We found these great redwood bins on Craigslist.  The are made new by a man and his son and sold for $8.00 each.  They are 2x2 feet wide at the top and 2 feet tall.  Kevin had a fun day on Excel re-designing the garden with these beds.  He came up with 20-something different designs.  We figure that we will need about 70 bins total.  This will be nice for raised beds and watering.  I won't have to bend down quite so far, and having bad knees this helps a lot.  Besides, I'm not getting any younger. But we've had them for a couple of months now and they haven't been used.  We were thinking of using them once the garden peters out, well the garden has hardly gotten started and isn't doing so well.  The raised beds look great, but the ground I've worked is piss-poor.  So some weekend we'll start our project.  In the meantime, they sit.

Compost - We have two compost piles.  One is a compost tumbler and the other is a traditional compost bin that is 3-4 feet high, deep and wide.  We are turning the pile frequently, but it still takes time to finish.  Sometimes you want (need) compost before it's finished.  I've found a source (thanks to my sister Jenny).  There is a mushroom farm in Escondido, they will give you their compost for free!  The only cost would be if you wanted them to use their equipment to load your vehicle.  They charge $25.00 for that.  But you are welcome to shovel it yourself.  Contact me if you want details on how to find them. Find them here http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/26/fertile-ground/

End of February - Beginning of March we went to Montana for a funeral and stayed 2 weeks to visit with Kevin's family.

How many times have I said that we don't know what we are doing - we are just doing it.  The farm animals were at my sister's house while we are in Montana and I got a text that one of our rabbits had babies but that they didn't make it.  Shock, embarrassment, surprise...  Their 'equipment' looks similar the last time I looked, I swear.  I thought we had a male and female, but then figured that we had 2 males.  I'd even written about it before.  

I didn't write here and provide an update, but I updated my Facebook page talking about a baby bunny that Toby & Max were playing with in the hallway.  It lived a few hours, but didn't survive.  Then about a month later as I was cleaning out the chicken coop (the rabbit cage is inside there), I saw a baby bunny dead outside of the coop.  I keep blaming Toby for killing wild baby bunnies.  (He kills gophers too.) I thought that maybe they were ours and I'd have to take a much closer look at the rabbits. Live and learn I guess. 


Here are pictures of the baby that Max and Toby were playing with in the hallway.

So once I got the animals back home I decided to make some changes in sleeping arrangements for the animals.  The ducks would no longer sleep in the dog cage.  I modified the compost bin to be their new sleeping quarters.  Then I separated the rabbits and put George into the dog pen along with a nesting box.  After about a month (wow how time flies) I went to collect eggs, feed and water the bunnies and ducks and had a surprise.  There was the nesting box in George's dog cage with lots and lots of fur inside of it.  So into the house I ran to my Storey's Guide to raising Rabbits and found what I was looking for.  When you go out in the morning and see the fur, then the rabbit most likely had the babies the night before.  It advises not to touch the babies because if human scent gets on them, the mama will kill her babies. (OUCH! Harsh world!)  

Out there I go every day and watch the fur inside the box move.  I have no idea how many babies there are yet, I figure after about 10 days I'll go poking around a little more - with a stick even, not my hands.  The book said to remove any that are dead and if there are more than 8 of them, to move some extras to a mama rabbit with less than that, because that's all the room she has to feed them.  We have no other mama rabbit, so I'm hoping 1) that there are no dead ones, and 2) that there aren't more than 8 of them.

It's not very pretty, but it is very useful.  Kevin came home from the hardware store with some pumps.  One has a flat bottom in the shape of a triangle.  This goes into the shower with us along with a flat bottomed plug to stop up the drain.  Outside the shower slider door sits a power strip with an on/off switch.  When the water gets high we turn it on, then off again before all the water drains out and the motor burns up.  

Attached to the water pump is a garden hose that snakes along the floor, past the shower, under the window and out the doggy door into 55 gallon drums.  We have 3 out back for this purpose and one in front that will be moved out back if the rainwater ever get used up before more rains come.  We move the hose from barrel to barrel as needed.  Usually 2 - 2 1/2 showers fills one up.

Inside the barrels is another type of water pump called a 'sump pump'.  This can be dropped into the bottom of the barrels.  The hose from that goes into a bank of hoses we turn on and off as needed for the garden.  

We also move the sump pump into the 'duck pond' and empty it out about once every week or two - that water also goes into the garden with a diluted natural fertilizer thanks to the duck's input.  Their 'pond' is re-filled with the water salvaged from our showers.

Our water bill has dropped drastically! We are now paying more for the sewage service a month than we use in water usage.  Our bill is under $10 a month.

I have no idea if what I'm doing is 'legal' in my area.  But they do always remind us to save water, and so I'm following their request / directive.  And now my money isn't literally going down the drain.

If anyone understands better than me how to do this - (using the stainless steel he showed in his own truck) please contact me. My 'future' father in law (no, Kevin hasn't proposed yet) says it's still too hard to regulate the amount of hydrogen... it can damage other parts of my truck. My '07 Silverado only gets about 16 - 17 MPG.  But I had to share, this is so cool!  If you go to YouTube and look this up you will see a lot of Q&A, like where to find supplies  This guy is very generous with the information and answers a lot of questions for people.  His handle is terrystech and the video is called How to build a simple, yet effective, HHO generator. 

It doesn't have to be for a scare like Y2K, or a scare about the world ending in 2012... It could come unexpectedly... Remember 9/11?  2005 Hurricane Katrina wrecked New Orleans and the surrounding areas.  Wasn't it just about a year ago that Haiti had a devastating earthquake that they still haven't recovered from? I think it was about a month or two ago that Australia was ravaged by natural disasters.  Right now there is disaster happening in Japan with earthquakes and tsunamis.  Power is out, trains stopped running - what about water and food?  How will they fare?  Were they prepared?  Are you?  Am I?

Okay, what will you be able to eat for up to 2 weeks without any services?  We have a garden, but it's not in full production yet.  We have a chest freezer in the garage that will feed us for about a month, so that's good.  And the pantry is full - for us, but what about the pets?  I have dogs, cats, ducks, rabbits and chickens - do I have enough food for them?  Grow a garden, start today!  They don't pop up overnight.  Then preserve your food.  Canning is better than freezing in an emergency, you can take it with you if you have to evacuate.

Dog food: I came upon a site where the lady makes her own dog food using frozen ground turkey, rice and carrots - I bet I could even can that for later use.

Cat food:There is also a site for cat food that I found today http://www.i-love-cats.com/cat-food-recipes.html
with about 60 different recipes that you can download.

Note: I haven't made these yet, but I'm going to give it a try and see how my boys do (yes all 5 are male)

If the services get shut off, where will we get water?  Let alone fresh water?  We live near a lake, so I could go there, but I also have four 55 gallon drums full of water.  Water gets bugs though, so do you have a way to purify the water?  Will electricity be available to turn on the stove?  What about a gas grill and some extra propane?  I have both, but I need to fill one of the tanks.  What about bleach for killing bacteria in water in case you don't have a heat source - NOT the fragrant kind... get some germicidal bleach.  I get mine from Smart And Final.

Will roads be clogged from everyone trying to get away from a disaster?  Do you have a vehicle, even a bicycle?  If you have a vehicle, do you have gasoline?  It's around $4.00 a gallon here, it will be worse if disaster strikes... but it's a necessity.  Do you have extra gas cans that are full? Gas goes bad, you'll want to use it within about 6 months or so.  You can pour it into your tank and then go refill it, but have some extra on hand. What I really want is an electric bike - actually a trike.  It sells for $1,000 online from WallMart.  

How do you cook a frozen chicken?  You'll need a source of heat.  Again a gas grill with extra propane tanks are a good idea.  Look for a used generator (again, stock up on gas).  You can even make a solar oven (something that is still on my 'To Do' list.  Here is a site that shows you how to make them. You can go as simple as cardboard and tin foil - then you need a dark pot to cook in... I got mine at the thrift store for $2.00 - for when I make my oven.

Do I go here?  I'm not sure if I should but... How will you protect your food, your gas, your life?  What will keep someone from taking what is yours?  From hurting you or your loved ones?  Do you buy guns?  It's harder and harder to do in California, whereas in Montana you can walk down the street with your sidearm strapped to your waist.  I haven't resolved this issue yet in my mind.  

Think about who you would want to save in the world... just yourself?  You and those in your immediate household? What about your neighbors?  Are you friends with them?  What about your real friends?  Who will not be prepared?  Who will need help?  Will you be able to offer that help?  Even for a short amount of time?  For me, I say have extras - more than you could use.  I wish we had basements and root cellars here in California... I'd be stocked with winter squash, potatoes, apples... Remember that rice goes a long way, it's a good staple to keep on hand.
 
Remember to rotate your stock, and store appropriately.  And store it safely too.  Rodents can rip through a cardboard box of mac & cheese with no problem.  Only slightly more effort is needed for a plastic storage tote.  But they can't get through metal - metal trash cans with lids are best. (I need to still get those myself.)

Remember toilet paper, stock up.  Aspirin, alcohol, bandages, needles and thread - you may need to stitch someone up in a pinch... or my new favorite - Super Glue or Krazy Glue.  I spent $400 in the ER getting my finger glued shut.  Now I keep my own on hand and have even had to use it.  They sell Krazy Glue in single use tubes, 4 to a packet. (I have 3 left).

I haven't seen some of my friends for way too long, and since everyone wanted to see the farm, we decided to throw a shindig.  (Thanks Kathy for reminding me of that fun word!) 

Joy oh joy! I got to explore new recipes!  I started cooking two days before the party:
Homemade - chili, cheese lasagna, pulled pork, peanut butter bars, pistachio stuffed dates wrapped in bacon and baked, cheese sticks, lemon-parsley Gougères, barbecue chicken on skewers, hot dogs, hamburgers, banana bread and pimiento-jalapeno cheese and bacon Crostini - with bacon bits.

I put my friend Lien to work in the kitchen hours before the party.  She volunteered and I accepted!  Phew, she saved me.  She made cheese sticks and baked tem, assembled the crostini mix onto the baguette slices and baked them, and piped the Gougères onto a tray and baked.  This allowed me to put up lights, take a shower... all the little details that needed to be done.

People brought the most delicious food to share too.  We had a spinach salad that had candied walnuts and blackberries - heavenly. Two different kinds of hummus - yummy (salad and hummus were my breakfast the morning after), homemade mini cheesecakes, a heavenly chocolate cake, broccoli salad, guacamole, fruit trays, homemade salsa, someone even brought tulips, though we didn't eat them. 

Others brought tequila, wine, beer, ice

I'm sure that I'm forgetting stuff.  Most of it I didn't have a chance to eat until the morning after because I was busy at the party - things still tasted wonderful on day 2!

So here I was getting ready for the party and it was HOT outside, I mean I was sweating.  People walk through the door and the wind comes up, it got down right cold!  People put their jackets back on even.  I'm glad we had the patio heater going (thanks Mitch for figuring out what I was doing wrong) and had a fire pit going - even with the straw around... bucket of water was only necessary once to make us feel safer - we poured it onto the straw under the pit where there were sparks.

We played Chicken Bingo three times.  Doan won twice! Lucky dog!  And Todd won once.  The funnest part was having them clean up after their winnings. - How the game is played: We have a board with squares and numbers. Each entry is $1.00.  Each person draws a number, and in goes the chicken. We tell everyone the have to encourage the chicken by calling out their number.  The number that the chicken poops on is the winner.  The winner has to clean up the spot.  There's one constant with chickens, they always poop.  

I want to thank everyone who came.  We had such a wonderful time, you are all invited back again next time.

I'm going to borrow an idea that I saw from another site... it was an online recipe file.  I have a lot of wonderful recipes that I want to save, and this way I can share them too.  Take a look at the site where I got my inspiration... http://gardeningjones.com/videos.htm They call it a Recipe Box.  You'll see mine at the top of the page.