First is the Rain Barrel. We have this garage downspout routed into a salvaged barrel with a refurbished oil barrel hand pump. We use this to fill the watering can to water the landscaping on the far side of our property. But this downspout with it's huge roof footage is under utilized. Tim had dreams of stockpiling water so if our main reclaimed water tank runs out we can refill it with more captured rain water.
My company was discarding this used water tank which needed a new lid and fitting, both available at Tractor Supply, so for $20 in replacement parts we tripled our water storage. Tim put a pipe which takes the over flow off the top of the 55 gal drum and forces it over to the second tank through sheer hydraulic pressure. Half an inch of rain more than fills these tanks. Now if the big tank runs out, Tim can pick the tank up with the tractor and gravity feed the water into the underground tank that runs the garden hose.
Another successful project is The Tree We Planted Twice. This little London Plane Tree was one of three we planted two years ago. The other two didn't take off and the Nursery replaced them with bigger better trees. This one looked like the roots were going to rally so we re-planted it nearby.
The little tree has taken off and is beautifully shaped and growing fast. Soon it will be nearly caught up to the larger Plane trees.
Speaking of trees... we cut an awful lot of them around here. I lost count around 220.
This massive Larch tree (messy old thing) was part of the tree clearing for Tim's new garage. It was on the edge of our front yard and it was much more picturesque after it was cut than before. One thing we try to do when we're murdering large trees on a grand scale is try to put them to good use. The hemlock logs were given away to be used in building a barn. The Red Oak and Larch we are using here. Larch is similar to Cedar. Tim had it milled into wainscot.
This week it has finally made it to it's final destination. Tim is using it for the ceiling of his garage.
We have a "thing" for bead board ceilings around here. This beautiful Larch is making quite a dramatic effect. A good use for a beautiful old tree.
That tree looks fabulous as a ceiling!!
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