The Home Improvement Thread

[Taco Loco]

I'm starting to think thats a conspiracy by big farm ag. Ive got no clue what I'm doing but I keep seeing great results by people who use them in local organic farms 20 miles from me. I'm always skeptical as you know by now. People keep blasting them and what they are doing - but their results speak for themselves to the uneducated like myself.

This guys house is putting out more organic food than some small pro growers and everything is mulched with wood chips (whole tree shredded and aged). Everything from his trees to his fruits. Whole dang yard.

pretty cool, you need 10 dump truck loads of mulch for your backyard!

I noticed that song by the Avett Brothers in the background, that comes on the Mumford and Son’s radio station that I play on Pandora.

 

[Oswego]

pretty cool, you need 10 dump truck loads of mulch for your backyard!

I noticed that song by the Avett Brothers in the background, that comes on the Mumford and Son’s radio station that I play on Pandora.

I know the guys got the typical NJ DB accent and it's even hard for me to listen to him, but holy cow this guy is upbeat and super positive. Watched about 20 of his videos and nothing gets him down. Also not a big fan of small dogs but his is pretty cool. Dog eats carrots/peppers/asparagus/etc right out of the garden so half the time he needs to lock him out while he is working on it. Never seen a dog eat a whole pepper, but you can train them to do anything so eating natural food prob not that hard to do

I'm just going to mulch around my berry patch so the crab grass isn't competing and so I can keep more water in the ground longer and not have to mow another 300sqft of lawn. Nothing like he has, but if I started doing that when I bought holy cow my house would be awesome by now. That new mulch bed will give me a reduction of about 300 sqft of lawn. 800sqft ft total this year I got rid of that I don't need to mow every week. Will be nice to have property that starts actually giving back to me vs taking like it has the past 15+ years. Good ol hindsight

 

[CowboyTaco]

Put a glue trap on the shelf for my grill. Something, either mouse or chipmunk, has been nesting in there. It's always gone when I take the cover off, but I usually see evidence of its presence just about every time I take the cover off.

@Taco Loco , have you thought about a rain collection system? You can get a 500 gallon (or whatever size you want) underground tank and a pump strong enough to push water through the sprinkler system for under $1k, I would think. I partly considered doing that here and figured it would cost me right at $1k including sprinkler heads, control valves, all pvc, etc.

 

[Taco Loco]

Put a glue trap on the shelf for my grill. Something, either mouse or chipmunk, has been nesting in there. It's always gone when I take the cover off, but I usually see evidence of its presence just about every time I take the cover off.

@Taco Loco , have you thought about a rain collection system? You can get a 500 gallon (or whatever size you want) underground tank and a pump strong enough to push water through the sprinkler system for under $1k, I would think. I partly considered doing that here and figured it would cost me right at $1k including sprinkler heads, control valves, all pvc, etc.

yeah I’m actually considering doing this, but with above ground tanks, I could take them with me upon moving.
The shop with attached carport has an estimated 3,400+ sq ft and 28 - 29” avg rainfall would be approximately 60K gallons per year. I would need to price out everything, cistern tanks, gutters, piping, pumps, and sprinkler system and calculate BE vs well vs water billed.

I’m also trying not to have any significant expenses right now... need to maintain my cash, incase some land that I like comes up on the market.

 

[Oswego]

The past few weeks have been my first time watering anything in my yard for years and it really has me thinking I need to do some collection. Plants will like it better and it's free. I always leave (2) 5 gallon buckets out at night so they can de-chlorinate before I use them to water my new blueberry bush's. I never drink my own tap water w/o filtering it so last thing I want is my plants drinking it. You can smell the chlorine in it as soon as you turn on the tap. Water tower is 200 yards from me so I guess I get all the good additives at full strength. This quarters water bill will determine if I grab some 50 gallon juice concentrate plastic barrels and make my own. Hopefully my contact still sells them for $5 a pop. I can get them for free as well, but they housed chemicals so.....

 

[Taco Loco]

Atleast once a year, sometimes twice we have received up to a 3in rainfall event, so I would need a minimum of 4,000 gallon storage but ideally closer to 6,000 gallons to maximize capture.

 

[Oswego]

This guys a tool bag IMHO but he has some neat water collection reservoirs...not sure what video this one is but if you check his channel he's got some small and some neat BIG reservoirs I remember watching get installed

 

[Taco Loco]

This guys a tool bag IMHO but he has some neat water collection reservoirs...not sure what video this one is but if you check his channel he's got some small and some neat BIG reservoirs I remember watching get installed

thanks

 

[Taco Loco]

I should probably put in a contingent offer on this 1490 County Road 444, Nixon, TX 78140 | MLS #409953 | Zillow

paint mine and put it up fo sale!

Just would have to talk the Laundry Fairy in downgrading living conditions for awhile until I can build a barndo.

 

[Oswego]

Thats my kind of land and I really like the deeded right of way that sets the property far back from the road.

Only about half a million above my budget

 

[tex]

I should probably put in a contingent offer on this 1490 County Road 444, Nixon, TX 78140 | MLS #409953 | Zillow

paint mine and put it up fo sale!

Just would have to talk the Laundry Fairy in downgrading living conditions for awhile until I can build a barndo.

I know exactly where that is at. Been through Nixon many times and even got pulled over there once.

 

[CowboyTaco]

I know exactly where that is at. Been through Nixon many times and even got pulled over there once.

Were you in a Camaro?

 

[tex]

Were you in a Camaro?

Nope. Regular cab Tacoma. I was taking a new deer feeder down and the local cop decided coming through there at midnight and obviously a non local required him to stop me.
I saw him when the speed limit drops in town and then he was behind me, came to a full stop for a few seconds at the blinking red light and then lights me up. Said I didnt slow down for the speed limit changes and didnt come to a complete stop at the light. I got off with a warning but it was total BS.

 

[Oswego]

Got a line on free pine needles for as long as my buddy owns his property. Getting a few bags tonight. No more dawn/dusk raids of local dirt roads

Working on chipped whole trees now. I need some high heavy braches cut down so who better to ask than my tree guy. Not thrilled having to pay to get 3 neighbor's trees trimmed on 3 sides of my property line so Ive been putting it off, but now I need as much light in my yard as possible ASAP + it will be nice to be able to park in my driveway w/o another branch denting it up more than the last one already did.

 

[CowboyTaco]

So @tex , how many times you been pulled over?

In other news, got the culprit in one night. He fought the good fight though. Scratched up the paint and tore a new hole in the cover. I would have thought that his front feet would have been caught first, but dead is dead. Already cleaned up the murder scene and sprayed some black high heat enamel on the grill.

 

[tex]

@CowboyTaco I have been pulled over my fair share but that time in Nixon was my last besides the Camaro last year. So as I have got older the frequency of being pulled over is much much less

 

[Oswego]

Finally got some of my moms handy work hung up. Had her make me a leaded glass "screen" for my master bathroom window. Other stuff is small items she makes me for holidays/etc.

I didn't want to put a blind up blocking all the light but getting out of the shower with the neighbor seeing your johnson is not so good so now they just see from the shoulders up

 

[Taco Loco]

Got a line on free pine needles for as long as my buddy owns his property. Getting a few bags tonight. No more dawn/dusk raids of local dirt roads

Working on chipped whole trees now. I need some high heavy braches cut down so who better to ask than my tree guy. Not thrilled having to pay to get 3 neighbor's trees trimmed on 3 sides of my property line so Ive been putting it off, but now I need as much light in my yard as possible ASAP + it will be nice to be able to park in my driveway w/o another branch denting it up more than the last one already did.

The moisture is from last evenings 10min rain.
Between the Victory Garden rows(non growing space) I’am using little as possible to combat weeds, and trying to keep the cost down.

This row, less than 1” cedar mulch.

This row, layer of cardboard was placed down, then added less than 1” cedar mulch on top, significant difference, a ton more moisture is still maintained.

I need to save more of the big boxes(I remove all the tape and shipping labels etc) and recycle them for more weed barrier and added moisture to the garden.

 

[Oswego]

So @tex , how many times you been pulled over?

In other news, got the culprit in one night. He fought the good fight though. Scratched up the paint and tore a new hole in the cover. I would have thought that his front feet would have been caught first, but dead is dead. Already cleaned up the murder scene and sprayed some black high heat enamel on the grill.

View attachment 23884

I got one the other day. Stopped checking my traps I had set but this one let me know he was caught after a few days. Walked into living room and got a nose full of the good ol death scent. Starting to think they are getting in from my crappy hole riddled eves because Ive scoured my foundation looking for entry points and I keep coming up empty.

The moisture is from last evenings 10min rain.
Between the Victory Garden rows(non growing space) I’am using little as possible to combat weeds, and trying to keep the cost down.

This row, less than 1” cedar mulch.
View attachment 23934

This row, layer of cardboard was placed down, then added less than 1” cedar mulch on top, significant difference, a ton more moisture is still maintained.
View attachment 23935


I need to save more of the big boxes(I remove all the tape and shipping labels etc) and recycle them for more weed barrier and added moisture to the garden.

That NJ guys I posted up uses HD craft paper in rolls. I always save my box's so Ill use the same method you did. He said he use's the craft paper because it's cheap and too time consuming to pull out all the staples and tape. I already break everything down like that for recycling so no time suck for me. Only difference will be putting it on the ground vs in a can. With my crab grass HD paper would be laughed at

 

[PSU Taco85]

Finally got the giant willow cut down that was hanging over my shop. No truck parts for this week, money went to the tree climbers. miss the look of the tree but will not miss the clogged gutters or risk of my shop getting crushed.