I spend last week at my sister's house. She is an amazing friend and it always re-charges my battery to spend time with her. She is an amazi...
A geodesic dome has many uses because of its structural strength. We share some inspiring uses for this space ship lookalike.
Behind the counter at the Arctic Coop store in Naujaat. Ivory pins and brooches are carved by Inuit residents from tusks of walrus and narwhale harvested for their meat and blubber. Some grey to tan-coloured caribou antler and black-coloured bowhead baleen in there too. This eclectic jewelry display is typical for all Inuit hamlets across the Arctic.
Liv Sandvik Jakobsen (@livslyst)
The best Pot Roast you'll ever try! No extra frills, just well seasoned, fork tender beef Pot Roast with all of the trimmings!
I have been gardening in some form or another for pretty much my entire adult life. I have heard the term "permaculture" here and there but honestly it
With its steel spiral skylights and modern design, the Martin Luther Church in Hainburg, Austria by COOP HIMMELB(L)AU is a beautiful piece of architecture.
This Spring has been the most amazing rose season I have ever experienced. Under the expert care of our gardener, Ricardo Gutierrez, all of our rose bushes and vines have exploded in gorgeous blooms
My heart swoons for beautiful chicken coops. And although the Hen Hilton is built, it's not quite "finished". So I'm always looking at phot...
The Araucana is responsible for the blue egg craze! If you are looking to add the Araucana breed to your flock, here's all you need to know.
Ready to keep your chickens entertained? Check this ingenious chickens toys ideas and get started today!
Explore setting by creating a travel brochure for the setting of your book.
Decoration, ventilation and a hangout for your rooster!
Don't throw away your sawdust! We found a few dozen uses in and around the homestead you'll be glad you learned.
My first home in Vermont had a huge patch of bee balm growing right outside my bedroom window. I'd wake up to a flurry of hummingbirds in the summer, arguing over the nectar inches from
Students will have fun while learning how to cooperate and communicate.
food journaling from a young mama
Pine Siskins ~ Cardinal watching the action! I recently conducted a class for the Master Gardener chapter that I'm a member of on making bird-feeders utilizing natural sources, recycled materials and re-purposed items. Of course the best bird-feeder is what nature provides: nuts, seeds and fruit from native trees, shrubs and wildflowers (and native insects)... Here's my hand-out for my "bird" talk I give: Creating a Bird Garden But - this class was all about creating bird-feeders and I came up with a few originals and I experimented with several I found on the Internet. As far as I know this DIY is an original, but I've came to the conclusion that there really isn't a novel idea anymore. Even if you think that you thought of something first - you probably didn't... Really the best thistle feeder is a purchased tube feeder that is specifically designed to hold this small seed and prevent waste. When I tried to come up with a DIY way to offer thistle, a sock feeder seemed like the logical option. The examples that I found didn't seem that durable and were rather unattractive, such as a DIY thistle sock made out of recycled or repurposed pantyhose... Another tutorial used the mesh lining out of old running shorts. Neither of these examples sounded as if they would hold up very long or actually work. I decided to construct my own version of a thistle sock using burlap because - it's cheap, the weave is small enough that the seed won't fall out and it's more attractive than watching the birds eat from an old pantyhose :) I'm not sure how long this sock will last... So far it's been re-filled three times and hasn't shown any signs of damage. And - at less than 50 cents a feeder, I think it's a pretty cheap way to offer thistle to my backyard birds - if only the thistle or Nyjer seed wasn't so expensive! Supplies: 1/4 yard burlap (about $1.00 and will make 3 socks) jute sewing machine, scissors, pins... Cut out a rectangle about 8 x 15" An easy trick to cut a straight line in burlap is to pull a string out. - This makes a line to follow when cutting... Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise and sew the sides and one end using a 5/8" seam allowance. Double stitch the seam by sewing another seam 1/4" from the edge. In my first version, I noticed that the birds found the seeds easiest to pick from the seam - double stitching the seam will definitely increase the durability of the sock! Turn under the top edge of the sock (right sides together) 3/4" and stitch 1/4" from the edge. Turn the sock right side out. Using a safety pin attached to 1 yard of jute, make a small hole in the folded edge and thread the jute through the fold. I added a couple of wooden beads to the ends of the jute and secured them with a knot above and below the bead. Add thistle to the sock (a funnel works well), pull the jute tight and tie. Make the jute strands into a slip knot to hang. Watch the action! Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches Male Red-bellied Woodpecker Not at all interested in thistle... Just a resting spot! Outdoor Wednesday Down Home Blog Hop I'd Rather B Birdn' Wild Bird Wednesday Nature Notes Clever Chick Blog Hop
The 90-year-old Duchess of Devonshire talks about her famous Mitford sisters, meeting Hitler and why she doesn't like change
A fence is the obvious choice, but there are many other ways to design for privacy in the garden. We turned to members of the Remodelista + Gardenista Arch
They helped bring a traditional yurt into the 21st century.
As you may have read before, Farmer B and I are on the quest for the perfect attached run for the chickens. They currently have a run-less coop and a separate hoop-run that we move around the yard every couple of days. We know there has to be a better method, so we've (meaning "I've") been researching the heck out of chicken run alternatives. One alternative that I found fascinating is the Chicken Moat. When I mentioned this to Farmer B it led to an interesting discussion about whether chickens can swim. (This has been much debated, but yes they can swim, although usually NOT by choice. Who knew?) Instead of a water-filled moat, this is a ground-level fenced-in "moat" around a vegetable garden. picture from Mother Earth News The chicken moat is a fenced area that runs along the perimeter of a garden that keeps the vegetable garden pest-free as the chickens scamper around the moat snapping up weeds and bugs. I read about it on Mother Earth News and think it is a great solution for someone with a vegetable garden and serious carpentry skills. I envision little drawbridges, turrets and dragon stencils around the edges, but that's just me. You can click here to see some great photos. Another really cool idea for people with a raised bed vegetable garden is to build a chicken run that is the exact size of your raised beds. picture from Garden Girl TV Each season you place the chicken run on top of one of your raised beds that is out of commission for the season. That bed becomes the flooring for the chickens who will scratch around and prepare that bed with all their nitrogen-rich chicken poo for the next planting season. Each season you rotate the chickens to a new raised bed where the process continues again. You let them do the work for you. Yes, you there - you chicken - you lay fresh eggs AND prepare my garden bed for next season's planting! Garden Girl TV has some great photos of a chicken run on a raised bed and even a tutorial for making a raised bed run. As cool as both of these ideas are, sadly neither one will work for us. I think we'll end up renovating a chain-link dog run into a chicken run if we can acquire one on FreeCycle or CraigsList. We don't have the time, energy and mad carpentry skills to make a nice, fancy wood and wire chicken run, so I think adapting a pre-made dog run to meet our needs is the way we'll go.
Discover how to make an anemometer with cardboard and paper cups. This simple anemometer for kids is a fun weather STEM activity that's perfect for spring.
Resources, links, and a few Pinterest fails from our week learning about Holland (the Netherlands.)
Image 9 of 24 from gallery of OMA, BIG, and UNStudio Among Prominent Firms to Reveal Visions for Landmark Melbourne Southbank. The Beulah Propeller City. Image Courtesy of Coop Himmelb(l)au / Architectus
