Author Archives: jkmcintyre

Starting with Cisterns

Posted on March 11, 2012 by jkmcintyre

I have been dreaming of a sustainable water collection system since long before we moved onto our little urban farmlet.  I dreamed and schemed, but could not get far – the project was too big for my brain.  An all-or-nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in DIY, olla irrigation, rain, Sustainability, vegetable garden | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Olla Report 2011

Posted on January 19, 2012 by jkmcintyre

2011 was a poor garden year for me.  A new job (busy!) and the weather sucked (cold, wet). My tender young starts did not thrive. Twice the average rain in May, with very cool days, meant gardens throughout the Pacific … Continue reading →

Posted in olla irrigation, spring, tomatoes, vegetable garden, vegetable starts | 6 Comments

Homemade Gravity Chicken Feeder

Posted on November 11, 2011 by jkmcintyre
[caption id="attachment_1378" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Mason jar chicken feeder; Calamity Jane, Blanca, and Roo, Spring 2011"][/caption]

We have always used a gravity feeder for our chickens. For chicks we use the mason jar feeder (above). This works great, but only for a couple of months. By then the chickens eat enough that it must be refilled every other day, plus it is easy for Continue reading →

Posted in chickens, DIY | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The Warm Fuzzy of Insulation

Posted on October 17, 2011 by jkmcintyre

Last month we got a letter from our electric utility.  We are at the “100% percentile for electricity use among neighbours with houses similar to ours”. That’s the bad end of the spectrum. Of course, we don’t have any neighbours … Continue reading →

Posted in DIY, energy, Sustainability, winter | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment