Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Well, we did have a break in the weather on the weekend, but our intention to mow (okay - *my* intention and Adrian's less-than-enthusiastic agreement to mow) was thwarted by clouds and a lack of a breeze.  There were a few hours of blue sky, and the sun definitely made an appearance, but the grass remained beautifully studded with shiny drops of water. No go for the mowing.

So instead, we managed to get a few projects under our respective belts and chatted with the neighbors who we've been trying to get acquainted with since we moved in (it's difficult knowing which of the long driveways with No Trespassing signs out here will end at the home of someone who's happy you ignored the sign....) A neighbor from across the road was visiting the house next to us while I was out breaking up kindling, so after he stopped to chat for a bit, I unofficially invited us next door, armed with jars of black currant jam. Turns out, we live near some nice folk, both families would be interested to try rabbit meat and would love to buy eggs from us next year.  We're all currently paying $7/doz for organic free-range eggs at the store, and they see the value in paying us for our time and feed bill instead!

As the season is changing on the property, so have the chores.  The garden is basically in a holding pattern - waiting to be harvested (carrots, lettuce, beets, kale) or waiting to be top-dressed with some rabbit manure and wood ash to amend the rather lifeless soil over the winter months (shhhh... I don't count all of the chickweed seeds). Time to look at some minor building projects.

The garden came with a small greenhouse - the roof of which had not fared well during the snows of last winter. The intention is to save up for some rigid plastic sheets for the roof next year, but for now a break in the rain gave us a chance to throw a piece of salvaged heavy-duty plastic over the ripped roof and staple it in place. The plastic was from our collapsed hoop house project, and had helped in our transfer of the rabbits in the U-Haul before serving as temporary rain shelter for them when we moved.  It was definitely a 2-person job, and it isn't pretty, so I shall not offend you with a picture. At least the rain should be kept out and the tools inside will now be less likely to rust. With a bit of jinking, I think my seed starting will be possible out there, and my thrifted grow light shelves will just barely fit the table along one side with a bit of creative carpentry.

We've been making a go of collecting used, free pallets in town for some minor projects in the yard - their main use up to now being to get our firewood off the wet ground. I had set aside several of the cleaner pallets, and made sure that they all showed marks identifying them as heat-treated (HT), rather than risking they had been fumigated.

And with our handy-dandy zip ties (really, they rate very close to duct tape and WD-40 in overall usefulness), we played around with their orientation until we managed to build a 2-compartment composting area - finishing it off with some decking screws and a couple of orphaned shelving uprights to tie the back of the unit together. This is quite rudimentary I realize, but it is raised on a high spot for drainage, and has already given us a convenient spot for cage cleanings, stove ash, kitchen scraps, and several layers of the maple leaves which are finally falling. It's close enough to the house that I don't mind running out in the rain to dump vegetable peelings, and far enough away that it won't funnel rodents into the laundry room. The slats allow for air circulation, and a tarp over top of the pile will regulate the rainwater added. We've started our pile on one side; I will fork over the pile into the second chamber in the spring, and depending on how many earthworms and insects volunteer, and how well the pile heats up, we should have compost for feeding our transplants next May and June. I'll be building more bins as pallets can be acquired and locations permit, so that we can use all of the weeds, leaves, and animal wastes available to us to make better garden soil in the future.

As the grass dies back, we've also been discovering more cast-off debris in the woods. A few weekends ago, we realized there were several towers of plastic buckets fallen over and covered with leaves and brambles. We're slowly reclaiming them, and breaking down our large eyesore useful pile of tree limbs and cuttings in the orchard, to make bundles of kindling for the woodstove. They're pulled up tight to the house, largely under cover of the roof, and they can be easily swapped out to sit next to the fire as needed.

Use what you've got!

With a nice fire in the stove, it didn't bother us *too much* when the rain started up again.