Odd Jobs

Last week we re-vamped the first flush diverter on the South side of the barn, and added an outlet for the rainwater tank.

It worked amazingly! So much easier than the factory configuration. As set up in the kit there is a small nipple that threads on that is supposed to drip and empty the diverter tank gradually between rain showers. However, this doesn’t work at all, it just gets filled up with grit and mold, and has to be unscrewed and empty manually. So we installed a ball valve. 1″ threaded schedule 40 pipe doesn’t thread exactly, but close enough. The only problem is that the water didn’t flow directly into the drain.

So we added a section of garden hose. Problem solve.

Getting more of the winter garden seeds in. Collards, kale, beets, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, and onions to grow sets for next year.

The problem with winter gardening is starting the seeds in the hot dry of August. Continuous irrigation is a must, and the wood shavings help to keep the soil from drying out during the day.

There was a spot where the sprinkler hose had been chewed and was spraying on the path. This drops pressure in the rest of the hose so that the sprinkling doesn’t sprinkle properly.

So I let it dry and taped it up the next morning.

Ugly, but it will do until I can replace it. Next year I am scheming ways to keep them up off the ground so that the rodents don’t chew them, but that won’t help with them splitting as they degrade from UV light.

Iris tore apart her bale feeder, so Seppi and Daddy hooked her up with a new one.

What are you doing? Where are my snacks? Where is my forehead scratch?

This one is chained to the horse panel in two places and wire tied in two more places so she can’t bang it around.

Since we had the tools out, we set up the bale feeder in the other side of the barn as well, so it’s ready next time we put animals in there.