First of all, i'd like to say thanks to everyone that commented on my post about the squirrel trap. I put alot of thought and time into the project, and really needed to hear that some of you were entertained or even helped the least bit by my unorthodox construction methods. It's what keeps me going - kinda like my fuel to build more things in the future. Sadly, only about 5% of everyone that reads my construction posts actually acknowledge that they even read one of them, and those particular posts are by far the most visited. (The one on constructing a swp from a single 5 gallon bucket has had almost 600 hits alone). Anyway, any comment at all is greatly appreciated, even if it's only to say "thanks for posting this".
I've been so pre-occupied with the construction projects lately that I hardly noticed that the muscadine grapevines had a late round of grapes that had matured. Yeah, it was almost a gallon of them! You could even smell their sweetness as you walked by...Later that evening, I went ahead and juiced them, and got at least 16 oz. of crystal clear, purple colored juice from them (the rest was foamy looking stuff). I'd love to make some jelly with it, but don't know if it's enough juice for a batch. Only one way to find out, I guess...Maybe a 1/2 batch? It's in the fridge now, and will be turned into something this weekend. Yeehaw!
Photo below - here's a shot of everything being grown right now. There's carrots and japanese maple tree transplants in the forefront, and of course lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, and broccoli in the background. I figure the lettuce will be coming in hard just before thanksgiving, and of course the broccoli about 2-3 weeks after that. The carrots will be left for about 5-6 months - in hopes that they'll actually get some size on them.
Photo below - I just had to take a picture of my "October Glory" Red Maple that was planted about 5 years ago. It's really grown over time, and someday will be towering over everything in the yard.
Photo below - Ok, so I had this battery charger that was giving me fits......It was one of those kinds that would shut off automatically once the battery had been fully charged, but wouldn't work at all sometimes. Yeah, it had all kinds of electronics on it - which apparently were on the blink. Well, I showed it! Using the transformer in it, I decided to modify it just a bit.... I connected a 2 ohm, 20 watt resistor in series with one side of the transformer secondary, then hooked it to a full wave bridge rectifier. Now I have a 2 amp trickle charger that works every single time I need it. It'll be assembled inside the original case once more, so that it will be presentable and easy to carry around. That just goes to show that sometines technology isn't the best way to go.
Photo below - Here's 4 of my wheelchair batteries connected in parallel - that will be used to run the greenhouse, of course. Talk about a mobile power supply! These babies should be able to control the greenhouse temperature for at least a week at a time.
Speaking of the greenhouse, i'm still having trouble with the motor part....Right now, a drill motor is installed on it - but it goes way too fast! I'll have to build something to control the speed, and have been removing electronic components from the various circuit boards laying around to be turned into something for it soon. Most electrical projects don't require any outside information, but this one will cause me to do some research....Oh well, it's good to learn something new!
In other news, my Auburn Tigers are ranked #1 in the country! (but history shows that it might be short-lived!) Hehe....That's ok, I still love my team, whether winning or losing....
The bags of curbside leaves are slowly trickling in, and I brought home 4 on Wednesday. At least 50-60 will be needed for a good composting cycle, and i'll continue to scour the neighborhoods during my lunch break at work. After the bad storms this week, i'm sure several will find their way to the curb over the weekend - so Monday should be a great day for "foliage robbery"! Hehe...On Thursday, I picked up 3 really large bags of grass clippings, and will spread them out in the yard to dry out a bit (otherwise, they'll clump together). This is gonna be a really big composting cycle, and thankfully there's plenty of room to store as many bags of leaves as I want on the property - and also that I have a really big truck!
Dadamama, cluckygirl and albertagirl - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!
I hope all you new followers like construction projects, because this one is a doozy!
Since the squirrels really took it to some of the tomato plants this year (and apparently I can't shoot too well), something had to be done to keep them under control before next year's planting. So, I decided to invite them to a game of 1-on-1 with "the mad scientist gardener" and one of his backyard creations in rural Alabama. Ha! Yep, I was gonna build a live squirrel trap - of which would be like no other on the internet. Why not? I figured I could build one as good as anyone on the planet......So, a few pieces of scrap 2x6's were ripped longways to create 2x2's, and a frame for a box was created. I stared at it for days, wondering what could become of it, because I normally build things from personal ideas. Enclosing it with wire mesh would be the easy part, but coming up with a trigger mechanism that could activate a trap door would be quite a challenge. (especially something that was a one of a kind.) Anyway, several items were recycled for this project, and I hope you enjoy it.
A little door was made for the front that was hinged at the bottom - but these were no ordinary hinges. They had torsion springs built in - which would cause the door to snap back to it's original position, when lowered. Spring strength would indicate closing speed, and we certainly wanted this door to shut pretty quick when activated by a squirrel interrupting the trigger mechanism....Anyway, it turned out well, and it was on to the next part of the project.
This, of course...is when my brain began to hurt........Oh gosh, tons of ideas came to mind, but there was something mechanically impossible about each and every one of them. So, I thought about closing it electrically - which would be really easy to do, but kinda pricey when compared to what a trap could be purchased for on the internet. The first thing to figure out, was what to use as a bait-holder, and how to make it pivot from any added weight on top. Well...wouldn't you know it? The answer was right in my pocket the whole time...Ha! The entire bait-holder is constructed from a welding rod, 3 wire ties, a section of spray wand from a 1970's pump-up sprayer, a piece of flat plastic from a computer that says "Pentium Inside" on it, and of course an empty "Red Seal - fine cut, natural" smokeless tobacco can. Hehe....I know you're probably laughing, but it's all I could find laying around - and it works fantastic!
Photo below - here's the part that sent my brain activity into hypermode - the latch mechanism. It was constructed from a welding rod, piece of white plastic leftover from the lid of the 5 gallon propagation unit, a spring, a piece of communications wire, a deck screw, a fence staple, and a small piece of galvanized angle bracket.....If you enlarge the picture by clicking on it, you can see that the end of the spring is inserted through the welding rod. (Drilling a tiny hole through a welding rod is quite a challenge!) So, pulling on the green wire makes the rod follow - but has tension from the spring applied to it. When you let go, it goes right back to it's original postion. (Kinda like a ball point pen, but without the lock to keep it in place.)
Photo below - the green wire then runs underneath the bait-holder, loops around a fence staple - then attaches to a deckscrew attached to the low side of the hinged piece from the computer (imagine a tiny seesaw.) Applying downward pressure on the high end of the "seesaw" (where the bait will be) will cause the lowest end to raise upward, thus pulling the green wire, which will in turn pull backward on the spring loaded welding rod that will be holding the trap door open. Are you with me so far? I hope so......
Photo below - these well-placed wire ties create a "spring action" against the box floor, which causes the bait end to stay up in the air - so that the squirrel will be forced to actually use it's body weight to pull it down so it can be easily reached. This is what causes the welding rod to be removed from the door latch, and makes it's gluttonous ways the end to tomato terror in my garden. Hehe....(Hopefully)
Photo below - here's the other end of the welding rod protruding from the front of the box, and into the piece of angle which is fastened to the door. It's the only thing keeping those springs from automatically closing the door - until the rod is pulled backward from a hungry squirrel, of course. All it has to do is move about 1/4", then it snaps closed. Due to a little bit of binding between the edge of the welding rod and the hole that it protrudes through, something had to be done to make it easier to pull out, though.
Photo below - here's another view of the trap door set for action. I know it's really weird, but you have to remember who built the thing....ha! I'm sure this one will get emailed to hubs...hehe...
Photo below - The binding of the welding rod against the hole in the angle bracket (and also the hole through the wooden frame caused by the spring tension from the door) created another difficult challenge to overcome. This was solved by constructing a homemade roller from a welding rod, a small piece of the same spray wand used for the bait holder pivot, and a couple of teeny tiny bearings that were removed from a burned out cpu fan motor. At this stage, I was beginning to think that it would be easier to just build a homemade space shuttle than this thing. Ha! By chucking the welding rod up into a cordless drill - then holding it against a large file that was clamped to my work table, I was able to machine the rod down to where it would fit inside the tiny bearings. Talk about really digging deep into my personal arsenal of tricks! Sheesh! It was a first time for that one, but it gives me an idea for a new project for the future. Hehe..here's the tiny bearings, and shaft. (That cut on my hand is from where I stabbed it with a flat head screwdriver while tightening a screw - I hate it when that happens)
Photo below - here's the tiny roller, fully assembled. Yeah, i've never created anything this small before, but necessity gives birth to alot of firsts for people such as myself. I just had to lay the dime beside it for perspective....Thankfully, this would be the last problem to overcome with this project. Whew!
Photo below - Here's the tiny roller installed just above the welding rod. Even though the door springs still put pressure on the welding rod, it doesn't bind against the wooden frame now. This is because the roller allows the welding rod to easily move backward when tugged on by the trigger. The little brackets that hold it in place were modified from a larger piece of angle bracket, and the ends of the rod inside the roller were bent to keep it from coming out.
Photo below - here's the finished product - except for the wire mesh, of course. Installing the wire mesh with 1/2" holes is the easiest part of the whole thing, and i'll use fence staples to secure it in place.
Wanna see a video of it in action? Here ya go....(BTW, the loud noise you hear is an acorn falling from a tree onto the metal storage building)
Photo below - A little ramp was then made with a scrap piece of thin cedar that leads from the door to the baitholder. This way, the squirrel won't feel the trigger wire as it walks into the trap, and it hides the wire as well. It could also keep the trigger from working correctly - so this was really important. A small groove was cut into the board at the lowest point, so that the trigger wire wouldn't be affected....
Photo below - 1/2" wire mesh was then attached by using poultry net staples and a hammer, and this part took a little bit of time to complete. The main thing was that I didn't want any ends of wire to snag anything (or anybody). There were only enough staples on hand to attach the wire mesh every 6" or so, and i'll need to pick up some more the next time i'm at Lowes.
So there ya have it, my freaky homemade squirrel trap - which is the only one like it on the internet.
Ya know...I wouldn't mind having my own tv show someday - maybe about having to construct something useful from just a handful of miscellaneous parts? I think it would be alot of fun, but don't know anyone in the broadcasting business, though. Oh well, if any of them ever have an interest, i'll be glad to....Maybe I could get "discovered" by some form of media someday. I doubt they would let me chew tobacco on the show, though...Ha!
Some have said that if they were ever to get stranded on a deserted island they would want me to be there too, because i'd build something from nothing to get us rescued. Well, after the last 4 stressful weeks at work, i'd like to be on one right now...I need a vacation! Hehe....It's been pretty rough!
Angry Viking - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!
Don't you think that the best things in life are free? I do, and really appreciate everything that happens to come my way. Besides, keeping things from entering the landfill is very rewarding, and if more people felt this way, our environment would be in great shape for years to come.
Anyway, I wanted to show you these black, 3 gallon plastic shrub pots that I kept out of the landfill the other day. Gosh, there must be at least 40 of them, and I can really use them for my propagation endeavors. A big tomato plant in one of those would probably bring at least 10 dollars, I bet.....
Photo below - I also picked up at least 20 lbs. of used coffee grounds from a couple of Starbucks shops in the Huntsville, Alabama area after my doctor's appointment the other day. This is my favorite thing to add to the compost bins, and you can bet that i'll load up again when my next appointment arrives. It's best to call ahead and tell them to save some for ya, 'cause sometimes they just throw them away...BTW, that pile they are sitting on in the picture is the one that was filled to the brim a while back. As you can tell, it's shrunk quite a bit already. I can't wait to fill all of these bins in a few weeks!
Photo below - Let me show you what was found while putting the finishing touch on the garden cleanup - a couple of volunteer Brandywine tomato seedlings....They'll go inside the little 5 gallon bucket propagation system before this weekend, and will be great for trying the thing out for the first time. Who knows? I might be able to keep them alive throughout the entire winter, and just root suckers from them to get transplants for growing in my garden next spring. At least that's what i'll try to do....
In other news, the japanese maple transplants were moved out into the big raised bed on Saturday - but not before killing about 4 black widow spiders that had setup camp between the pots. One was really big, and had 2 egg sacks already. She didn't appreciate me putting her into a small vial of alcohol, though - she was pretty mad! Hehe...Add one more to the collection of vials with bad creepy crawlies from the garden. Yeah, I know....stuffing live black widow spiders into little glass vials is pretty risky, but i'm careful....
A trial run with the greenhouse door opener over the weekend resulted in failure, because the little printer motor wasn't strong enough to consistently open the door against the tension of the rubber band. This really bummed me out, but i've got another motor that definitely will, though. The only thing is - if one of the limit switches fails to actuate, it could really tear some stuff up! I'll show you the modifications when finished....
However, the homemade squirrel trap is finally finished, and i'll post about it later this week. Yeehaw! Boy, this one is gonna get emailed to some people, I bet. Ha! You'll want to show this one to everybody you know, Hehe....Now, to see if it can actually catch one of the furry $@*!_&#......
Fist of all, i'd like to say "thanks" to all the people that threw their broken appliances away for me to pick up! Most of the parts for this control system came from just that - broken appliances....Oh, they're jam-packed with all kinds of electrical goodies....yeehaw!
This automatic ventilation system is constructed with salvaged components from a broken printer, personal computer, 2 microwave ovens, and of course a window air conditioner - and I hope you like it!
Since the greenhouse will be located in the garden, wheelchair batteries will be used to power everything, and the voltages used will be 24 volts dc (for both relays), 12 volts dc (for the little fan in the top), and of course 5 volts dc (for the little motor on the door opener). To get the most capacity for the system, i'm using 4 batteries - which means the automatic coldframe opener will have to do without this winter (unless I can come across a couple more batteries).
I made an electrical drawing of the control system with autocad the other night while the wife watched tv (EG thinks tv is a complete waste of time), and I fully understand that most people don't comprehend it - but, for those of you that do, I hope you like this EG original control design. This only shows 2 batteries for the power supply....
Now, i'd like to show you some photos of the actual system. In this first picture, you can see the limit switch that shuts off the power to the little motor as the door is closing. It was salvaged from a microwave oven, and only has "normally closed" contacts.
Photo below - here's the limit switch that shuts off power to the motor when the door is cracked open to a pre-determined amount. This switch is the same as the previous one - but was quite tricky to actuate. The small white gear was fastened to the shaft of the door opener drive with super glue, then the homemade arm was attached to it with tiny screws. Those little screws were really hard for these big fingers to hold!
Photo below - The thermostat.....It came from a defective window air conditioner, and was mounted in one of the back corners of the greenhouse. Its' contacts make on temperature rise, and the range of adjustment is perfect for this application. I'll eventually set it to ventilate the greenhouse when the temperature inside rises to around 70 - 80 degrees. (which should only be necessary on sunny days)
Photo below - This blue relay is the one that reverses the polarity of the voltage going to the little door opener motor, and the tiny black one is the one that turns on the ventilation fan mounted in the top of the greenhouse. Switching the polarity of voltage to the little motor reverses its' rotational movement - thus opens and closes the door.....
Photo below - The voltage divider.....using 2 small resistors, this little homemade circuit takes 12 volts dc and reduces it to 5 volts dc @ 200 milliamps of current. The aluminum piece that they are mounted to is for dissipating the heat created from the opposition of current flow that the resistors provide. With the right values of resistors installed, a person can convert a dc voltage into any lower voltage they want (and also the current capacity, too).
I'll try it out this weekend and see how it performs - although I expect to maybe have a problem with at least one of the little limit switches. There will surely be a bug or two to get worked out, but it shouldn't be a big deal. After it is working, i'll shoot a video of it in action, of course...
My main focus for Saturday will be on the squirrel trap - as it has got to be completed very soon. Anyway, it should be an exciting weekend for working outside and watching my Auburn Tigers in the afternoon, and I hope the shoulder doesn't give too much problems...
Even though the fall garden only takes up 36 sq.ft., the harvest from it later should be more than enough for our needs. If all 9 broccoli plants produce heads 10-12" in diameter as advertised, I figure at least half will be frozen for use later, and the rest will likely go in salads. Speaking of salads, all of the tiny lettuce, swiss chard, and spinach seedlings have grown pretty good since being moved into their new home.
Photo below - I just love growing broccoli in self watering planters during the fall. No matter how large the plants get, the water reservoirs only have to be filled twice a week. This is a far cry from the demands during the hot months. No pests have shown up on them yet, and as long as the temps stay pretty cool at night, I don't figure they will show up at all.
Photo below - Jude is really enjoying the fall weather, and was caught dragging a big limb through the yard. Even though they are constantly thrown back into the woods, somehow they find their way back. Hehe...
In other news, I went to a rheumatologist in Huntsville yesterday, and the diagnosis was pretty bad....It seems that I have fibromyalgia. The last 3 weeks at work have been extremely stressful, and that's what triggers it. The good news is that it is the reason for my chronic sinusitis, restless legs syndrome, and also all of my headaches. So, treating the fibromyalgia will take care of the other problems at the same time. The bad news is that there is no cure, and i'll just have to take expensive meds to somehow manage it. It bums me out pretty bad, especially since doing anything pretty physical causes alot of pain. Over the last few years, i've wondered why working out in the yard always made certain parts of my body hurt...How am I supposed to build crazy things in the backyard if it only hurts me? I'll go as long as possible, but will need to just work at a slow pace, I guess..The list of projects will be completed this winter - regardless of the pain....
I've also been working on the control system for the greenhouse door opener, and have it almost finished. A themostat from a window air conditioner is still needed, and i'll have to look really hard for one over the next couple of weeks. This little project has been quite challenging, but thankfully it's almost ready for action. I'll post about the controls within the next week, and hope you like it!
Today was just beautiful, and while not playing with Jude and her frisbee - I was able to work on the automatic greenhouse door opener a little bit. A defective printer at work was disassembled for the carriage drive motor and shaft - in hopes that the little motor would be able to somehow crack the door to allow cold winter air in to to cool things off on a sunny day. The fact that it ran off of 5 volts dc was definitely a plus, especially since it will be located at least 100 feet from the nearest power source on the property. (And I have several 12 volt batteries laying around)
Anyway, the assembly was mounted in the top right corner of the door frame -which is opposite the hinged side......It looked like a good place as any, and was completely out of the way for accessing the plants later.
Photo below - here's the entire assembly in place, with the end of the driven shaft supported by a special pvc clamp that was purchased from the freaky merchandise store by my work. A hole large enough for the shaft to protrude through was drilled into the clamp, then the clamp was fastened to the vertical piece of pvc pipe.
Photo below - here's a closeup of the little support, and notice that the hole had to be drilled off-center...this was done so that the alignment between shaft and the door of the greenhouse would be parallel to each other. I got 47 of these special little pvc clamps for 3 dollars, and will get alot of use from them..
Photo below - these closet pole sockets were only 50 cents at the merchandise store, and I just had to figure out a way to incorporate one of them into this design. So, a dremel tool with cutting disc was used to remove the flat part of one, and a hole just larger than the end of the shaft drilled into a strategic location on it.
Photo below - it was then mounted onto the splined shaft, and trimmed so that as it wouldn't bind against the vertical piece of pvc pipe as it was rotated. A dremel is really handy for situations as this, and getting the right curvature was pretty tricky...
Photo below - as the shaft is turned, it causes the offset piece of plastic to push the door open. A couple of pvc clamps and piece of pvc pipe are mounted to the door itself, which gives the plastic piece something curved to rotate against. Gosh I hope this makes sense, but will do a video if needed....
Phgoto below - here's a view of the entire thing, and of course Jude patiently waiting for me to get finished.
Photo below - since the little motor couldn't push the door open because of the tension of the spring, I installed another motor that was twice as big as the first one tried. All kinds of modifications were made to the support frame for the motor, and the little belt pulleys were switched, too....
Photos below - sequential pictures from an overhead view, showing how the door is opened as the shaft is turned. (And yes....i'm fully aware that socks don't go with crocs. Ha!) Oh yeah, the spring was replaced with a small rubber band. This worked alot better....
Photo below - cracking the door open this much should be plenty for ventilating the greenhouse on a sunny winter day....
Photo below - spiderjohn wanted to know what kind of clamps will be used to fasten the plastic sheeting to the greenhouse frame later, and here's a closeup of one that was cut in half. What was 40, now is 80 of them. Oh yeah....the cut on my hand is from sticking a screwdriver in it while tightening something at work...No big deal.
These will be clamped over the pipes, then screws might be installed if needed for keeping it secured in place. It'll be skinned when the temperature gets in the mid-twenties, as most things out there right now are hardy down to that level.
Of course the little control system for it will need to be put together really soon, and the only thing i'm waiting on is a thermostat of some kind. Everything else is already on hand, and the little computer fan mounted into the top will probably be included, too. I'll do a post on the control system later.....
In other news, I have something wrong with my shoulder, and appears to either be a pinched nerve, or something similar. It hurts really bad, even when not being used. So, a trip to a specialist will be made on Monday morning, and we'll see what the diagnosis is. Wish me luck...
Since the location for the broccoli growing in swc's was getting less sun by the day (and the main raised bed was finally empty), all of the planters were relocated to the section in the middle. This spot gets lots of sun - regardless of what time of year it is, and we need all that can be got right now. As you can see, they're doing very good, and should have some mature heads sometime during the first 2 weeks of December. No cabbage worm damage yet, but you can bet that BT is on standby for a quick eradication when needed.
Photo below - Two to three inches of fresh compost was then added to the remaining part of the section, and all of the little lettuce, spinach, and swiss chard seedlings that were started in cellpacks a few weeks ago were transplanted. Hopefully, this entire area will be completely full of green growth in a few weeks, and several salads will be had - as me and Austin really like fresh salads from the garden each year.
Photo below - Temps soared close to 90 degrees during the hottest part of the day, so I decided to water the front yard - and also provide Jude with some much needed relief. It hasn't rained in several days, so I try to water the bermuda turfgrass that was sown from seed back in March at least weekly. The rest of the property is nothing but crabgrass, but i've been working on this part in front of the house for a couple of years now. Two applications of weed and feed per year really has made a difference, and i'm looking forward to having a nice lawn for the first time in my life.
Photo below - Oh, she absolutely loves playing in the water, and I frequently have to at least turn the garden hose on for her to play with. She bites at it constantly, and really likes for it to spray her on the belly. Heh.
In other news, it was a perfect weekend for working outside, and more work was done to the greenhouse and the squirrel trap. Some plywood scraps were cut for putting a top on the little high rise in the greenhouse, and the special clamps that were purchased to attach the plastic sheeting to the pvc frame were all cut in half. Now, i've got 80 pieces to fasten the sheeting with, and it should really make a difference in how resilient the protective cover is against wind. You just don't know how bad I want to attach it right now, but it would be smart to wait until needed.
Speaking of my crazy backyard projects, i'm really glad that everyone enjoys them. :-) The stat counter shows that they are the most popular posts I do, and it's my pleasure to bring them from my home to yours. Only 1 more little problem to work out on the squirrel trap, and i'll finally post about it, too. Man....that little thing has really been a challenge! Especially since it's constructed exclusively from things found while scrounging through my various out-buildings.
Also, several tomatoes that were frozen over the summer were turned into more salsa, and it's definitely a big hit around here each year. The five gallons of green tomatoes in the kitchen are still sitting there, and I really don't know what to do with them. A few will most likely be pickled, but relish or green salsa is not likely to happen. Well, that's about it for today....
Last year, I constructed the frame for a 4x4 greenhouse, but never put it into action. Reason? I didn't feel it would shed rain and snow well, mainly because there was only 4 pieces of pipe to hold the plastic sheeting up on the roof part. So, I've spent the last year thinking about the problem, and finally came up with a better design. Although it's still not perfect, I feel it will do just fine.
Many of you have never seen this little greenhouse, but I bet you still knew that somehow it would be like no other in the cyber world. Yep, only a true redneck could come up with something this crazy looking. Ha!
Ok, here's the pvc frame fully assembled - which was constructed with standard pvc fittings from Lowes. Sure, special fittings can be purchased from several websites on the internet to make things look nicer, but that would make this little thing pretty expensive to build. Anyway, it's made from 1/2" schedule 40 materials, and isn't glued. Yep, the entire thing can be disassembled for storage.....Well, except for the door and the very top part where the fan is mounted.....
Photo below - the most interesting part is probably the top, because of all of the transitions needed to enclose the small 12 volt dc fan. (Yep, there's a cooling fan mounted in the top) By my calculations, it should provide around 2 complete air changes per minute - although it might not even be utilized. We'll see...That top part was really difficult to put together, and the four screws extending upward are for the rain cap.
Photo below - the door is supported by homemade hinges made from thin wall 3/4" pvc, and can be slid off of the pipe on the left. Door stops were installed after the photo was made - which keep the door from swinging too far inward. As stated earlier, the door is 1 of only 2 parts of the entire thing that was glued.
Photo below - From this perspective, you can see the optional frame that was made for the inside. A piece of lightweight plywood will be cut to fit on top, which will allow an extra level for growing things in this particular corner. Due to how it will be positioned inside the framework of the big raised bed, this is the only way it could be done without shading something out.
It'll be skinned with 6 mil clear plastic sheeting in a few weeks, and of course the japanese maple trees growing in containers will be put inside. The possibility of a few things direct-sown inside is likely throughout the winter months too - especially since it's got alot of room for stuff. This little greenhouse will be invaluable for hardening off tomato transplants next spring, and a few might even be wintersown.
Photo below - see this little box? Well, it's a power supply that came out of an old personal computer, and was modified to provide 2 different voltages out for all of my electrical tinkering in the backyard. The red and black posts on the right are for 5 volts dc, and the ones on the left for 12 volts dc. Although it's capable of producing several more voltages, these 2 are the only ones that are needed right now.
Photo below - this little belt-driven gear reduction out of a printer has a tiny motor that runs off of 5 volts dc, and will eventually be utilized to help ventilate the little greenhouse. I figure it'll either crack the door open a bit, or might even open another small door, as well. Lots to think about, and plenty of time to put something together for it....
Well, as you can see...it's gonna be interesting around here over the winter - especially once the coldframes are thrown into the mix. Since the little greenhouse will be plainly visible from the road once finally in place, i'm sure passersby will think "what the?" Heh. There's nothing like setting something freaky out front to mess with the neighbors......Anyway, i'll provide an update on it in a few weeks.
