Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[Callender Girl]

Wonderful that you don't have seepage in the basement anymore, Jim!

The son of a friend from Minnesota came down yesterday. His family has always been talented at building things, and Ian is reworking one of my coops and adding a bigger run. Thanks to Jim's stockpiling of, well, everything, we have most of the lumber we need. However, I will be handing over some money at Menards today for additional hardware cloth.

My feather-footed Cochins will be delighted that we are raising their home off the ground so their lovely tootsies will stay dry more often.

 

[Callender Girl]

Once again, I have failed to correctly predict my chickens' reactions. The Cochins are far from delighted that their coop is now raised off the ground and totally clean. They acted as if I had just set their feathers on fire and repeatedly rushed the coop's lower door.

I, on the other hand, am already enjoying the higher side door where I can check the nest box without bending down. Thanks to my Menards' rebates, I spent less than $20 for additional supplies.

Today, we tackle the new run!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We got a pretty good downpour for about 2 hours here. I guess we just needed to cut our hay and I had to spend a few hours watering stuff. That combination seems to be some version of a rain dance.

 

[Callender Girl]

Congrats on the precipitation, Lisa! I love the video!!

I also hauled water out to the veg garden and to all the new trees yesterday morning. Then, at least a minor storm woke me up at 1 a.m. Once it's light out, I'll check the rain gauges.

My friend's son finished the new chicken run Friday afternoon. Since the design was his, the labor was free and he mostly used materials I already had, I didn't say much. But, I will be buying 1-by-2's and sandwiching the hardware cloth between those and the existing frame. I don't trust staples to keep predators from ripping the HC away from the wood.

 

[jvls1942]

NOW I think I am finished with the rain barrels.
Yesterday I took the downspout off and took it all apart.
I calked any place that it could possibly leak and put it
back together. then I dragged another barrel over .
now there are three barrels.
Lisa, the rain that you got, petered out when it got
here. it drizzled for a few minutes and was done.
not enough to even come out the drain spout.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We ended up with just a 1/4 of an inch in the rain gauge. Seemed like more. Sorry you didn't get any Jim. Barb I hope you did get some.

 

[jvls1942]

so far we are not feeling the draught.
I still have a full barrel of water for my tomatoes.
as long as it rains a little each week we will survive..
yesterday I took the rain spout off and took it all
apart. caulked any place where it could possibly
leak and put it back up.. I am not going up
there any more. if anything leaks, it can leak.
my next project is to stop the outside faucet
from leaking out of the handle. another half hour
job that I can cram into a full week's work..

 

[jvls1942]

It rained earlier, and now it is raining again.
I went out and watched the water pour out of
the downspout perfectly and emptying into
both auxiliary barrels equally.
no leaks in the downspout that I could see.
this will be a short rain, but there is possibly
more forecast for this afternoon. and some
for tomorrow, maybe.
I'll take what I can get.
My next project will be to reroute the sump
pump drain lines. thinking I might bury them
so we don't have to mow around them.
this place will be nice for somebody in the future.
none of my three children want it. GS Kalib is not
sure. Other GD has her home already . Might have
to dip into the greats..

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Wow Jim. Not a cloud in the sky here. Our sump line is buried. It's worked well for many years. Had to roto rooter it out this year. Not bad for around 25 years of use.

 

[jvls1942]

well Lisa, I bet there were clouds in your skies
this morning. at 5 AM i listened to the distant thunder.
Fell asleep before the rain arrived. Annie got up
and when I finally woke up, she said it rained good.
The water in the barrels will be the judge of that.
I got the new drain pipes in place. temporarrily.