I won't be posting much the next couple of weeks, not that I have been lately anyway, as we'll be taking some much needed time with family and friends. We may even catch a day or two of camping at one of our favorite spots on Merritt Island. Could a fishing trip on the boat be in our horizon?
We've been trying to keep our heads above water lately, and we look forward to the changes 2015 will bring. The animals at The Compound are doing great. The containers concrete floor is almost done, so we may soon be able to put that entire project behind us and move on to the outdoor kitchen.
I think we'll be focusing pretty heavily on the garden along with breeding rabbits and my favorite pig "the Queen" this Jan/Feb. We'll also need to build some nesting boxes for the turkey hens. Other than that, we have some more land clearing to do, then we'll hatch out some new chicks. What are your plans for 2015?
Most of all the Moose and I would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thanks for following along, and most importantly keep blogging. We get a lot of inspiration and ideas from all of you!
God Bless
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Stadium Seating for the Blueberries a Repurpose Project
What seems like so long ago was the purchase of 25 blueberry plants. They've been watered and talked to in their pots since. That was until we finally got the multi layer (stadium seating) arrangement done.
Again we used the infamous free skids. I tacked on some weed blocker on the back to help keep the dirt behind the boards. It worked like a charm. We have three levels of berry plants. This also serves as a way to keep the dirt from eroding off the side of the container.
One set of skids is actually two sided, so I'm thinking eventually I'll add some dirt in between and plant strawberry plants in the spaces between wood slats. Do you think it would work?
We're all looking forward to the first harvest!
Monday, December 1, 2014
The Long Awaited Container Update
It has been one heck of a summer and fall for The Compound. One issue after another, projects that got moved up on the list of priorities, pushed the container project in the background, along with a water issue inside.
We had record rains this year. The canal has never been this high in the 4+ years we've been here, and this past week didn't help any either (8+ inches in less than 24 hours). We had standing water inside. At first we were not sure where it was coming from. You see, they're supposed to be water tight. We actually had the walk in cooler installed and were about ready to start installing the solar panels and shelving. That has been put on hold for months, as we tried a few different things, and frankly waited until the water level went down and the container dried out.
Our solution, tar the floor, laydown a water proof tarp (for lack of a better word, I'll use tarp), then we poured a 3" base of concrete.
So here's a short video of the inside.
We still have more concrete to pour, but we needed the cooler up for this weekend, as we butchered our first pig at The Compound. He's part of our Thanksgiving feast.
Here's a video of the walk in cooler, refrigeration option. FYI, I mentioned Fridgedair (the only brand they don't recommend) We actually have a GE unit.
For more information on the system itself, here's a link to their site.
http://www.storeitcold.com/
It worked like a charm for 4 days straight! It's a great option to the standard walk in refrigeration, which needs 208v and a refrigeration guy to install and charge. Besides, it's expensive. We easily did this ourselves. It could make just about any room a walk in cooler, using standard 110v and cost no more than $500 total, between the CoolBot and the AC unit.
We had record rains this year. The canal has never been this high in the 4+ years we've been here, and this past week didn't help any either (8+ inches in less than 24 hours). We had standing water inside. At first we were not sure where it was coming from. You see, they're supposed to be water tight. We actually had the walk in cooler installed and were about ready to start installing the solar panels and shelving. That has been put on hold for months, as we tried a few different things, and frankly waited until the water level went down and the container dried out.
Our solution, tar the floor, laydown a water proof tarp (for lack of a better word, I'll use tarp), then we poured a 3" base of concrete.
So here's a short video of the inside.
We still have more concrete to pour, but we needed the cooler up for this weekend, as we butchered our first pig at The Compound. He's part of our Thanksgiving feast.
Here's a video of the walk in cooler, refrigeration option. FYI, I mentioned Fridgedair (the only brand they don't recommend) We actually have a GE unit.
For more information on the system itself, here's a link to their site.
http://www.storeitcold.com/
It worked like a charm for 4 days straight! It's a great option to the standard walk in refrigeration, which needs 208v and a refrigeration guy to install and charge. Besides, it's expensive. We easily did this ourselves. It could make just about any room a walk in cooler, using standard 110v and cost no more than $500 total, between the CoolBot and the AC unit.
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