An inside view showing the slapstick nature of the beast with the sistered up rafters. You can see I had to put up a brace from the rafter to the upright. I always grew sweet peas inside just for the smell.
Carol
Compost Bin Design
This is my idea of ventilation. A nylon twine threaded though eyelets and secured with a stantion is how I raised and lowered it. Pretty clunky, but that's my finish work for you. LOL OH, I see the top of the 2 storey chicken house out of the vent window!
Carol
Carol, that is nicer than some of the kit GH's I've seen - you are *good*, woman! Anytime you wanna come visit, lol...
DH and I are thinking about excavating an area adjacent to our brick detached garage with a Southern wall to build a GH, probably much like the "lean-to" ones you see in the kits. Hoping it comes out half as nice as yours.
Carol- awesome
Boy Carol here in Montana they would make you tear that down. LOL We have a dump collection site here in a place called Kila. Many of us gather when ever we need stuff for the next construction project. Many people call it the Kila Shopping Mall. Nice Green house Chicken coop! Mine is made out of a Picture window and cedar siding I collected from the building sites around.
Sofer, large windows and even sliding glass doors are an excellent starting point for greenhouses. Just build frames for them and there you are! I have two sliding glass doors just waiting, waiting, waiting.... lol heheheeh
Carol
stantions for Carol, duck tape for sofer. Im impressed at the architectural innovation here! I haven't found any sliding glass doors, but i did find some glass sliding doors set in chrome frames from an old 1950s stereo cabinet. Right beside the garbage can on a back street here!
I've been watching this thread evolve for a while and really got interested in several comments about your homemade green houses. I saw mention of a product called Tufbil in another thread and was doing some net search on the subject. I came across an article by a lady using Tufbil to cover her raised beds. She simply pounded rebar into the ground on either side of the raised beds, then made hoops using 1/2-inch pvc piping, which she then attached the Tufbil to using clips. Looked like a covered wagon without wheels, but it got me to thinking about ways to cover and stake tomato cages and possibly build a small hoop or green house. A problem with small diamter PVC piping is it becomes extremely brittle in cold weather.
As Soferdig can attest to Montana gets some nasty Chinook winds, and holding makeshift covered structures together can be a pain. I gave up on plastic tape for fastening covers to my tomato cages. Was going to duct tape when I came across some Gorilla Tape. It must be good considering the price!
Could you provide a site for the Turbil. I've tried googling it and am coming up with zip. Thanks!
MRaider, anything like this? This is rebar w/ pvc slipped over it and the clips
Or this?
I didn't really explain the clips. They are made from 3 inch pieces of PVC Cut length wise, which slip over the long PVC to keep the plastic tight all the way around. This was developed by Weezingreens DH The ol' Tom Cat.
Carol
docatt5...sorry...it's called TUFBELL. I found it mentioned in a DG thread, but very little information. Maybe it's a new item, or maybe it's because of the limited sources and expense. The things I found interesting about the DG comments were the permiability to water, and the ability to sew it for tomato or pepper cage covers. I don't know how to Hyperlink, but you could enter Peacful Valley Farm & Garden Supply in a Google search, or simply Tufbell as I did. The 'Happy Chick Adventure... was found in the Tufbell search...that's where the rebar/PVC pipe information came from. Please excuse my bad on this one docatt.
ceeadsalaskazone3...Oh Yah Carol...that's exactly what I had in mind for my four raised beds. I was considering using the black 1/2 inch pvc water pipe with the threaded fittings to construct a cover frame, but the expense is much much higher than the method you have shown. You must have been reading my mind on the clips...I had them on my list to research. Couple of quick questions for you:
(1) Do you use the same diameter PVC pipe for the clips or a size larger?
(2) How large can you go on the PVC piping that you have looped over?
(3) I noticed you placed the rebar inside your beds instead of outside...is this helpful in keeping the cover structure in place?
(4) Spacing distance between PVC hoops?
(5) Got any good B&B's in your neighborhood?
Some great ideas and pics Carol. Thank you much!
morgan
Carol, DH is very interested in the way those beds are set up, but I don't see clips. I'm confused, ok, ok, more confused than usual. Please splain?
Thanks Morgan, I'll look it up and hyperlink is easy peeze. Look up in the www bar at the top of your computer screen, click on it and highlight the whole line. Do a copy and paste into this box or use Ctrl/C and Ctrl/V on your key pad. Piece of cake. LOL
docatt..this is the link on tufbell as per your instructions:
http://www.groworganic.com/item_SER101_Tufbell_Rowcover_78_X_109_Roll.html
Thanks much for the instructions...wasn't sure I did it correctly.
This message was edited Dec 31, 2007 8:15 AM
You doed it just right! LOL
There are other brands of floating row covers.
Here are the ones at GardensAlive.
http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=2005&bhcd2=1199126944
Doc - don't mean to answer for Carol, but I think she uses the same clips I do: 3 - 4" pieces of pvc with a lengthwise slit, so they form a "C", hmmm, kinda-sorta....and these clips fit over the plastic/row-covered pvc hoops. (Oooooo - now it really sounds confused.)
So - hoops in place, covered by plastic or row-cover, clips go on top of this to attach cover to pvc. I use 4 clips per hoop. Holy S*%@¥! I'm gonna stop now. (phew!....)
You can use larger PVC pipe to make the hoops, but I recommend taller pieces of rebar for stability and strength.
Time for an adult beverage. =:0)
Katye, right you are, same PVC just cut them in 3 inch lengths, then cut them lengthwise in half, leaving enough, so that the piece snaps over the longer PVC, which has the plastic or remay or whatever you are covering your hoops with. If it's a thick material, you my have to go up a size in PVC for the clips, but with just regular plastic it just takes the same size PVC for clips. Practice with a length of PVC, then adjust the cut on your clips to snap on just right. I actually use 2 inch clips because they seem to bend a little easier. By the way I store the clips on the handle of my garden cart because the handle is black and the PVC is white and easy to find. Sanding the cut edges of the clips will prevent cutting or tearing of plastic.
Carol
Aha! The light finally came on in me tired brain! Way, way too cool, guys. What a smart feller to think of that, hey? I'm falling in love with the tufbell. I have some of the other floating row covers, but I'm looking for something a bit heavier and the tufbell looks like it would fill the bill. It's not cheap, but if you take care of them, the row covers last a long time. I use them regularly so I can push the envelope in setting out an early crop of tomatoes etc. Makes it much easier to cheat and I rarely lose a plant.
Hi guys! I'm kinda new here but thought I would share a photo of some compost bins I made just by cutting 12 foot sections of fencing wire and curling one end around the other. When I want to turn the piles I can just lift the cages up and fork the compost into the cage in a new spot next to the old. If I am remembering correctly a roll of wire costs about $7 at Lowes and is enough to make 4 bins.
Nice looking bins! And full of good stuff!
Thanks!! And the key words are easy and cheap!! I am not good with tools (except the gardening kind) and these bins don't need anything except clippers and fingers lol.
I forgot to say that I spread a thick layer of newspaper underneath the bins and extending out about 2 feet so weeds don't grow into the compost.
Excellent, most excellent! DH finally bought more alfalfa pellets the other day. So his mission is to remove the leaf bags from the top of the bins and add the pellets! That is a today mission, since I'm allergic to alfalfa...I'll cheer from the back door! yeah! That should get the compost working better. LOL Need more heat and the neighbor with the cow poo is out of town until next week. :(. This alright though, we know where he lives.............LOL
lily,
Looks like my compost piles. I don't bother using the newspaper though.
mraider you could use the 2X4 welded wire to make curved greenhouses and use the small metal stakes to keep them in place with all those Chinooks you have over there. See lillyfantn's most excellent compost piles above. Beautiful!
Thanks guys! Dean, I have quite a big old pile that I am going to spread on my beds this winter that I made on the side of my yard under some pine trees. It has poisen ivey and ground ivy in it. At first I was just going to skip using it but when I dug into it I saw that the weeds lift right out so I'm going to anyway. But to avoid this happening again I put the new wire bins in the middle of the back yard (provoking DH to say "do they have to be right in the MIDDLE of the yard??" the older I get the less I care about how things look) and ran the newspaper far enough from the bins so the weeds wouldn't creep in again. Now if the birds drop seeds from the maple branches that will be a whole 'nother story lol!
I have done this type bin - zip ties work well to hold the 2 ends together. Or you can bend the wire ends from one end back around & through the other. A large enough plastic tarp can go over the entire group to keep out excess rain. Cheap, & works great for me in the everwet & occasionally over-the-top windy PNW.
Katye what is this "excessive rain" certainly I have not seen it since I moved to Montana. Lol All compost bins need to be in a highly visible area so when your friends ask what they are you can tell them and ask then for their available compost material.
Mine is located right outside of my family room which is a sun room.
Steve - that's the problem: you are not on the West side of the Cascades any longer!!!
As far as friends go, I make them walk the property with me to achieve a healthy respect for all the work it takes, and to show them what I will be doing when they call me to ask for assistance in their yards.
I can't imagine living on a tiny lot: my yard would be in perfect condition & I 'd probably be gardening on the roof...
They also get to see all my little buddies in the compost bins - I had no idea how many people have an aversion to worms, manure, grass clippings.....
WELL, sniff! Time to make new friends, Katye. What a bunch of sissies! grin....Even my DIL who is as girly as it gets will handle the worms. LOL
They just need some edumcation on how important them little crawly wiggly friends are! LOL
Doc - I only see them once in a while. I jes get so tired of 'splainin' to them about my worker worms.
As long as I am "weeding" no one visits. So I weed a lot - LOL! People like to keep their distance when that activity is mentioned...
And their eyes roll dramatically when I talk about dirt manicures: I'm a natural repellant!
Yeah, yeah, I can understand. All of sudden I see that "glazed"look overcoming the faces of non gardening family and friends...........sigh
Soferdig...thanks for the tip on using 2 x 4 welded wire for constructing a wind proof frame over my raised beds...i recently purchased three 50ft roles on a close out for making tomato and pepper cages.
the clip making suggestions for floating row covers are great ideas...with the combination pvc hoops and weld wire for supports this should prove to be a suitable frame for the frequent high winds.
i down loaded gloria's Garden's alive row cover and noticed the same comment at Tufbell's that these are water permeable...getting only three or four showers, lasting maybe ten minutes during the summers, i use soaker hoses and a timer for the garden, but not the raised beds...can i direct water over these covers???
lily,
Good luck w/ the poison ivy and ground ivy. The poison ivy has oils in it that can remain active for quite a while.
I know what you mean about placing the compost piles. They are not the prettiest thing to look at, but the final outcome (black gold) is.
The weeds love the compost to? HUH? Where weeds grow abundently that means the soil is rich.
Just thought you might like to have a little leaf envy - the bins are 4'wx5'hx8'deep, the one on the right is leaf that we have compacted by climbing on top, the one on the left has been put through the shredder (that bin is now full too - this was taken before christmas) - there are two more bins to the left of these for compost. We often make blends of leaf mould and compost when doing the mulching - particularly for the shade beds.
And - for christmas DH gave me a cement mixer for getting a better blend of compost/mould (and for making up the new paths)! So no more tipped over wheelbarrow when I am trying to mix the blend! (This is my neighbour's idea - but she won't mind me passing it along).
Laurie1,
Thats a great looking compost bin system! Is it new?
I have thirty trash bags of leaves now. I plan on using some in my new garden and others in the compost piles.
I'm impressed Laurie especially that the right bin is leaning into the center bin. It shows that you have been working it for quite a while. I too have used the cement mixer to break up clay and add it to compost to make some of my water retention beds, to minimise the need for irrigation. It also can tumble leaves and shred them with a screen over the opening. I also use it to dislodge seeds from my ponderosa cones, and wild flowers I am propagating.
My compost pile is sitting and waiting for the snow to allow the cook.
Dean, 30 bags - is that what you got for christmas!! what a dw!!!
No the bins are now coming up to 10 years, and as Sofer so rightly pointed out - the posts are beginning to lean - it's going to be a rebuild job this summer. But the timing is good as we are planning on moving them over to the right by about 15 mtrs when they get rebuilt. (A new log store is in the planning, and the compost bins are going next to that).
Sofer, as with so much of your building, your bins do win the beauty contest!! Very nice. I had never thought that a cement mixer could be so useful - actually, until recently I never thought about a cement mixer at all - when you use it to shred up leaves through a screen, I am assuming you have the barrel in the downward position? Great idea - although our big shredder does get through an awful lot pretty quickly and we are adding all the top wood from the hedge cutting in too.
Came home from work to find our landscape guys had left me a really big pile of wood chips in the upper field! Great guys!
Yes I fill it and invert it over the compost pile and turn it on and walk away gathering more leaves. When I get back I open the screen and dump in the next pile. Oh yes I have a pile of grass that I throw in to mix the perfect compost. Actually that is the old way I mulched now I have a debris loader and it sucks and shreds everything and dumps it into my dump trailor.