Cheap and Pretty. I Like It But How to.....
4 years ago
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- 4 years ago
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How can I get chickens to roost where I want them to?
Comments (9)Yes, Roberta, it was reg upon reg, for better or worse, that eventually forced my parents out of their farming livelihood. At middle age, with no formal education they were forced to find city jobs (or move and rebuild the barn etc. etc. etc.). Unfortunately, their story is not unique. I'd love to see a documentary of the saga during this era - but the window is closing. I do have one question related to your comment though, before this thread folds completely. Our pullets aren't laying yet - though one of them jumps into the raised nest box and stirs it up good daily, so it shouldn't be too far off. Our ducks ARE laying however - but their nest box isn't so clean. I'm wondering if the tidy habits chickens keep goes for ducks also...If so, perhaps one of the drakes or the pullets are messing in it. It's ground level and doesn't belong to the pullets (paybacks?). Anyway, I have to tidy it up for them each morning. -lf...See MoreI Would Like To Dry Some Herbs -- Suggestions on How To??
Comments (4)I'm lucky to live in a climate where I can have fresh herbs all year round, so I rarely dry them. But when I do, I simply spread them over a paper-towel-covered cake cooler and leave them on my dining table - which is near my back door, so it gets a good air-flow. It can take several days for some herbs to dry to crispy stage, so for the first couple of days I change the paper-towelling, which in the early stages can get very moist. You can also dry your herbs in the oven. Heat the oven to lowest possible temperature, spread the herbs onto a baking tray in a thin layer, and leave in the oven until the herbs are crispy-dry. It is important to leave the door of the oven ajar throughout (I use a thick oven-mitt to prevent the door closing), and to check the herbs and given them a stir, from time to time. Then there's the microwave oven. This can take a bit of practice. Place some paper-towelling (3-4 thicknesses) onto a suitable flat dish, cover it with herbs (piled up is OK), then zap for about 1 minute on HIGH. Check the herbs, and stir them around. Change paper towel if very wet. Repeat, reducing the time gradually between checking, until the herbs are nice and crispy-dry. Once they're out of the microwave, stir them around while the excess steam evaporates, to help them cool quickly. When quite cold and still crispy, bottle and seal (and date!). OR you can tie your herbs into small bundles and hang them in a cool, well-ventilated, dry place. OR you can put your bunches/herbs into a brown paper bag and hang the bag in a cool (etc) place. Pierce the bag in several places to make small holes for air-flow. This is a good way of keeping both dust and bugs off your drying herbs, and the bag prevents any bits and pieces dropping to the floor....See MoreNeed to send a SASE? Do it on the cheap. (How-to)
Comments (4)Depends on how many seed packs you're sending. Stack too many on top of each other and you crush them no matter how much bubble wrap you put over them in a too small of an envelope. I don't see why some people worry about saving a few cents when they are getting several bucks worth of seeds that a lot of times you couldn't buy in a store or online. A lot of the seeds I get for peppers are only to be gotten if you are lucky enough to run across the few people who have the seeds to trade. I can see not wanting to spend $10.00 on 5 seeds but I trade for a lot of stuff at a time all over the world. It all works out to be pretty cheep in the long run. I trade a LOT of seeds and fill a LOT of SASBE offers for people. For example , C. Galopagoense seeds went for $5.00+ a pack of 5 or 7 seeds from some venders. It cost me about $2.00 to send seeds to someone who traded 30 varieties of seeds with me at a time. Thats 30 packs of seeds for $2.00 plus the recycled bubble envelope. The exchange could have included rare stuff like the C. Galopagoense or Yellow Bhut Jolokia seeds ($1.00-$1.25 a seed)or anyhing else. Seeds you can't buy from most venders for very cheep... Worrying about saving a few cents on postage shouldn't compromise seed safety. Postage is cheeper than buying the seeds from the start or people wouldn't do it. To me the safety of the seeds comes first. If I have to pay $1.00 more to send seeds so be it. Trying to send 30 packs of seeds in a 3X6 or whatever envelope is asking for trouble-crushed seeds. I see it all the time and after getting cracked seeds from some people I won't trade with them anymore no matter what they have.Cracked seeds don't grow... Heck,just to avoid standing in line at the P.O. I'll put $2.00 or whatever I think is too much postage on an envelope and stick it in my mailbox. The half hour of time I'd spend at the P.O. is worth the extra $ I put on the bubble envelope. My time is worth more than a couple bucks an hour. So are the seeds most of the time. There is being frugal and being cheep. UPC codes aren't fragile like seeds. If you are sending seeds the same way as the UPC codes your probably going to have powder arriving at the other end. Also coin envelopes need more padding than zips. They suround the seeds with 2 solid surfaces that can crunch seeds easier even in bubble wrap. Zips bend etc. and are able to flex when the mail truck runs over your seeds on it's way to Alaska en route to the guy across town you are sending them to. Sometimes saving a few cents isn't in your best interest. Just some things to think about when you pinch those pennies till they scream. LOL Use common sense and you'll have nice viable seeds comming in and going out....See MoreI want handmade subway tile for my backsplash. Like, cheap.
Comments (16)Thanks for that last link, raenjapan. I've been looking for the same thing for over a year! I had pretty much given up due to the price, but $13 I might swing. I tried the Allen and Roth Pearl, which is pretty, but was not good with my countertop. Like you, I am really drawn to a varigated grey green pop of color. I like the Leaf Peeper. What a name, huh? Looks a little yellow, but it is so hard to tell looking online. I am liking green river and moonshadow too. What other color samples were you going to order?...See MoreRelated Professionals
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