Building an apron for access to the barn
In the construction process, we learned we needed to build an apron to facilitate entry and exit from our property. The apron provides a transition from the road, to the driveway / field and cleans the mud off from tires as well. to build this, we had to excavate a foot +/1 to cut through the top layer of dirt and get to the clay base, then fill it with tire scrubber rocks.
We learned a couple of key things in this process.
- An apron is important and needs to be planned for (whoops, missed this at first)
- Excavation can be done pretty easily on this with a tractor and bucket, no expert help needed (cost savings)
- When ordering the tire scrubber rock, be sure to be clear about the grade of rock you are getting. We were not clear enough on this and ended up picking out re-bar and some scrap metal from the end result.
- Pick out any scrap metal from the final product.
- If you did not get a driveway permit, your township may take offense and ask for one, viewing this as a driveway…
Every September I am so excited for the chance to cook and bake with apples. Truthfully there is nothing that I do not like about the apple tree. From the flowers in Spring, the chance to climb them, the fruit they offer and the wood use later for smoking, this tree is awesome.
One of the first things we made when we got birds, was a little entertainment for them. They like to roost, even as babies. Jessica looked on line and we were both surprised at the costs for these little accessories. I whipped up a few models in my shop to see how they worked and the birds really seemed to go for them.
Lessons learned:
