Life around here is not all about fixing cars everyday. There is other stuff that needs work around here too, namely the garden. I haven't been putting much attention into the garden over the winter and now that it's well into January it's high time to get to work on the garden. I even concluded that I won't get a large portion of the garden ready by spring, I just need to get a small area ready so I can get some basic veggies planted. I can work on the fruit plots through the summer as well as rebuilding raised beds. Other plans involve making a large hydroponic operation using a lot of PVC and a network of pipes and water feed reservoirs to feed the hydroponics. Even the idea of aquaponics is on the table in a limited capacity.
At this moment one of the bigger projects for the garden that I wanted to get started on is taking an old chain link dog kennel that is 10x10 feet and using it as the basis of a small greenhouse. The plan is to build a roof truss setup that will attach to the top of the kennel, using some metal brackets that are used to hold 2x4's in normal wood construction. Those brackets will most likely be welded to the metal frame of the kennel and the 2x4's used for the roof trusses attached like usual with wood screws. Afterward the roof and sides will be clad with corrugated clear plastic sheeting which will complete the whole greenhouse. Extras like ventilation fans or even thermostatically controlled dampers with fans for temperature control will be added afterward. Other extras like thermal piles such as black plastic buckets of water can be added for heat retention in the winter, all the way up to electric heaters that can be used or keeping the temperatures in the greenhouse during the winter at a reasonable level to sustain plant growth. Smaller hydroponic systems and even LED grow lights may be added to give the plants the extra light needed for the shorter winter days. Well the area that I planned on using for the kennel greenhouse is a back corner of the garden near some small half oil drum raised beds I set up and a ground level raised bed. A washer drum is also used as a raised bed in this small area of the garden. The main problem is that the grounds in the back are overgrown with weeds and other floral trash that I never addressed even during the previous summer. First this shit had to go. Obviously clearing the grounds was just a simple matter of pulling up all the old weed growth and clipping the heavier shit that was more "tree" like. Only problem was there was a lot of this shit. It got done though, enough so that I was able to start setting up the kennel right in the corner of the garden. I cleared as much old growth from the back fences prior to setting up the kennel but then I decided that since the kennel is right in the corner, I can really just remove the fence that is right behind and beside the kennel and use the structure itself as part of the garden barrier along with the fence. With the kennel set up, I decided to clear the oil drum raised beds and the one ground level wood raised bed that I used last summer for growing. There were still a few dead plants in place that needed to get pulled which I hadn't gotten to over the winter. This refuse went into a brush pile with the other trash that was pulled from the kennel greenhouse plot, destined for a larger brush pile which I will build on so I can fire it at a later date. I also slowly started pulling the chicken wire fence from the side of the kennel and folding that metal up or staging with the scrap metal that will be going out the door in the very near future. The back of the kennel has some old chain link fencing and wood posts that are supported by metal fence posts, all of which will come down next.
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