Seven Springs Homestead
Acorns

What To Do With Acorns: Fall Tips

It is that time of year again! Acorn picking season has officially begun and it is an exciting time for all. It is a tradition to go out into the forest and collect acorns from oak trees. There are many things you can do with these little nuts, but we will focus on what to do with them in the fall. The best way to store acorns until winter is by laying them out on newspaper or paper towels so they don’t rot before making it back home. This post contains information about how you can use your precious harvest this fall and winter!

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Fertilization

Lawn Fertilization Tips

Many individuals get some information about preparing their garden.

The significant thing to recollect while preparing your garden is that there’s two sections to that.

There’s the compost, and there’s the spreader.

So first, we should discuss the manure.

With any manure, the principal thing to search for are; there will be three numbers on any compost pack eg npk 28-0-3.

Those speak to NPK, or the nitrogen, the phosphorus, and the potassium.

Furthermore, those are the three basic components that turf needs to remain sound.

The most significant one will be the primary number, however, which is the nitrogen.

It will either be a high number, which implies it’s a synthetic compost and you’re not going to require a whole lot it.

Or on the other hand it will be a low number, which implies it’s a natural manure and you’re presumably going to require a great deal of that compost.

Presently once you’ve picked the manure, at that point the inquiry is, how would you apply it to your garden?

Or then again what amount do you use?

Presently for the novice, the key is purchase a compost and utilize a spreader that has some sort of coordinating numbers on it.

Your compost sack should let you know, in the event that you utilize this model of spreader, at that point you need put it on this number setting.

In this way, the stars utilize a great deal of numerical estimations where they figure the measure of nitrogen that is clinched, the territory of the garden, and that is actually excessively hard for the normal mortgage holder.

For the beginner, the activity is to ensure that you purchase a manure that has a number or a setting on it for your specific spreader.

Furthermore, that is the best approach to ensure that you’re putting down the perfect sum.

Presently there are two fundamental sorts of spreaders that you should use for your yard.

One is known as a drop spreader, and simply like it says, when you push it the compost that is in it drops straight down between the two wheels.

Presently clearly that will take a great deal of passes, and you will should be genuinely exact by they way you cover those passes that you ensure you don’t get green stripes in your yard.

The more famous model is the transmission spreader.

Furthermore, much the same as it’s name’s applies, when you push this spreader there is a wheel that pivots and it tosses the manure out over an enormous zone, or broadcasts it.

So this will take much less goes for your grass, and all the more critically, it requires significantly less exactness since it’s spreading it out over an enormous region.

Presently, we’ve just discussed coordinating your manure to the setting on your grass.

You may likewise need to go to a tad lower setting and afterward do gives your yard opposite to one another.

Go one of set of passes this path over the yard, and afterward another arrangement of passes along these lines.

What’s more, that protects that you don’t wind up with green stripes on your yard later when a portion of the grass is becoming energetically, and other isn’t developing in any way.

Presently an expression of alert.

Many individuals think, “Well, manure is useful for my garden, so a ton of compost is a ton decent.”

That is simply not the situation.

Keep in mind, consistently, consistently, consistently follow the headings on the sack.

Furthermore, never be enticed to go to a higher setting since you don’t see it emerging from the spreader.

Trust me, it’s working.

In the event that you utilize an excessive amount of manure, you can really consume your grass and do it a ton of harm.

So consistently adhere to the directions on the sack, coordinate your manure to your spreader, and complete two passes opposite to one another so you ensure you get great inclusion on your garden, and don’t wind up with green streaks possibly 14 days after the fact when some of it begins developing.

One final expression of alert, never be enticed to spread the compost by hand.

I realize that is an enticement on the off chance that you don’t have the spreader, however trust me, you will wind up putting down an excessive amount of compost and it will consume or slaughter your yard.

How to Break Up Concrete Yourself

How to Break Up Concrete Yourself

The floor screed significantly extends the life of the floor covering, absorbs the load on the supporting structures, and also protects the floor from damage. However, over time, the base collapses and requires replacement. Repairing a concrete slab is a rather laborious and costly process, therefore, most often a complete dismantling of the screed is performed.

Before considering the main methods for removing a base, it is worth listing the situations when such a procedure is inevitable.

Dismantling the floor screed is difficult, but possible!

Among other dismantling works to remove various structural elements, one of the most popular types is the dismantling of the floor screed. Removing the old floor screed is a rather laborious process that requires not only the use of special equipment, but also some work experience.

If you are not confident in your abilities, then it is better to use the help of professionals: the price of dismantling the floor screed will cost more, but this option is safer. In the case when “we see the goal – we see no obstacles”, we carry out the dismantling of the cement screed with our own hands, using our recommendations.

Best demolition hammer for tile removal

Dismantling the floor: definition, purpose of the screed

If a major overhaul is planned with the repair of the ceiling, wall decoration, then, most likely, the installation of a new floor will also have to be performed. Dismantling the cement screed is necessary if:

  • the old floor screed is badly cracked, irregularities appeared
  • lowering the floor level is necessary
  • you need to repair the communications mounted under the material

Sometimes it is strictly forbidden to pour a new screed on top of the old one. In this case, a complete dismantling of the floor screed is carried out in order to make a new screed from a cement-sand mixture.

What is a floor screed?

A floor screed is a layer of a small (at least 4-5 cm) strong material, arranged on the main structure of the floor. This coating is an intermediate layer between the concrete shell and the floor covering itself.

The screed can be either monolithic (from a cement-sand mixture) or composite (from several layers of gypsum cement or expanded clay concrete). To obtain maximum strength, a monolithic screed can be reinforced with a metal mesh. The qualitative composition of the floor screed affects its strength, load, hydro- and thermal insulation properties.

The screed has many functions:

  • flattens the floor plane
  • takes over the load on the supporting structures
  • serves to protect floors from external influences, abrasion, impact
  • is the basis for further layers of sound, heat insulation, flooring
  • distributes heat in floors equipped with built-in heating

The screed is made directly on the concrete base for maximum leveling of the surface, which will facilitate the application of the final floor covering in the future: linoleum, parquet, laminate, etc.

Dismantling of a concrete screed, which is mainly used in the construction of yard buildings in country cottages, basements, garages, is also a rather laborious process. Due to the budget price and ease of installation, concrete floors are also created in residential premises with subsequent insulation. Modern dismantling of a concrete screed, the price of which depends on the chosen method of its removal, can be carried out by “manual” and “machine” methods.

Concrete is a rock-like material with a complex structure, including aggregates of various shapes and sizes, which are held together by a binder. Having appeared a couple of centuries ago, concrete is one of the most popular building materials in the construction of buildings and various structures. Not only the floor is produced from it, but also the foundation, walls, panels, blocks.

Dismantling of concrete can be complete or partial. Often, the dismantling of the concrete screed is carried out by diamond cutting of the concrete. Then the dismantling of the concrete floor or wall is carried out, as the hero of the famous film said “without noise and dust.”

Dismantling a cement (concrete) screed: rules for proper removal

Most often, the dismantling of the floor screed is carried out by the percussion method using power tools: perforators, jackhammers, diamond cutting wheels. At home, you can use an ordinary crowbar, a sledgehammer, a hammer, a chisel, if the thickness of the coating allows.

Dismantling the cement (concrete) screed in any way is carried out by breaking the base into pieces. For the removal and removal of cement-concrete residues, you should stock up on bags of durable material in advance.

Sources

https://www.dumpsters.com/blog/how-to-remove-concrete-patio

https://www.wikihow.com/Break-Up-Concrete

Cutting, Splitting and Stacking Wood

Cutting, Splitting and Stacking Wood

Winter offers those on the homestead an opportunity to cut wood. As you may know, we are slowly clearing off the land we plan to farm this spring. This is giving us plenty of free firewood. We are cutting, splitting, and stacking the wood so it will be seasoned when we need it next winter.

We have cut down many of the large trees but there are many little ones that still need our attention. We are cutting them down and grubbing up the stumps with our trusty tractor.

My son is notching the tree on one side so he can drop it in the direction he wants it to go.

Do you notice how the land is beginning to look? Many of the fields are almost ready for plowing.

Once the tree is cut, all the limbs need to be removed.

When those are removed the tree will be cut into rounds waiting to be split. This is my husband preparing this tree he just cut down.

Here is my son splitting and stacking the wood.

Handy Tools For Cutting and Splitting Wood By Hand

Chainsaw

I know it’s possible to use a crosscut saw but a chainsaw makes the work much easier.

Wood Splitting Maul

A maul looks very similar to an axe, but the edge is fatter and blunter. It’s more like a wedge with a handle. More about using this tool.

Splitting Wedges

Having a few wedges is a good idea. Tough, gnarly wood will require the use of these.

Log splitters

Log splitter is a good idea if you want to make this process more easier. More about this tool here.

Sledgehammer

A sledgehammer is needed to drive the wedges into the wood.

Chopping Block

A chopping block is simply another round of wood that is used to place the wood being chopped onto. It’s not really needed but it does make things a little easier.

Please be cautious when cutting or splitting wood. Accidents can and often do happen.

How is your wood splitting going this winter?

New Spring Piglets and Buying Tips

We purchase spring piglets every year to raise for pork. We recently bought a few to add to our barnyard.

They are a Yorkshire, Spot, and Landrace mix. All these breeds are known for their exceptional meat production.

These piglets were exhausted from a long ride home.

They were not too tired to explore their new home.

Raising a pig is a wonderful experience. I like knowing my animals are raised humanely and eating a healthy diet. Many people think pigs are just nasty, smelly animals; but that could not be more untrue. If their pens are kept reasonably clean the smell is minimal. They are also intelligent animals, and each has its own personality.

We have plans to raise our own pigs in the future, but for now we buy. Here is what I look for when buying my piglets. It’s really common sense tips, but I thought I would share.

1.  Healthy and lively. When I watch piglets I want the ones who are running around and playing. I do not want a pig that is coughing, lethargic, or excessively scratching.

2.  Long and well muscled. These type of pigs tend to grow the fastest; producing the most meat.

3.  I buy barrows, which are castrated males, because they tend to have better meat to feed ratios.

4.  Unusual growths. If I see something that looks unusual on a piglet, I don’t buy.  

Do you have any other piglet buying tips that you would like to add? Do you raise pigs or are thinking about it in the future?

What To Expect When You Want To Start Homesteading

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