repurpose – Peacock Orchard

I have been collecting windows for some time with the intention of building a greenhouse out of them. I have all the old wood windows from my office, all the windows from our house and the stray window that was given to me by this person or that person. They have all been sitting in our lean-to being broken upon occasion by activity around them. I really needed to get this greenhouse going.

Last year I was given metal roofing and that was the final piece in my greenhouse puzzle. I had always intended to build the greenhouse in a lean-to style. One wall full windows while the opposite wall was solid. Now I had all the supplies I needed (- the wood for framing it all in).

We had a lot of debate about location. I needed it to be close to a water source which led to problems as all the water sources are close to large buildings which would block the sun. I also needed to access the greenhouse fairly easily.

So, the greenhouse is in the yard. 8 feet wide, 24 feet long and 8 feet tall. The greenhouse comes in 4 feet under the county requirement for a permit. Wohoo!

Our wonderful family supplied me with gift cards to Home Depot. I calculated how much wood I needed and off we went to purchase it. Thankfully husband was with me as I had left out the need for cement to keep the entire thing from blowing over.

I could only work on the greenhouse nights and weekends so a lot of digging and planning was done in the dark.

Husband dug all the holes for the posts. Then I realized we miscalculated them and all of them had to be re-dug. We did them one hole at a time, erecting the walls in between to make sure the greenhouse was square and the posts were in the proper place. I am terrible at measuring things so it was important to do one wall at a time for this.

The back walls are simple frames. Nothing fancy. Then I made boxes out of 4 2×4’s for the sides and front walls. I laid them on the ground and began placing the windows and doors in them and framing around them. Some of the windows needed screwed in before the walls could be erected and put in place. Others could easily be stapled in after putting the walls in place. Husband had to help me a lot. Building a heavy window greenhouse while halfway through pregnancy is quite a strain.

We kept the stairs from the front of our house. I always intended to use them as greenhouse shelving. I think they are perfect!

Roofing and siding is going to take quite awhile. It’s been windy here lately and moving metal sheeting in the wind is just a really bad/dangerous idea.

The kids bopped in and out to help here and there through the process. They enjoyed digging for about 5 mins. They like using the tape measure. Daughter likes acting as building foreman and informing me how disappointed she is in the size. Son loved using the staple gun.

I’ll be sure to post again when the entire thing is completed.

As with most small holdings, chicks seem to be a never ending job. In the fall we killed every single bird we had, chicken, duck and turkey. The turkeys were fated for the table anyway. The ducks and chickens got themselves into that situation on their own. You see, the chickens were eating their eggs. We couldn’t figure out who was doing it so they all were culled. The ducks were laying their eggs in the pond and only the pond. I’d see them float to the top after they’d rotted. Not what I was keeping ducks for so they were also culled. At the moment we have pigs and peacocks and that’s it. Well that was it until yesterday.

I decided we needed to be more practical. No more random chick purchases and no more allowing the hens to hatch eggs (we had one hen that could hatch out 2 nests a year). We really only need 6 chickens for our personal egg consumption. I did not want to waste money getting a rooster either. So off to the feed store to pick up 6 red sex linked chicks.

I’d been checking the feed store for them so you would think I’d have prepped the brooder beforehand. I did not. Everything was a bit dusty and needed a rinse but it took only a few minutes to prep the old kitchen island for it’s newest chicks.

The chicks seem happy!

The island is large enough that even though the heat lamp is pretty close to them they can get away from it when they are hot.

View of the outside of the island here. I removed the drawers on the top and one of the doors for ventilation. I just used molding I already had to keep everything in place. Unfortunately the kids are always pulling the top screening down so they can peak in.

The following pics are of the nonworking brooder in the barn (nonworking as the power is out).

I just modified an over the fridge cabinet by extending half of it (again with things I already had hanging around). The extension is where I put the food and water. The bottom is hardwire cloth so everything just falls through to the barn floor.

I mounted the cabinet but had to use a bit of a prop for the extension I made.

So, if you don’t have any stock tanks or other containers around, old kitchen cupboards can find new life as chick brooders.

Tag: repurpose

Building a greenhouse from old windows

Kitchen Cupboards as Chick Brooders