Nevadans?

[VCfeathers]

So coincidentally I was reading one of my favorite magazines today, and here is an awesome article on how to built a fairly cheap, super easy green house/ chicken coop. By the way I'm not quite this nutter prepper yet, but I'm working on it LOL.

http://backwoodshome.com/articles2/evangelista136.html

ETA; essentially you take 4x16 foot cattle panels ($20 new at cal ranch) and bend them to form an arch about 8 feet high, anchor both ends to the ground, then cover with heavy plastic.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

how do you make a hot house

This is the best online tutorial I've seen for making a cheap and very effective one.

http://doorgarden.com/10/50-dollar-hoop-house-green-house

The changes I'd make for our area:
-When they rolled the plastic over the roof/sides, they nailed it to a board. I would instead leave a few extra feet of length, and put straw bales on top of that. It would keep drafts from getting underneath, but most importantly keep WIND from getting under. The wind would skip over the domed top. The straw bales would absorb water and that would weigh them down and also help with the insulation along the bottom. Just make sure that you position the sides of the house in the direction where most wind comes from. One disadvantage to the straw is it would make an area along each side that didn't get much sun, but that would be a good temperature buffer anyway. Just put your plants a little further into the center.
-The front/back are straight vertical. I would slant the bottom out a bit from the top... again, to allow a surface for the wind to skip off and not tear up the plastic.
-Use 6mil plastic, no thinner.
-Buy Christmas lights on sale, or from a yardsale, and string them along the inside. This gives an extra 10 degrees protection. You can also get a heat bulb, about the same wattage that we use for our chicks. (Reptile bulb.) Put it on a clip desk lamp, so you can clip it to the frame and away from the plastic, directing the heat toward the floor since it will rise up anyway.
-Make it short enough that you can throw a quilt or two over the top at night. You'll have to stoop a little when you go inside, but it's worth it when the temperatures get down in the 20s.
-If you make it collapsible (so the plastic can come back off) you can take it off in the summer and drape it with shadecloth, then use that for your eggplant and tomatoes in the heat.

This is what we did for our greenhouse this year. It's actually built on several wire racks, held together with Dollar Store zipties. About May 15th, I took the plastic off and folded it up, but left the framework up to support growbags of potatoes. When it got super hot, I draped shadecloth over it, pinning it with binder clips. Those things are strong!!! The shade cloth is still over it.

One disadvantage to my setup would be the vertical walls. It works for me because I can park my big truck next to it for a windbreak if the winds get above 35mph. I attached industrial velcro to the pieces of plastic so I could dismantle it and reuse it, though a whole new roll of plastic is less than $30. I made the top retractable so I didn't have to worry about hardening off seedlings and dealing with sunburn. If it was over 40 degrees, they got full-on sunlight.

To tear this down, I just need to clip the zip ties, then stack the racks into a 4'x6' pile beside my fence. I can also move it into the back garden and set it over a dirt bed, planting greens directly in the dirt.



Christmas lights and a heat lamp. It really was not this bright at night. The camera really amplified it. Actually, it was a gentle blurry glow, really pretty. We only got compliments from people who drove by at night. But when the temps got into the low 20s, I tossed a couple of quilts on top at night, and the inside of the greenhouse never got below 50 degrees. The baby eggplant hung out comfortably. And the amplification of the sun in the daytime warmed everything up great, so I just reached in and turned off the heat lamp.



The framework with the plastic taken off, and shadecloth draped over top.



The framework used as a support system for potato bags. Plus, if some of these potatoes aren't fully mature by first frost, I just need to put the plastic over top... or just a quilt for the night, depending on the temps.



Anyway, thanks for abiding me while I blabbed about this. It worked so well this year, and so many people loved the health of the seedlings. I loved how they never got leggy because they always had the light they needed.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

So coincidentally I was reading one of my favorite magazines today, and here is an awesome article on how to built a fairly cheap, super easy green house/ chicken coop. By the way I'm not quite this nutter prepper yet, but I'm working on it LOL.

http://backwoodshome.com/articles2/evangelista136.html

ETA; essentially you take 4x16 foot cattle panels ($20 new at cal ranch) and bend them to form an arch about 8 feet high, anchor both ends to the ground, then cover with heavy plastic.

My favorite blogger built her greenhouse CHEAP using cattle panels.

I've been called a nutter prepper, but I keep telling myself that it's from people who are jealous. Those people who look at this work and roll their eyes are the ones who haven't admitted the reality of where their food comes from. Until I'm moving onto my dad's property in Idaho and building an underground shelter, I'm still maintaining some sanity.

 

[SunnyDawn]

Up to pg 1467 now and need a break once I post. Need to check on the puppies too.

So far I have 2 Polish....I hope Sunny pops in soon...she must need to go to town, she hasn't been on for a couple of days...anyway, one of the Polish is solid black and other looks chocolate. I know Sunny had a chocolate one but it didn't stay, does anyone remember what color it turned? I'm

it stays chocolate. Any ideas? Besides it's cute as can be!



The EE's nest was a mess with a broken egg and maggots! Had to move her and her loudly peeping eggs into a new nest. Thankfully she accepted the move but man it stunk! I can't get that smell off my hands! This is the egg I heard last night and thought it was hatched. I hope it's OK, it only has a hole in it, no zipping but very loudly chirping. I'll have to check it tonight. It's one of my late nights at the wine bar and just got a message on our FB page that a large group is coming in tonight so I probably won't be able to do anything until late tonight.

Congrats on the new hatchlings! I pmed you about the rest.

How exciting!!!!! But I MISSSSSSSSSSSS SUNNNNNNNY!

Can't someone help her get a better connection to the internet? Gosh, I miss her!

Hubby promised to try a couple more things this weekend. For one thing the coax cable is too long and the notes say the signal degrades with a longer cable. I bought him a kit to make it shorter.

to all the newbies

puppies

is everyone getting eggs from their ameracuanas but me? and i have 3

Most of mine are older than yours. Ameraucanas can take awhile to lay.

Sunny
CUTE!!!!! And it looks like the peachick tails are already coming in!

Now, IF they had a Chicken Channel, I'd never leave the house.

I might consider TV service again for that!

The older peahicks are getting their tails but from what I've read, a bigger tail at this age doesn't mean it's a boy.

I have some good chicken TV going on, two of my three broodies each have a chick! They hatched in the last couple of hour, right on schedule.

OFF TOPIC?

I didn't know we were constrained to a topic!

haha! Well even I sometimes wonder if I am interrupting the flow of a conversation. Nope, as long as we avoid the obviously contentious topics here, it is fine to talk about any thing here.

Silkie roo = gone! He will have 6 easter egger girlfriends out in red rock. they are the same age as him. And I just got another person wanting to take him. I told that person I would let them know one of my other silkies turns out to be a roo.

Congrats!!!

Thanks for the info about molting, Missy and Elizabeth. My girls hatched out in February, so maybe they won't molt until next fall.

Chickens molt 7 times before they reach a year old. The first molt after that is a big one though.

I find myself having huge visions, never quite materializes for me. Every year I tell myself this is the year. However, this year between the hen house and some mild depression (empty nest syndrome kicking in) I did not have the ambition. So, next year I will plan it around my husband and I, and what I know we will eat.
We ended up keeping 16 hens, 3 BR, 3 Buff Rocks, 4 Light Brahma and 6 RIR's. We are getting between 9 and 12 eggs a day now. The eggs are starting to get bigger now... hopefully start selling some eggs soon.

Oh on another topic.... I bought a horse just for me! I don't have her yet. She is in OR, and just weaned from her Dam. I will make the 10 hour trek the first week of Oct to pick her up, she will be 6 mos. It has been five years since I lost my Kona... I am ready to try again, my husband says it is part of my retirement (back to that empty nest thing). I have been here done this before with a young horse so I am very aware of the work ahead, but I see it as a journey and look forward to building a relationship with my little filly.

CONGRATS!!!

I have a document with gardening advice from Missy and Sunny, too! It really helps to have local people since advice from elsewhere may or may not work in our unique climate.

Have we got a master gardener's chapter here in Reno yet? I would love to attend meetings now and then.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Have we got a master gardener's chapter here in Reno yet? I would love to attend meetings now and then.

Yep! I'll ask my friend about it. She's the same one who makes the mayonnaise. (Which reminds me, I need to ask her about that, as well.)

 

[horseshowmomnv]

So coincidentally I was reading one of my favorite magazines today, and here is an awesome article on how to built a fairly cheap, super easy green house/ chicken coop. By the way I'm not quite this nutter prepper yet, but I'm working on it LOL.

http://backwoodshome.com/articles2/evangelista136.html

ETA; essentially you take 4x16 foot cattle panels ($20 new at cal ranch) and bend them to form an arch about 8 feet high, anchor both ends to the ground, then cover with heavy plastic.

That is a great ideal! That is something I could do.

Thank you!

 

[wolftracks]

PUPPIES????? WHAT PUPPIES??? Your puppies Sunny?? I want a female!

 

[2seth2]

hahahaha

 

[VCfeathers]

My favorite blogger built her greenhouse CHEAP using cattle panels.

I've been called a nutter prepper, but I keep telling myself that it's from people who are jealous. Those people who look at this work and roll their eyes are the ones who haven't admitted the reality of where their food comes from. Until I'm moving onto my dad's property in Idaho and building an underground shelter, I'm still maintaining some sanity.

LOL Missy, I was just trying to convince Ty that he should just let me tear this place down and dig us out a new one under the mountain. With all the things that keep breaking I'm about ready to throw in the towel. This week the water main under the cement floor in the barn broke. Still no idea how to get to it to fix it, or why it broke!

That is a great ideal! That is something I could do.

Thank you!

I thought you might like that Jann. Plus with your horse trailer the 16 foot panels wouldn't be so hard to pick up. It was really nice getting to meet you allby the way. I hope those seeds turn out good for you.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

LOL Missy, I was just trying to convince Ty that he should just let me tear this place down and dig us out a new one under the mountain. With all the things that keep breaking I'm about ready to throw in the towel. This week the water main under the cement floor in the barn broke. Still no idea how to get to it to fix it, or why it broke!


I thought you might like that Jann. Plus with your horse trailer the 16 foot panels wouldn't be so hard to pick up. It was really nice getting to meet you allby the way. I hope those seeds turn out good for you.

I know, right??? There are so many times both Russ and I have wished we could go back to potbelly stoves. When our success was actually up to our hard work, not the rising cost of fuel oil for heat! (Which reminds me... heating bill starts racking up in September. Ick.)

Hey Seth, nice hamburg! I'm glad you finally got one! How about a bigger pic of her?