Hey ya’ll!
So, I’ve been absent, ghost, gone, away, not thinking about writing for a long while. Part of it admittedly was laziness. Part of it was that I was uninspired. I mean, things are slow around here and there’s not much to really talk about. Part of it is because it’s been easier to just take quick pictures and put up a caption on Instagram, but some of it has a lot to do with reinventing myself.
Archives for 2019
Repairing the Compost Tumbler Handle
Hello Family. I hope you all have been doing fine. We have been all over the map lately – literally. We drove two cars to Wisconsin to get Willie (our 1985 F-350). Through it all, we have been able to settle back down and complete a long overdue video showing how I repaired the compost tumbler handle.
If you remember back in our last video, we experimented with a way to get the compost out of the tumbler that was ready to be used. Well, I was STRUGGLING to turn the compost bin because our daughter broke the handle off of the tumbler. For the life of me, I could not figure out how she did it, but then I figured it out. I am pretty certain that she turned it the way it wasn’t supposed to turn, thinking it wouldn’t move.
Finally, I attempted to fix it after a few weeks of struggling with the handle. Below is a video of the steps of the repair attempt and the verdict…did it work?!
Homesteading Innovation
There are many facets of homesteading. One that I like is innovation. Homesteading innovation involves lots of creativity, prayer, failures, thinking, fussing, and hopefully success. Homesteading innovation happens because, well, often times, homesteaders are DIYers and it makes no sense to buy something that we can do ourselves. OR, it may be that what we need isn’t readily available – so, the best inventions are made from necessity. And this is where we are with this post.
We’ve talked a lot about composting lately. We’ve talked about bin composting and vermiculture. Antoine and I were gifted with a bin composter a while back. The first time we used it, we were able to get enough compost out to use in our self-watering bins.
That time it was a pretty messy process. We had to dump out the compost onto a tarp, rake through it to get the uncomposted pieces out of the way, scoop up the bits that could be used, then put all of the other things left behind back into the bin. Not to mention, it was a windy day so we had to find things to hold the tarp down.
Enter in, homesteading innovation! Antoine came up with the thought of making a homemade sifter. While we were at our local hardware store, my brain took a leap and thought maybe we can just give our composter a make-over. What would happen if we put the screen over the compost bin and forgo making a sifter? Click the video below and see how it went!
As always, thanks for reading!
~Deidra
The Dirt on Compost…WORMS
Hey ya’ll! In my last post, we talked about backyard/home composting. This post is going to be about composting, but in a different way. That’s right…let’s talk, WORMS!
[Read more…] about The Dirt on Compost…WORMSThe Dirt on Compost
The dirt on compost. If you don’t like to talk decomposition, stop reading now…I don’t want to…”soil” your appetite. Ok, ok…enough of that. Our daughter is way better at puns than I am. So, let’s get to it. Do you want to know how to turn your trash to something valuable? Today, we’re going to talk a little bit about composting!
[Read more…] about The Dirt on CompostGetting To Know Herman
Saturday was another milestone for me on this journey. I spent that day getting to know Herman. He’s cranky and powerful. He jerked me around a lot until we got to come to an understanding.
[Read more…] about Getting To Know HermanOur Spin On Potato Cakes
If you have never had them before, potato cakes are a simple meal that you can whip up fairly quickly. For us, we needed something quick for dinner to eat with some leftovers and this is what we made. Now, I can share what we made with you!
[Read more…] about Our Spin On Potato CakesRiding Lawn Mower Trouble
Helloooo everyone! I hope all is well with you. Today, I wanted to share with you all a little bit about our riding lawn mower, Grayson. Yes, it too has a name. It seems that we have pretty much named all of the motorized vehicles that we’ve owned – cars, trucks, tractor, law mower. The kids seem to enjoy it too because they get choices in the names.
[Read more…] about Riding Lawn Mower Trouble