Favorite Multi-Use Outdoor Items
Several of the things we have bought or have access to have begun to feel almost indispensable. The money we paid for them was money well-spent.
1. Dog kennel. Ours is 10 x 10 x 6. Besides containing dogs, ours has housed sheep, goats, and calves. We've had rabbit hutches inside it to protect the rabbits from dogs or predators, and right now, the panels are protecting the greenhouse plastic from Max.
2. Large pet carrier. We have the largest size, and it has been used for kids (the hairy, bleating kind), lambs, ducklings, goslings, and chicks. Some of them were housed in the dining room temporarily, but confined as they were, it worked out fine. We've also used it as a dog house by putting straw in the bottom and a tarp over the top.
3. Fiberglass calf hutch. At various times, we have used it to house calves, goats, sheep, poultry, and dogs and cats. It stays dry inside, and warm in the winter. I have also used it as a temporary greenhouse. The calf hutches still belong to Dad, but if he ever sells them, I want one or more of them.
4. Small stock tank. Empty ones are perfect for young poultry. Good ones make a fun splashing pool, or a fish tank, or a "rain barrel" for catching irrigation water on the side of the house where we have plants but no water hydrant or faucet. Leaky tanks can also become impromptu compost bins or planters. We bought ours originally to use for water storage in a gravity-flow system of chicken waterers--when we were raising several hundred chickens for a friend.
5. Feed and water pans made from recycled tires. They don't blow away very easily. They absorb heat in the winter sunshine and melt any ice inside. If you have to dump out the ice, the tapered sides make it possible to do so. Max can drag them around, but not destroy them. We use ours for grain and water for pets and small farm animals.
6. Heat lamp. This can keep lots of things from freezing--the water in the chicken house, plants in the greenhouse, the water line at the well, and it can keep animal babies warm when necessary.
7. Straw bales. These are obviously not durable goods as the other things in the list are. But they are wonderful nonetheless. With the addition of a tarp, they can be used to create a temporary insulated structure to protect animals or plants. They're used sometimes around the outside perimeter of an old house to keep it warmer in the winter. Taken apart, the bales serve their most common purposes well, for animal bedding and garden mulch.
8. Tarp. I've already mentioned using this in combination with some of the above items. Keeping things dry, protecting from wind damage (especially insulating materials), providing shade are all ways we've used tarps.
Not all of these things would be useful in a city backyard, but for a country home, or an animal-loving or self-sufficiency-oriented family, these are good things, and worth acquiring.
1. Dog kennel. Ours is 10 x 10 x 6. Besides containing dogs, ours has housed sheep, goats, and calves. We've had rabbit hutches inside it to protect the rabbits from dogs or predators, and right now, the panels are protecting the greenhouse plastic from Max.
2. Large pet carrier. We have the largest size, and it has been used for kids (the hairy, bleating kind), lambs, ducklings, goslings, and chicks. Some of them were housed in the dining room temporarily, but confined as they were, it worked out fine. We've also used it as a dog house by putting straw in the bottom and a tarp over the top.
3. Fiberglass calf hutch. At various times, we have used it to house calves, goats, sheep, poultry, and dogs and cats. It stays dry inside, and warm in the winter. I have also used it as a temporary greenhouse. The calf hutches still belong to Dad, but if he ever sells them, I want one or more of them.
4. Small stock tank. Empty ones are perfect for young poultry. Good ones make a fun splashing pool, or a fish tank, or a "rain barrel" for catching irrigation water on the side of the house where we have plants but no water hydrant or faucet. Leaky tanks can also become impromptu compost bins or planters. We bought ours originally to use for water storage in a gravity-flow system of chicken waterers--when we were raising several hundred chickens for a friend.
5. Feed and water pans made from recycled tires. They don't blow away very easily. They absorb heat in the winter sunshine and melt any ice inside. If you have to dump out the ice, the tapered sides make it possible to do so. Max can drag them around, but not destroy them. We use ours for grain and water for pets and small farm animals.
6. Heat lamp. This can keep lots of things from freezing--the water in the chicken house, plants in the greenhouse, the water line at the well, and it can keep animal babies warm when necessary.
7. Straw bales. These are obviously not durable goods as the other things in the list are. But they are wonderful nonetheless. With the addition of a tarp, they can be used to create a temporary insulated structure to protect animals or plants. They're used sometimes around the outside perimeter of an old house to keep it warmer in the winter. Taken apart, the bales serve their most common purposes well, for animal bedding and garden mulch.
8. Tarp. I've already mentioned using this in combination with some of the above items. Keeping things dry, protecting from wind damage (especially insulating materials), providing shade are all ways we've used tarps.
Not all of these things would be useful in a city backyard, but for a country home, or an animal-loving or self-sufficiency-oriented family, these are good things, and worth acquiring.
posted by Mrs. I at
4:40 PM
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