Thanks for the comment

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    2. Chris Farley at his best! Glad you guys are ok. The garden looks great!

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  8. Prayer goin' up, hope to hear from you guys real soon.

    The gargen looks great and the green house too.

    Be safe, blessings

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    1. Thanks for the thoughts KeepWest and thanks for the comment

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  9. MDR, buddy - everything looks great and i love the idea for the incubator! the baby bunnies are so cute - how many of them does Wee have?

    lastly, as everyone else has already said - stay safe - i know that you will. and we are praying for all of our internet friends that are dealing with these storms! you and yours are definitely in our prayers!

    your friend,
    kymber

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    1. Thanks for the thoughts Kymber, we did not get the worse of it.
      Wee has seven babies now. One died that would have made it eight.
      Thanks for stopping by.

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  10. Stay safe. Everything from your garden to your baby rabbits looks great. Prayers.

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  11. Hope the green house an your cute area make it through. Along with all of you too. Will be looking for a post on your time by the river.

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    1. We didn't have to go to the river this time sista, but we were ready. Everything made it through. I hated to hear about all the destruction in Oklahoma and Kansas though.
      Thanks for stopping by.

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  12. The wind picked up here last night too. Just now it started getting calm. The front should be hitting us in the next couple of hours.

    The place is looking great. I am excited about the solar dehydrator and yes, I can picture it. Yeah, for your daughter's newest additions. High five for that male that actually knows what he is doing.

    - Genevieve

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    1. It was not as bad as they said it was going to be Genevieve. Thank goodness for that.
      Thanks for the compliments and the comment.

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  13. Your garden area looks wonderful, a mini garden of Eden! Congrats to Wee on her new babies too!
    Did you anchor your green house?
    Shar

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    1. Thank you Shar for the compliments. Yes the greenhouse is anchored to a 6X6 frame assembled with ten inch lag bolts. If it moves those then our house will not be standing either.
      Thanks for stopping by.

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  14. Glad to see you back safe and sound. Been thinking about you all today and wondering how you were doing. How did the mini-farm fair?

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    1. Thanks sista for your thoughts. The Mini Farm fared well. It only took some minor damage here and there but was easily fixed.
      Thanks again.

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  15. Love that top picture! Can you build me a teeny tiny house on the property... I don't eat much and I work hard :-)

    Enjoy your beautiful new green house and wonderful garden space. I would love to hear how you deal with the potato bugs and how it works out because I'm a little worried about that myself.

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    1. Funny you should say that. I do have it in the plan to build a little garden guest cabin.
      As far as the Potato bugs, we treated with DE to see if that works. Next is Seven Dust and after that I don't know yet. I will let you know.
      Thanks for the comment.

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