Hexagonal Raised Vegetable Beds: SketchUp Saves the Day

January 27, 2014

...I suppose I could have looked up the angles of a hexagon, but I found it easier just to use SketchUp’s tool. I dialed the 30° angle into my compound miter saw and the beds came together fast. I built three hexagonal beds in an afternoon. If you’d like the plans, you can download them into SketchUp via this link. Learning SketchUp takes an evening or two–watch the video tutorials and you’ll get the hang of it. More on the hexagonal beds in a later...

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Build a Solar Dehydrator

Mr. Homegrown

October 1, 2008

Appropriate Technology, Preparedness, Solar

22 Comments

...plans are split between two articles: Issue #57 and Issue #69. You need to download and read through both before building this dehydrator. . Alternatively, the always excellent Build it Solar website has a whole bunch of solar dehydrator designs, including a nice cardboard version. And while you’re in the library there’s also a book by Eben Fodor, The Solar Food Dryer. As an added bonus to the tinkerers out there, take almost any of these designs,...

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The Poultry Review June 1908

Mr. Homegrown

October 28, 2008

Animals, Chickens

8 Comments

...try Review, in its entirety, as a downloadable pdf here (via archive.org). Download a hi-res version of the Art Nouveau styled cover suitable for framing here. We picked up this obscure periodical at the American Poultry Association meet we went to over the weekend. Highlights of this issue of the Poultry Review include an article entitled “What Does it Cost a Year to Keep a Hen?” “What does it cost a year to keep a hen? This was the conundrum pro...

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Backyard Poultry with the Chicken Whisperer

Mr. Homegrown

May 11, 2009

Animals, Chickens

3 Comments

...radio show is “fair and balanced” since, “chickens have both a right and left wing.” The Backyard Poultry show covers everything from bantams to the controversial National Animal Identification System. You can listen live on Sandy Springs Radio or download past shows here. Thanks to Christine Heinrichs, author of How To Raise Chickens and the Official Poultry Bookstore blog for tipping us off to the Chicken Whisperer. Heinrichs was a guest on the...

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Nesting Box Plans in SketchUp

Mr. Homegrown

January 30, 2013

Animals, Chickens

7 Comments

...3D modeling program. And users have created a library of 3D models you can download. Up until recently most of these models were not particularly useful to DIY urban homesteady types. Enter SketchUp model contributor Rick whose collection of models includes the chicken nesting box above, raised garden beds and a couple of other useful projects. I’m really looking forward to seeing more open source project models like this and hope to contribute so...

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