Monday, March 24, 2014

Ever Evolving

It seems like it has been forever and a day since I last posted.  We've had some major projects happening here so I've been busier than a one-armed paper hanger lately.  If I've said it once, I've said it one thousand times.  I am always looking for ways to make my space more efficient.  Therefore, I am always assessing whether a project done in the past works for me today, especially as I expand, and how a project on my to-do list will make things run a little more smoothly.  Late winter to early spring seems to be our time for big projects.  I don't have too much going in the garden and it's not 100 degrees outside.

So, here is a run-down of this year's projects.



The GA Henitentiary came down.  The run portion was in prime growing territory, and since I made the decision a few years ago to move all of the animals to the back half of the yard, having animal housing here just didn't make sense anymore.  Plus the termites were having a field day with it, and it was only a matter of time before it came down on its own. 



In its place went a new 10x12 greenhouse.  Doing this opened up the bed where the run used to be and also freed up my smaller greenhouse, which is actually in the animal yard, for feed storage.  This greenhouse was almost grounds for divorce at our house!  Ha, ha!  It will have to last forever because Nate will NEVER construct one for me again. 



And, as if the greenhouse wasn't a big enough chore, it was followed by another whopper.  What was originally my rabbitry and then storage was converted to a four stall barn.  This was my major expansion project for this year giving me greater versatility in animal housing.  The raccoons had figured out that the lattice was easily ripped off and they were helping themselves to the feed, removing the lids from the containers, and making a huge mess in the process. I was limited by the henitentiary because I could only grow-out one rabbit litter at a time.  Now I can breed more than one rabbit at once and not worry about grow-out space.  Plus, it gives me the option for separating animals when needed.  The really fun part of this was digging out all of the stalls to a foot depth, in the Georgia clay mud I might add, laying down chicken wire and stapling it around the perimeter and then back filling with mulch.  The mulch has been wonderful for providing drainage.  Because of the density of the clay and the high water table of this area, it was always muddy.  I've noticed a huge difference now after a big rain storm.  The chicken wire serves two purposes, to keep predators from digging in and baby bunnies from digging out.  By the way, a stackable organizer from the Dollar Tree flipped sideways and screwed to the wall makes an excellent hay feeder.




Since I lost my feed storage area, my old 6x8 greenhouse became my feed storage shed.  Nate finished the shelving for it, and it is perfect.  It sits in deep shade during the summer so with the ventilation windows and the door open during the day, I'm not too concerned about the feed getting too hot.




And, here are a few photos of the animal yard as it is today.  The rabbits are to the right.  My feed storage is above that.  The chicken coop is just behind the barn.  I'm digging it!



Happy homesteading,


Candace 




4 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh! Have you ever done a lot! So many good ideas and I'm filing them all away for possible future use. Thanks for all the pics. They sure do help explain it all.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Mama Pea! Hopefully that's it for the big projects for a while. I really want to get on with the fun stuff!

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