In which we Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...and we wait for Spring to come

How can it still be winter?  

We are ready for SPRING!

Foxie Loxie doesn't need a shovel for dirt-moving

Alas, it is still February, and not time for gardening.  However, winter is an excellent time to begin thinking of Spring.

And that's what I've been doing!

Now that our elderly goats are comfortably situated inside their own stall of the barn (aka Goatenheim II) it's time to convert their former domain into a garden.

The new fence made Goatenheim much more secure...and slightly more attractive

I rebuilt the fence around the space earlier this year, thanks to the Dragon.  But the "future garden" is currently a jungle of grass and weeds--exactly what I do not want in my garden.



So, before it becomes a garden, Goatenheim will become Hænaheim -- a domain of chickens.

We began by moving the goat house.  We probably won't reuse much of that.

The chickens will eat some of the grass, and uproot much more in their never-ending scratching around activities.  I will probably have to pull out some of the grass myself, but then hens will save me a bunch of work...and they will have the fun of playing in a new space.

The cement piers were purchased for $5 each from the Habitat for Humanity store,
which recycles materials salvaged from demolished buildings.

The wood is left from some other project. The roof section is salvaged
from a mobile chicken tractor that we built in 2011

Elevated from the ground for sanitary reasons,
the roof section covers nest boxes and a roosting rail.

As always, I do the "rough carpentry" part of a task (digging the hole), then take pictures
while Jim makes sure the details are squared up properly.

I cut a hole in the existing pasture perimeter fence so I can access the
garden from the yard.  The fence post was left from somebody else's project.

This smaller post and the large railroad tie post are both
set in concrete so that they won't sag or droop when fencing hangs on them

Setting the concrete means adding water...and that means that Foxie will insist on
"helping" with the hose.

Elsewhere on the farm, we're building a Thing:

Jim didn't do it all alone:  Roo is the best helper.  

Assembling the frame is pretty straightforward. 

The anchors were the hardest part, because we kept hitting weed-barrier fabric--three layers!

The instructions were actually helpful.

Roo: still helping

Monica wandered by and took a picture so you could see me helping Jim and Roo with this.

Now you can really tell what it will be!

Front door and back wall

Foxie Loxie likes to help

"We are inside!"

It's not quite finished yet (we need to bring in electricity for the gro-lights) but you can definitely see where it's headed.

We will add gro-lights and a potting table

Spring must be coming soon...right?