Gardening for Old Folks (Adaptative)

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Ground has been frozen here since the beginning of November.

I let my water freeze, all except the horse tank which has a heater in it and we take water out of it for the chickens and goats.

I also take hot water out to top off rabbit waters until they are too full and require a trip to the house to get the ice out. My electric bill would be too high with everything getting a water heater.

 

[microchick]

I got three seed catalogs yesterday. Also the Sweet Basil I seeded and set in the window has finally germinated and sprouted! Spring's gotta be coming and right around the corner, says she as she loads more wood into the fireplace and pulls a sofa throw around her.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I got three seed catalogs yesterday. Also the Sweet Basil I seeded and set in the window has finally germinated and sprouted! Spring's gotta be coming and right around the corner, says she as she loads more wood into the fireplace and pulls a sofa throw around her.

I'm getting a few catalogs too, just waiting on the right ones to show up.

Spring is just around the corner, it's just a huge corner.

Here it doesn't arrive until the middle of April or later.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Ground has been frozen here since the beginning of November.

I let my water freeze, all except the horse tank which has a heater in it and we take water out of it for the chickens and goats.

I also take hot water out to top off rabbit waters until they are too full and require a trip to the house to get the ice out. My electric bill would be too high with everything getting a water heater.

I have 2 chicken water warmers, 60 watt bulbs. The candle warmers draw 17 watts. I need 4 of those.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have two separate chicken sheds, coop, approximately 70 or so chickens in the big shed with a few muscovy, along with the goats, donkeys, and a few rabbits. I also have my bantam coop, and my turkey shed, along with another rabbit area. I have multiple rubber pans and buckets for water. It isn't practical to try to heat everything. Maybe for a couple of birds, but for my critters it would be crazy, besides I enjoy the exercise.

 

[microchick]

It's taking me about 45 minutes in the morning to feed and water the chickens. It usually takes me ten or fifteen minutes at most. This morning I found myself standing in the big coop and not watching the birds. I was trying to get warm! You know when you can stand in a coop with 40 noisy, smelly bantams in it and not be bothered by the noise and odors that it's cold outside and you just don't want to go back out into it until you really have to.

DH welded up a little cart for me this past spring that I can bungee cord a recycling tub to and load water jugs, feed, etc into the tub and trundle off to the coops. I need to have him rig sled runners on it for winter. Sure is tough pushing in the snow but still better than having to trudge to the hydrant to fill the water jugs with freezing cold water.

Payback for mild winters is always a cold hearted witch. Sooner or later Mother Nature snaps you back to reality and then sits back and laughs at our reactions.

 

[chickmom3941]

It is all sarcasm of course. I'm seeing wicked wind chills predicted this coming week.

I can't remember much about last winter because of my knee replacement, that's all I remember. Actually it's been a few winters since I have been vaguely lucid, so I guess for me it's my first winter in quite a few years that I'm back out there battling the elements instead of just looking out the window.

So maybe it is actually enjoyable, reminds me I'm alive and kicking still, and able to do my own stuff again.

Sounds like you've been through quite a battle with whatever knee issues you've endured. I'm glad to hear you're able to get out and about again. I bet it is a good feeling. So I assume your knee replacement went well? I'm curious about it because my physical therapist told me if I don't keep up my therapy at home, I will probably need knee replacements within a couple of years (osteoarthritis). I have a whole set of exercises to do at home.

 

[chickmom3941]

It's taking me about 45 minutes in the morning to feed and water the chickens. It usually takes me ten or fifteen minutes at most. This morning I found myself standing in the big coop and not watching the birds. I was trying to get warm! You know when you can stand in a coop with 40
noisy, smelly bantams in it and not be bothered by the noise and odors that it's cold outside and you just don't want to go back out into it until you really have to.

DH welded up a little cart for me this past spring that I can bungee cord a recycling tub to and load water jugs, feed, etc into the tub and trundle off to the coops. I need to have him rig sled runners on it for winter. Sure is tough pushing in the snow but still better than having to trudge to the hydrant to fill the water jugs with freezing cold water.

Payback for mild winters is always a cold hearted witch. Sooner or later Mother Nature snaps you back to reality and then sits back and laughs at our reactions.

Great idea! As they say, "Necessity is the mother of invention". Hubs & I had a similar idea recently, thinking maybe we could get some kind of sled that we can tie a rope to, that I can use to haul feed & water out to the coop on. The coop is a bit far from the house, and sometimes it's hard to carry everything that far with my arthritic hands (especially the water). I could definitely use something like that in the winter. Summers are so easy - we just run a hose right outside the coop. Spring can't get here fast enough!

 

[CapricornFarm]

Great idea! As they say, "Necessity is the mother of invention". Hubs & I had a similar idea recently, thinking maybe we could get some kind of sled that we can tie a rope to, that I can use to haul feed & water out to the coop on. The coop is a bit far from the house, and sometimes it's hard to carry everything that far with my arthritic hands (especially the water). I could definitely use something like that in the winter. Summers are so easy - we just run a hose right outside the coop. Spring can't get here fast enough!

I can use the Mule to tote stuff but most of the time i just use the wagon. Or walk back and forth a bunch of times. I need the exercise. Too much yummy stuff for holidays!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sounds like you've been through quite a battle with whatever knee issues you've endured. I'm glad to hear you're able to get out and about again. I bet it is a good feeling. So I assume your knee replacement went well? I'm curious about it because my physical therapist told me if I don't keep up my therapy at home, I will probably need knee replacements within a couple of years (osteoarthritis). I have a whole set of exercises to do at home.

Funny thing about arthritis is exercise both helps it because it strengthens the muscles that support the joint, but it can also wear the joint out too. Hopefully you can put it off. Non weight bearing exercises are best.

I had bad knees for quite a few years, but than I had to go through chemo which caused incredible pain in my legs, especially my left knee. I finally after much complaining to my chemo doctor about it decided to see a knee guy on my own. Both knees are bone on bone but the left I decided to do first because it was more painful. They discovered during the replacement surgery that I had dead bone in my knee probably caused by the chemo.

Right after my surgery I had thought I had made the worse decision in my whole life. I had previously had both shoulders replaced and thought I knew what I was getting into but boy was it rough for those first 3 months. I'm about a year out now, and am grateful I did it. Therapy was hell though, all that forced straightening and bending.

It feels good enough for now to support my other knee which I hope to get another few more years out of before I commit to all that again, but some days are bad enough to think about it.

You will know you need it done when you cannot sleep, and the pain is constant. It's similar to a pounding toothache that never stops. I'm so glad I did it. Hopefully it holds up for a good long time as I'm only 50 and I may need some revisions, but they all have me pegged for a shorter life due to my health problems and conditions. I'm feisty so I plan to prove them wrong, but you never know.

Thanks for your kind words.