Hal Schibel

Okay, I know that this post is 8 years old now but I noticed the original post mentioned "straw hives." What is that?? Is that something similar to the log hive but would be good for people without big logs and chainsaws?

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
- Sewing a patch to cover a hole in a couch, love seat, or padded chair.

To document your completion of the BB, provide proof of the following as pictures or a video (less than two minutes):
- The hole in the furniture needing repair.
- The materials you will use to make the repair.
- You making the repair.
- The completed patch on the couch, love seat, or padded chair.

I love the idea of putting a leather patch on over the worn sections of an armchair or couch. This old La-Z-Boy has a lot of sentimental value and is not ready to be replaced. The seas has gotten really worn down and has several tears. I ordered a piece of leather that was the perfect size to fit here and spent all day sewing it on and I totally love how it turned out! I just ordered more leather to add more "accent" patches and this is going to look almost like a completely new chair.

Here is the worn-down chair.


I grabbed my sewing stuff. Then I remembered I had a leatherworking kit that had never been opened. I wasn't sure what tools I needed until I got started.



I chose a blue cotton thread because the upholstery fabric had red and blue in it. This is my first time using one of these weird curved needles and I actually broke one doing this.


I pinned the whole patch on and flipped the chair on its side so I could easily get the underside. What was nice about pinning a patch on an upholstered piece of furniture was the fact that I could just stick the pins in without having to worry about having the pins come out the other side of the fabric.


As I went, I poked the leather with an awl. It took me a few inches to get the process down and figure out how to stick the needle through so if you do this I would recommend starting in a spot that will be less visible until you get the hang of it.


Patch in progress.


The finished chair!

Additional details for post above (I might edit this a couple times if I struggle with getting the Youtube links to embed properly):

The curtains are made out of a cotton sheet that I got at a thrift store. There is no tag on the sheet so I did a burn test.

Here is the burn test on a piece of the fabric sheet. It caught fire quickly and charred, leaving behind a crumbly black residue. It did not melt. This indicates cotton.



Here is a control test where I burned a piece of Azure Standard's 100% organic cotton quilting fabric. The material behaved the same during the burn test.

Whoops! Here you go! (oiling pictures to go with my submission above)

This is my attempt at this BB, I spent last summer figuring out how to keep the roof from collapsing in our barn so we could use it for chickens. There clearly used to be chickens in this section of the barn and the roof has the name of the town painted on it so it is a cool historical building that we would like to save. Not being familiar with any kind of construction, this took a lot of head-scratching and trial-and-error to figure out. If someone with more knowledge of building techniques sees anything seriously concerning please let me know so I can plan on improving this further. At the very least, I can say that I have extended the life of the roof with what I had available. As I was researching how to keep the roof from collapsing, I found diagrams of what I wanted to do but could not find the actual terminology to search on for more specific guidance for what materials to use but after putting it together I figured out what I would do differently next time so I learned a lot. I also discovered the importance of having certain tools like a chop saw in order to make angled cuts. Anyway, here is the whole saga of me trying to figure out how to save the roof with all the challenges and confusions.


So this is the barn. The middle section with all the open windows is the section with the collapsing roof. We spent the whole summer cleaning this building out as it was full of garbage and old moldy straw.


Here is the inside of the chicken area.



There were three split beams, this one was the worst. I'm pretty sure that wire to an old light fixture is what is holding this up.


The little storage room also had a split beam.


Here is a view of the two split beams in the main area. One is completely split and the other is starting to split. The third one is the one in the little storage room.


First I had to figure out how to lift up the roof. I bought some floor jacks. At first I got some cheap ones online (the blue ones) that were somewhat pressure-based so not able to hold a ton of weight. Then I got a much nicer one from Home Depot. There was a big beam in this room that I had my husband lift up above his head while I put the jack in place on a cinder block and then rotated it to lift it up so both split beams were supported by this horizontal beam that was then held up by this construction jack. I maxed out the height of this jack and didn't think we could get it to go any higher safely with what we had available.


Here is another angle of the jack and beam holding up the roof. You can see that I also found some long pieces of wood to sister against the split beams and once they were jacked up I nailed them in place to help hold them together.


I started off by supporting the third split beam in the little storage area with a 2x6 and a couple of hurricane strap brackets. Since the heavy-duty floor jack was in use, I propped this up with the two cheap jacks until I could wedge the lumber under the beam and I got it propped up on either side with existing parts of the barn structure. If I were to do this again, I would not use 2x6s as beams, I would use something more square because the angle of the roof made it difficult to put in place and I think that would distribute the weight better. I would probably want to ask someone at the lumber yard what kind of lumber to use and if there is a specific kind of "roof beam" lumber (I still have not figured out the right search term for what kind/size of lumber if used for roof beams). I ended up using 2x6s because that is what looked like would fit inside the hurricane straps and in researching what types of brackets I should use that seemed like a good option for this particular situation.


Here's my setup outside. The lumber I used for propping up the roof is just inside the door and the wood on the jackstands was for boarding up a door on the backside that wouldn't close. All I have for cutting is a circular saw.


So for the main section I used two more 8-ft 2x6s as beams and held them up with pressure-treated posts that I held in place with cinderblocks (concrete footing blocks, I believe they are called). I used 4x4 posts because that was the size that fit in the blocks. I used pressure-treated 2x4s to make a "Y" shape on either side and this is where I was going off of a diagram I found online instead of knowing what this structure is called. It looked like the angled "Y" posts were smaller than the 4x4 post in the diagram I was looking at but after building this I started noticing this structure in other buildings and it looks like they usually are the same size (also a 4x4). I also learned what a lag bolt is because that is what my diagram said to use.


I had to cut these pieces at a 45-degree angle and I was not able to get a good cut with my circular saw so I brought them to a friend's house to use their chop saw.


On top of the posts I had a bracket to connect the post to a beam and I discovered that I had mis-interpreted the size of the bracket. I bought 2x6s to use as beams because I thought that that was the size that would fit in the bracket, but I learned that the bracket expected something thicker (so next time I will get something bigger than a 2x6). I had to stick some extra scrap pieces of wood next to the 2x6s to hold them in place. I got the biggest pieces of 2x6 I knew I could fit in my truck safely (8-ft) and I nailed them together where they meet. Each beam is held up with its own post in the middle.  I also attached the 2x6s to the existing roof beams where I could with hurricane straps.



Trying to dig out the floor and get the posts to sit level and at the right height was a big challenge. The floor was covered with several inches of decades-old moldy straw that never got cleaned out so I had to dig a lot of that out and then trial-and-error my way to placing the blocks so that they would align with the one existing beam in this room.


The moment of truth was when I had my husband help me take out the floor jack holding up the roof (there is no way to do that safely by myself) to see if anything would bend or shift or break. Nothing moved. Hurray!


This room is looking actually usable now.


Several other things I had to do to make this space usable was board up this door on the back that wouldn't close, add some plastic to the windows that wouldn't disintegrate like whatever was on them before, and make door handles for the door and storage areas (for some reason all the door handles on our outbuildings were made out of knotted wire). I also had to tear out the light fixtures and wire that was attached to the broken beams. I'm pretty sure this wire is what was holding up the roof.




The chickens, ducks, and geese have been enjoying this space for five months now. This is a good amount of room for them and with all the straw we collected before the winter to use for deep litter, it hasn't been stinky at all. I thought I would get to test out how much the roof could hold over the winter with our usual heavy snow load, but we did not get any lasting snow for the entire winter. Nothing seems to have shifted in the last sixth months since I finished this project.




Thanks for reading and if you see anything that seriously needs to be fixed before next winter, please let me know, I would really appreciate it!

I built my first chicken paddock for rotational grazing this weekend and needed a gate for it. I made the gate out of scraps and then made a latch that allows it to be latched to a T-post. I spent some time looking around the farm store for something that would work and asked one of the employees but he seemed weirded out that I would want to put a latch on a T-post. Well, I don't have a ton of money to spend on fancy fencing but I figured it out eventually.

To complete this BB minimum requirements are:

       - figure out how you can build a one handed latch from things you have around or repurposed materials
       - gather all materials you need to build a one handed latch
       - build the latch and make it work properly


To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must post pictures of the following:

       - the gate that needs a latch
       - all the materials you need to build the latch
       - pictures of you building the latch
       - picture of the latch mounted on the gate

So here is my gate that I built out of scrap wood and some chicken wire that I cut off from this section of fence. It looks a little crooked because both the barn and the T-post are crooked.


Here are some materials. Some scrap pieces of 2x4 and 1x4. I also found some of these garage hooks all over the garage that the previous owners placed there for very specific purposes that no longer apply so I've been uninstalling them and using them elsewhere.


Here I am starting to install the components on the gate.


This is what the latch looks like closeup after installation. The metal garage hook will catch on the T-post and keep the gate from swinging out to the left and the wood latch will rotate to lock it in place and can be rotated up to allow the gate to swing open to the right.


Here is the gate closed and latched from the inside. you can just reach through the string and move the latch to open the gate.


Here is the gate open. I can keep it open by hooking this chain to the metal garage hook. It really looks crooked here but when the gate is closed it fits perfectly in the opening.


Here is the gate all finished.


Here is a closeup of another gate latch that I made in the same way in case the pictures of the one I just built are hard to tell what is going on.

I made an egg stand this week out of pallets and I hung some curtains out of a 100% bed sheet I got at a thrift store. I pulled out some wood from the brush pile to make the rods and brackets.

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
  - hang natural fabric curtains

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must provide proof of the following with pictures (or a video < 2 mins long):
  - before, during, and after hanging the natural fabric curtains
  - show and describe what natural fabric the curtains are made of

Grabbing sticks for the rods and brackets.



Peeling, sanding, and flattening.


Cutting and sewing the bed sheet.



The egg stand pre-installation.


I hung it up with small nails. I drilled pilot holes first.


Finished curtains!

I recently learned the hard way that if I am going to care for chickens, I need to be ready to put them down quickly if I need to. So I went out and bought the stuff to make one of these chicken funnels to be ready for next time.


To document your completion of the BB, provide the photos or video (<2 min) of the following:
- The supplies you're starting with
- Partway through the build
- The finished funnel

I bought some 10-inch metal flashing although the instructions I found said to use 14-inch. When I went to Home Depot the 14-inch rolls were 100 feet and I did not need that much nor did I want to spend $40-50. So I tried following the dimensions laid out in this thread and ended up cutting a piece that was 10x31 to get the dimensions I was going for, although I probably could have done 30 inches.

Supplies. Not pictured is the drill and pliers I realized I needed after I got started.


When I opened the flashing it exploded on me. Good thing I did not get the 100-ft roll!


Cutting to size. I started a little big and gradually decreased by an inch at a time to be sure it was the dimensions I wanted. These aviation snips are the coolest thing ever!


Today I learned what a rivet was. I had to squeeze it a few times before it popped.


That wasn't so bad.


Here's the second one.


Got two rivets in.


Bottom is roughly 3 inches. Although it is hard to measure without a third hand.


Top is roughly 9 inches.


Here is the completed cone.


And here it is hanging from a tree.

Does fermenting count? I love soaking rice in water for a week or two before cooking.

If you're not use to fermenting grains, rice will get stickier the longer it ferments. This is also really nice when doing any kind of gluten free baking if you mill the rice down into flour and use it to make sourdough - the fermented rice binds together without need of gluten or egg to hold it together. And if you like eating sticky rice, this will eliminate the need for the starch that gets washed off and will create a really addicting sort of vinegary flavor.

Also Judith, where did you see that the Azure rice is the worse for having arsenic in it? I'm not finding anything about that. Is the claim just based on the state that it's from?

Seems like it's been 5 years since the last update, curious how it's going!

I've found that storing canning jars in the freezer works but does not make the most effective use of the space. Something I did for my freezer was acquire some plastic freezer organizer bins and then lined them with parchment paper (I might make some sort of more permanent fabric liner at some point since I've decided I like using these). The best way I've found to fill them with frozen stuff is to freeze fruits or vegetables (I haven't tried herbs) flat on sheet trays so they don't stick while freezing and then I'll dump them in the tray. There is a little bit of sticking together but freezing them first helps a lot. And you could probably layer frozen things in a container like that with parchment paper or cloth between the layers if you wish. One of the shelves in my upright freezer holds about 8 of these containers and they are stacked two high and are easy to pull out with the handle in the front.

Another way to store "fresh" herbs is to preserve them in vinegar - you may use them a bit differently than your regular herbs but this can really bring out the flavor, especially if you were going to use oil or vinegar anyway in cooking. When I make pizza sauce I always add balsalmic vinegar and red wine vinegar and dehydrated Italian seasonings so maybe there is a way to make a vinegar mix with all of these ingredients (I really want to try this now) that you could just add to the sauce. I've made a sage vinegar with fresh sage and apple cider vinegar that just smells heavenly but haven't had a ton of fresh herbs to play with. You could also infuse oils with herbs but I think you want those to be dried first (someone correct me if I'm wrong) - this would still give you some great flavors.