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Where is your building thread?Dobermaniac posted:This sounds crazy, but this thread and Slung's work and love for his house is what finally pushed my wife and I to take the plunge.
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Jul 17, 2012 22:29
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Faerunner posted:It is 1am, I've been reading this thread all afternoon/evening, and I am so inspired that I want to get up and start sanding the walls in our entry so I can get to painting. Because Slung Blade is a Badass. I just had a vision of hordes of goons moving out into Slung Blades neighborhood in order to have the country life. As a result turning it into a suburb. I'm currently humming "Last Resort" by the Eagles. 
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Jul 18, 2012 14:56
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Fae: wow, thanks man. Which city? Dober: awesome, looks like a really nice place, I hope everything goes well for you Still a lot available next to me, everyone 
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Jul 18, 2012 16:35
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Slung Blade posted:Still a lot available next to me, everyone
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Jul 18, 2012 16:51
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Seat Safety Switch posted:It's pretty sweet. So is the gravel road to/from your block. Yeah, which is pretty amazing given the traffic it gets. The asphalt road in "town" is getting progressively worse though. It's weird, that poo poo usually breaks down in spring when everything thaws, not now. Kinda wish they would tear out all the asphalt, or totally pave everything and just be done with it. Guess what! It's motherfuckin CHINOOK SALMON SEASON so you all know what that means! It means I have a giant jar of fish and salt and brown sugar sitting in my fridge awaiting the weekend 
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Jul 18, 2012 21:43
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Nowhere close to you, SB. If we were neighbors I'd trade my fresh garlic and tomatoes for your smoked fish! We live in Pittsburgh, PA. It's not a bad place to live, but it's more crowded than I'm used to, having grown up in a small town. We're under two miles from the edge of downtown, and managed to find a lot with a garage (drat near impossible here) and enough of a front yard that I can garden! Can you keep livestock out there, Slung? We're allowed chickens in the city limits and of course things like rabbits but our lot's too small to build a coop within the zoning limits (it has to be a certain distance away from neighboring properties, presumably to keep smell/noise from being "offensive"). I'm curious what Canadian zoning laws are like! (Does your smith's workshop count as a potential source of 'offensive' noise/smoke/smell? Does anyone care?)
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Jul 19, 2012 20:07
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Faerunner posted:Can you keep livestock out there, Slung? We're allowed chickens in the city limits and of course things like rabbits but our lot's too small to build a coop within the zoning limits (it has to be a certain distance away from neighboring properties, presumably to keep smell/noise from being "offensive"). I'm curious what Canadian zoning laws are like! (Does your smith's workshop count as a potential source of 'offensive' noise/smoke/smell? Does anyone care?) Yeah, animals aren't a problem. Dude down the street from me has this giant netted off and fenced area where he raises pheasants. For the longest time I had no idea what he was doing with them, but one of my neighbours told me he raises them, takes them out to the woods with his buddies, and then hunts them down after a couple beers. Sounds like that would make a fun weekend People have horses and such too. I'm sure I could get a couple goats or something. I've looked into chickens but they look like too much work. Goats would have the added advantage of cutting my grass for me. No one cares about the shop, everyone out here has a workshop of some kind. I'm not in there enough lately anyway, barely done anything since last year  I made the tree supports and fixed a rod that my mother hangs plants off of, the foot needed to be re-welded in place. Whoever made it didn't do it very well and only the cheap chinese powdercoating was holding it together.
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Jul 20, 2012 00:21
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Are you in Rocky View or Wheatland County, SB? I figured Rocky View, but there's enough ambiguity it's hard to be sure. Either way, I just spent way too long browsing the zoning laws of both counties. Neither has sections of their zoning bylaw - that I could find, anyway - to explicitly allow livestock on 1-acre plots. The smallest Rocky View seems to allow is on 2 acres (Residential one district, R-1 - minimum parcel size .80 ha/1.98 ac), and that requires a development permit, while Wheatland is 3 acres minimum. But if you're grandfathered in as R-1, that might be your ticket there. There's probably also an exemption for small, non-commercial livestock animals (that or relying on neighbours who don't give a drat), but I can't find it in the actual zoning bylaws; you'll definitely want to talk to your local county clerk (and neighbour with the pheasants) about it.
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Jul 20, 2012 00:53
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Rocky View, and I can't remember exactly what zone my hamlet falls under. I think it would be more of a case of "no one cares enough" for it to be a problem. Especially if I invite the neighbours over for BBQed goat... Not going to happen anytime soon, anyway.
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Jul 24, 2012 16:13
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Chickens are easy. Fresh water, dry food from a hopper that you refill once a week, a henhouse (or shed) and somewhere to roam. As a payoff you get eggs, manure and a surprising amount of entertainment.
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Jul 25, 2012 17:35
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Rapulum_Dei posted:Chickens are easy. Fresh water, dry food from a hopper that you refill once a week, a henhouse (or shed) and somewhere to roam. I love our chickens and agree that they aren't much work but I must point out that feeding them once a week is a great way to end up with rats. Feed daily!
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Jul 27, 2012 01:39
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There are no rats in Alberta. Just mice.
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Jul 27, 2012 05:17
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http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tr...ODsTY0QWUzYHICw Galvanised (or galvanized) foot operated feeder. Unless your mice start working as a team in which case you have bigger problems.
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Jul 27, 2012 17:29
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Cool, having neighbors that don't care can make a huge difference in what you can do with your property. That's one reason I'd never live in an HOA area. Letting someone else dictate what I can do with my own front yard would be unbearable! (Speaking of which, I'm posting some tiny pictures of my tiny garden in the urban garden thread if anyone's curious). Speaking of gardens, how does yours look? We haven't seen any pictures since you cultivated it all this spring! Faerunner fucked around with this message at 02:13 on Jul 28, 2012 |
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Jul 27, 2012 23:22
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Slung Blade posted:There are no rats in Alberta. Let me rephrase: I love our chickens and agree that they aren't much work but I must point out that feeding them once a week is a great way to end up with nuisance creatures that eat the food and possibly spread disease. Feed daily!
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Jul 28, 2012 00:10
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I have no experience with owning chickens or with chicken feeders, but logic reasons that feeding daily would prevent mold from any moisture that could corrupt a weeks worth of feeding. Anywho, get some chickens OP!! Fresh eggs plus cute, fluffy chicken butts running around in your front yard!
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Jul 28, 2012 02:50
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fork bomb posted:I have no experience with owning chickens or with chicken feeders, but logic reasons that feeding daily would prevent mold from any moisture that could corrupt a weeks worth of feeding. Making an excessively over built coop is right up your alley too. This was ours fresh out of the garage but imagine it with hand tooled iron handles on the doors! 
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Jul 28, 2012 03:35
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kafkasgoldfish posted:Making an excessively over built coop is right up your alley too. This was ours fresh out of the garage but imagine it with hand tooled iron handles on the doors! I've got a miniature gay Pride flag if you end up having hens that just aren't interested in the cock. That's a great color you chose for the paint.
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Jul 28, 2012 09:24
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kafkasgoldfish posted:Let me rephrase: Mice are just extra protein for chickens.
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Jul 28, 2012 15:43
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Backov posted:Mice are just extra protein for chickens. Relevant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DRgGlGIwMk
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Jul 28, 2012 17:13
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kafkasgoldfish posted:I love our chickens and agree that they aren't much work but I must point out that feeding them once a week is a great way to end up with nuisance creatures that eat the food and possibly spread disease. Feed daily! Yeah, pigeons are a bitch.
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Jul 30, 2012 02:15
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I do have a bit of an ongoing war against egg stealing corvids but that's all part of the fun I guess. Anyway, I don't want to be responsible for derailing one of my favourite and most inspiring topics so feed them whatever way works for you but the point is chickens are easy to keep and very rewarding.
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Jul 30, 2012 13:43
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Faerunner posted:Speaking of gardens, how does yours look? We haven't seen any pictures since you cultivated it all this spring! lovely. I once again let the weeds grow too tall, I ended up plowing under all the beans and onions because they barely grew at all. Everytime I wanted to get out there to cultivate, it rained (poured like a motherfucker) the day before so it was nothing but mud. The potatoes, beets, turnips, and a few other things are doing ok. Thanks for the advice on the chickens folks, they look like awesome pets/food 
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Jul 31, 2012 02:39
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Slung Blade posted:Thanks for the advice on the chickens folks, they look like awesome pets/food No life in the country would be complete without honey from your very own bee hive(s)! http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3091681 Also it's a extremely satisfying hobby
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Jul 31, 2012 19:50
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Nebulis01 posted:No life in the country would be complete without honey from your very own bee hive(s)! Sadly, it looks like the area you're in couldn't support many bees (I might be horribly wrong but it looks like there are few flowers and trees)
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Aug 1, 2012 00:02
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I've considered bees, but I already have so many things to keep me busy, I don't know if I can add more right now. Also there are TONS of beekeepers in southern Alberta. Clover, alfalfa, the biggest canola crop in the world (I think), there are flowers galore here. There's a commercial hive 10km south of me, stacks 4-5 high and I think 10 wide of those boxes just crammed full of bees. It's actually a pretty big industry here.
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Aug 1, 2012 00:12
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Canada's one of the largest producers of canola, yes. Not sure if it's still the largest (China  ), but definitely significant. Flax is much less common in your area (at least compared to where my family farms), but I know there are a couple farmers around the city that grow it. Plus the usual smattering of semi-wild and wild flowering plants that inhabit every ditch, and whatever local vegetable patches have to offer. There would be plenty of nectar, for sure.
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Aug 1, 2012 00:34
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There are very few places on earth where honey bees are incapable of finding food - Antarctica, various glaciated islands, areas within the arctic circle... that's about it. Bees will range up to about two miles from their hives to forage, so despite that commercial apiary 10km south of him, Slung Blade's bees would probably not have much competition for the local forage. They do take some work. During the spring and early summer you need to inspect roughly weekly, maybe once every ten days. Less often during the fall. You do a harvest or two, which is labor intensive for a weekend, and just before you start getting your real winter weather, you insulate and prep the hive for winter. During winter there's very little to do. It's a very rewarding hobby, but not something to charge in to lightly. Those who are interested should watch some youtube videos, pick up a book or two, and hook up with the local beekeeper's group for some hand-holding and advice about the local conditions.
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Aug 1, 2012 06:44
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I had bees for a season and was so jazzed about it. Then a bear tore apart both my hives in late October; I mean, apart like Biblical-grade "no stone shall stand upon another" destruction.  Dude was pretty hungry I guess.
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Aug 1, 2012 13:43
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Leperflesh posted:There are very few places on earth where honey bees are incapable of finding food - Antarctica, various glaciated islands, areas within the arctic circle... that's about it.  loving hell you guys get it rough looking after bees... Here in South Australia we pretty much look at the hives about 2-3 times a YEAR, and MAYBE move them if theres not too many flowering plants in the area once a year?I recon in the last 18 months we've moved the hives twice and raided them for honey three times and thats been the extent of our movement. Then again, it just gets lovely, damp, cold and miserable here in the winter, versus lovely, frozen, loving cold and miserable in the frozen northlands.
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Aug 4, 2012 14:11
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I have a hand dug well that feeds 2 water tanks. The well is 1/2 mile away from the 2 5,000 gallon tanks, and the tanks are about 15 feet below the well - so they fill just fine via gravity -- no need for a pump. There are a few access boxes along the piping with on/off valves. Unfortunately the 1/2 mile of piping is old and it will collect air pockets in it -- I'll come home every now and then and the water tanks will be empty. So I have to go through every now and then and bleed air out. Question: Is there some simple way to automatically bleed air out of low-ish pressure water pipes? Some type of reverse float valve or something? I can't find anything online.
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Aug 10, 2012 20:00
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Is the well water just for your garden, or does it come into your house?
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Aug 10, 2012 20:45
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Ferremit posted:
The main issues are that, if you're in a suburban environment (as I am) you don't want your bees to swarm (and if you want to keep your hive, you probably don't want them to swarm anyway): and, we have a lot of diseases and parasites and stuff that can crop up. The earlier you catch signs of a problem the better your chances of fixing it before you lose a hive. If you want to avoid a swarm you need to closely monitor population as it ramps up in the spring, and add frames and boxes in a timely manner so they don't start to feel crowded. By the time succession cells start appearing it's too late, they're gonna go, and they can go from kinda crowded to making succession queens in about a week or two. If you have like 100 hives, it's okay to loose a dozen, I guess. But if you only have one or two, an issue that you don't notice for a month is probably a loss of all of your bees. That said: I am not a good beekeeper and tend to let them sit for a lot longer than I should without inspecting. And, I've lost my hive due to swarming twice, once due to (probably) colony collapse, and once due to (probably) mites. And this year we don't have bees because my wife is kind of done with this, she's been stung a few times and kind of doesn't like bees any more.
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Aug 10, 2012 21:00
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Bondage posted:Is there some simple way to automatically bleed air out of low-ish pressure water pipes? Some type of reverse float valve or something? I can't find anything online. This reverse float valve you speak of does exist. It is literally called an automatic air vent. Here is an example of one. http://www.spiraxsarco.com/pdfs/sb/s31_06.pdf
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Aug 10, 2012 22:33
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Leperflesh posted:Stuff about bees I was seriously considering bees as one of the few things (other than rabbits and of course house pets) that I could actually keep on my tiny city lot, but you are making me very wary of taking it up as a hobby. I like honey but I think I'd be a very lazy beekeeper and probably lose my hive a whole lot and it seems like it could get expensive/time-consuming to keep replacing bees... I guess I'll just keep looking for some space big enough for chickens! Slung, though. He should do bees. And chickens. And goats. And let us live vicariously through his awesomeness.
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Aug 15, 2012 23:56
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I want to do an aquaponics thing and grow trout or something along with the veggies, that would be awesome. I need to start replacing my lovely grass with clover....
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Aug 16, 2012 00:13
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Slung Blade posted:I want to do an aquaponics thing and grow trout or something along with the veggies, that would be awesome. You are gonna need some way to stop the water from freezing over winter then.
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Aug 16, 2012 01:57
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Frogmanv2 posted:You are gonna need some way to stop the water from freezing over winter then. Long as he keeps his blacksmithing up just quench in the pond, no more frozen water 
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Aug 16, 2012 03:54
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I dunno how this translates to northern climates but the people with decent-sized aquaponics setups on OCAU tend to have at least one largeish holding tank undergound. Would that stop the system from freezing in winter?
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Aug 16, 2012 14:53
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rn6YtCC670 This guy builds a geodesic dome and fills it with aquaponics. It looks neat. In his video it's snowing and looks cold. Probably not nearly as cold as it gets outside of Calgary but who knows
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Aug 16, 2012 16:01
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