Invention Ideas For The Garden Or Elsewhere
10 years ago
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- 10 years agolast modified: 10 years ago
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Comments (30)Lloyd, How are you going to "feed" the beast? The size of the opening on a single snowblower would be maybe 3' x 18"? (Remember I am an Aussie and now live in Cali... not much exposure to a snowblower) I was thinking, having seen some of your photos, that perhaps 4-6 blowers sequenced together might work for you. That way the feeding can be done with the big dumping-mchine-thingy you have (the bucket on the tractor). That would just be a welded axle basically I think. Then the chewed up stuff could go into a trough with an archimedes screw (or convayor belt) and be lifted straight into that cool screen thing you posted photos of a while back. If ya gonna make it mechanical, it's ALWAYS better if its BIGGER right? Peter...See MoreThe Rose Field This Week, and Elsewhere in the Garden, Too.
Comments (11)I'm very pleased that you all are enjoying all the happenings here on the 'farm'. One day I hope to put photo essays on my web site with a progression from before-to-after for various aspects of the place. This is yet another item on my horribly-long To Do list. For now, my husband (the computer guy) has put up links to some newspaper articles about our house and barn. The link to the site is on My Page. The credit for the Tiki Hut goes to my handyman/contractor. I gave him a picture with some scribbling on it, and he did the rest. The inspiration came from my visit to Heritage Rosarium this spring -- Nick's garden pavillion is absolutely incredible. We were struggling with our design for a structure in this space, and I used his as inspiration. (Thanks, Nick) The ironic part about this is that it's sited where it is because it gets absolutely no sun at all. It's nestled under the branches of a huge pecan tree, where it's always much cooler than the rest of the yard. This spot can barely grown anything besides shade-loving weeds, so roses are completely out of the question. The sunshine you see in my photo is the really low-angle evening sun coming in under the tree branches. We're practically having a plague of toads here right now. They're loving the cool dampness of my mulch pile, and I find one in about every second wheelbarrow load I haul. The little guy you see above was only about the size of the end of my thumb. We found a much larger one while we were working on Thursday morning. The barn has been finished structurally since spring. We had to wait until now for the weather to cool and the rough-cut poplar siding to dry before I could bring in the painters. It's really great to see the old girl standing tall again. She was in rough shape. I inventoried the driveway roses yesterday morning, and tallied up the extras -- there are a whole lot more than I thought there would be. *sigh* More later, Connie...See MoreThe best invention ever known...
Comments (13)We have hammock rings inside our Bali hut, and a hammock stand that hasn't gotten nearly enough use lately. Mark is a hammock nut from way back. He learned to sleep in a jungle hammock in VietNam and often took his camping with us, until it finally came apart at the seams from old age. Jungle hammocks are great for camping because they have mosquito netting and a "roof" above them to keep the rain off and the bugs out, but are still sooo comfy and have 360 degree visibility. We own two large double hammocks with wooden supports in each end, and at least six or eight smaller ones of varying sizes. When we hike, we always take two small rolled up ones along to string up and use as swinging seats while eating lunch. Good for an after lunch nap, too. The hammock is an age-old design that is pure function. And the function is such a NICE one! I would plant whatever you like in your restful area. Me, I have bees by the hundreds in every corner of my yard, and they never bother me. Doesn't matter whether I'm working or relaxing, they continue to mind their own business while I mind mine. But also, I'm not at all afraid of them, and I believe that factors into the equation. They don't feel threatened by me, and vice versa, so we all get along fine. That's just my own personal experience. With bees or without them, I'm sure you will learn to love your time in your new hammock! It's a great place to contemplate your plants and dream your dreams. Marcia...See MoreTarts and Cafloutis, inventions, advice and ideas?
Comments (20)Thank-you, Colleen! I see what you mean! I've been so immersed in it, and even had long running threads about what to do with discard, that it just didn't occur to me that "sourdough discard" and "sourdough" wouldn't be informative phrases. You're right! Everybody, I apologize!! So, when one feeds the sourdough starter (gives it new flour and water to munch on), the same proportion of the old is taken off and put in a jar, keeping it from growing and growing, to become pancakes, waffles, or quickbreads. The rising power is diminished because it hasn't been fed, but it's still good food as wet flour. For biscuits, it's great, especially when it's been in the jar longer, because it's already acidic (longer=more acidic) and will rise with baking soda, so you don't need buttermilk. You can also just put it in breads, cakes or anything else as so much flour and water, which also may rise some if you give the remaining yeast some fresh flour to gnaw on. Therefore, the pancakery of a clafoutis seemed like a good use for a cup of white flour sourdough discard. IC, you're much closer to the source for clafoutis. If you have a recipe or proportion you'd care to share, I'm all for it. Eggy is good. :) Thanks for the good wishes everybody. I'm still not ready to deal with the fruit, but I'm mostly better....See More- 10 years ago
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