The Oven is nearing completion

I’ve spent a lot of time lately on the car that I’ve left the chook house – “The Oven” – alone sort of.

A few weeks ago, we bought drill bits capable of boring large holes into the stump and removed the large roots that were already a hazard to the kids.

The remaining stump is simply too large to do much about now aside from a stump grinder, which is far too expensive for the amount that needs to be chipped.

The wet weather has hampered progress this weekend with our efforts confined to areas of dry, which has been the few hours of an afternoon.

We managed to get the stakes in the ground for the fence, and fit out the fake floor, and give it a door, and block off one window.

The Oven is made by converting an old cubby house/ dog house that was already here and weighs too much to move. The beauty of it being there is it’s cost benefit – the house needs to be reasonably weatherproof, and this place is. It’s comfortable, as it’s got a whirlybird!

It’s reasonably dry, and doesn’t flood (we’ve had a large downpour last night to tonight, and the interior is barely damp!).

Throughout the week (assuming dry weather), I hope to:
– Finish fencing the 3m x 4.5m chook run, and place the bird netting roofing on top.
– Sort out the remaining issues with the second window, and sort out weatherproofing for winter.
– Sort out food and water for the chickens and confirm availability.
– Drain the water tanks and dry them, then patch the drain holes so that they no longer leak.
– Repot our Mandarin tree so it stops flooding out (seems it’s not draining water, so we got some rocks to put in the bottom of it’s bin).

And I’ll hopefully have seen the holes placed in the tree stump that will rot it naturally when the chickens get on top of it and crap all over it encouraging the natural break down behaviour.

A lot more ideas continue to come to mind with our goals of being self sufficient, or failing that, continue on with more of a sustainable future.

The front and driveway areas aren’t yet ruled out as being targets for expansion of fruit trees, I’d like to add more fruit trees to the collection.

I’d like to eventually find a way around the back so that we have the chook house surrounded by Fruit Trees, thus providing them the necessary shade, and us fruit.

Vines are a good idea for the chook house, as they’ll give something for them to peck at too.

It’s Sunday night, which can only mean one thing – Monday is coming up. And I bet it’s a stinking hot day too.

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