barn

All

Around

the

Barn

Bring Nature Close and All Around the Barn want to introduce tools that work well on the homestead, in the backyard or while camping. Check it out and find a cool new tool or a handy gadget.

Find the tool or gadget you need for the job. Bring Nature Close and enjoy!

Beer Flats

     Beer Flats are one of the most usable items I know. My friend calls it precycle, that is what one does before recycling.
     I use beer flats for many jobs. They are great to put your tomatoes in before the frost hits them. You can even put your green tomatoes in them to ripen.
     I dry herbs in them. I grind up and process herbs in them.
     I dry beans and peas that I am saving for seed in them.
     I dry seeds that I will use next year in them.
     I put parts of mechanical tools I am fixing in them so I won't loose any little parts.
     I put crops of fruit, one layer deep to keep them from brusing until I can eat them or process them.
     I use it for a drip pan when painting. I put the brushes in another. I put the gallon container of paint on another.
     I put tools that I will use for a specific job in one to use while I am working.
     I sift potting soil into them for small transplanting jobs.
     I use them for catagorizing papers on my desk, especially when I have a writing project going.
     When I have a garage sale I catgorize things that are similar in them.
     I use them for messy projects, like gluing and glitter.
     When they get old and falling apart I use them for fire starter or compost!

Delphinium pods and seed

Tomatoes

Tools for a job

Capsule Filler

     The capsule filler is not really a barn thing, but will sure help with your herbs. I use quite a few herbs all year long. I save many plants to have for teas. But for taking herbs in quantity capsules are the easy way. Gel capsules can be bought at "natural " food stores. There is even a type of vegitarian capsule.
     Line the capsules up, large end in the capsule filling gaget. I put the small ends in a bowl until I need them. Raise the holder until the caps are even with the top of the plastic tray. Place a good sized pile of powdered herb in the tray. Spread the herb down the length of the tray, use a stiff card, filling the caps. This may have to be repeated to fill all the caps full. Then place the small end cap on the filled bottom half. This particular cap maker, makes 50 at one time. Store the capped herbs in a cool, dry place. Take as needed.

     This is in no way to take the place of medical attention or prescribed drugs and medicines. Always seek medical attention first.

MORE..........

Lettuce Drier

     This is a great tool to dry lettuce and greens after they have been washed. With all the e. coli and other bacteria lurking on greens from the store it is a good idea to wash your lettuce and greens. Even if you get organic greens it might have animal manures on them.
     If you have ever washed lettuce you know how hard it is to dry. Two gadgets work well. One is a salad spinner and the other is an old fashion spinner ( done by hand ).
     Pick one of these up at the local 2nd hand or kitchen department of your favorite store.

With the salad spinner, place washed lettuce in the inner basket. Close the lid and turn the knob on the top. The inner basket will spin and the water is forced off of the lettuce (centrifugal force) and into the outside bowl. Easy!

This lettuce spinner works on the same idea. Place the lettuce in the wire basket. Take it outside and swing it around in a large circle using your whole arm. All the water is forced off by the centrifugal force. Easy too, just a little different approach.

Pinwheels and Whirlygigs

     These are fun tools. Who would imagine that this little gadget can keep gophers and voles away!
     These pinwheels can be found in dollar stores, grocery and hardware stores. They are inexpensive and 5 of them will give you coverage for about 50 square feet, 10 square feet per pinwheel. You can also buy whirlygigs, a figure with movable parts. Birds who's wings are propeller like, Tractor wheels the whirl in the wind or animals who's legs are propeller like. These are a little more expensive but might be a fun introduction into your garden.
     These devices produce a whiring sound that is transfered into the ground by their support stick. This whiring sound apparently is not tolerable by underground animals and they will move away from the sound. If your garden gets tall as the season progresses, use another stick (tall enough) and drive it into the ground. Attach the pinwheel to the stick with duct tape or string.
     One year I attached the whirlygigs to the tops of my bean trellis. You could practically feel the ground vibrating!!!

A Calendar

     The thought of not having a calendar is daunting. I don't realy want to know what specific day it is, but I want to know what I have written on it. I keep records on my calendar. I keep my calendars for a few years so I can look at the data accumulated there.
     I keep track of when the Robins show up and the Hummingbirds. How many Stellars Jays hang out during the winter. How many Turkeys, Grouse, Chuckar, Quail, Deer, Elk, Bear, Coyotes, Foxes or Wolves I've seen. How may ducks and what kinds visited my pond and if that darn Great Blue Heron is eatting all the fish!
     I keep track of when I plant my tomatoes and when the first one ripens. A basic amount of fruit on the trees, including wild fruit. Places where I've found a new fruit tree, an old homestead or a patch of wild rasberries.
     Frost days, temperature, weather and any particulars like heavy wind or unusual snow.
     It is always nice to mail my kids and grandkids a birthday card, so when I first get a new calendar I write the birthdays on it right away. Of course there is the infrequent visit to the dentist, or an overnight with my girlfriends.
     I do sometimes want to know what day it is. If you don't keep track in the backcountry there is no big deal, but it is nice to go to town when the stores are open. Even when I keep track, I lose a day once a year. If you are meeting someone it is nice not to be a day late (or early).
     Get your self a calendar with clear, big squares and start a journal for yourself. It will remember everything for you!!