Rickety Reflections & A Milk Stand Makeover

Most things around here are a little, er... rickety.  That's what happens when you jump right in and aren't willing to spend your life savings on fancy equipment, new materials or professional labor.  A huge focus of our homesteading adventure has been to spend as little money as humanely possible so that this lifestyle doesn't end us up in debt.  So far, we've been very successful at this.  We've gleamed needed items second hand from farm sales, we've repurposed and wild-crafted materials from around our property, and we've simply DONE WITHOUT on many occasions!

We have also been very fortunate, and give so much THANKS, for the things that have been given to us free of charge.  The most notable of free items that we have come across are our two goat's Rose and Lady, and our milking stanchion!  Rose and Lady were a lucky find indeed, and we are so happy that they are part of our herd!  Rose is a registered purebred Lamancha goat.  Doe's of her calibur and pedigree are usually accompanied by a hefty price tag.  Lady is mostly Lamancha, but she is considered an "experimental" breed because she has 1/8th Saanen in her.  She looks just like a Lamancha, but is all white like the Saanen (all white is not uncommon for pure Lamancha's however).  I chose not to breed her this year, but next year she will be a fantastic milker, I know!  I'm so excited for her future!  To top it off she's got a dynamite personality.  : )

Now back to that milking stanchion...  When it was gifted to us, it had been unused and sitting outside in the weather for probably a year or more.  It had quite a bit of rust on it, and it was missing the piece that holds the feed bucket.

I used it for a little while like this, but I decided that I no longer wanted a rickety milk stand!  A few inexpensive updates, made it beautiful and brand spankin' new!  And most importantly, these updates made it easier to keep clean.

First I used a wire brush to brush off as much of the rust and caked on dirt as possible.  This took a long time, especially with all the nooks and crannies that this stand has, but it was a vital step to ensure that the paint would adhere well.  After I had it all nice and smooth I gave it a very thorough wipe down to get off any remaining dust and grime.  Once it was completely dry, I spray painted it with Rustoleum Hammered Finish spray paint in a dark bronze color.

Ya... You like that don't you?  Isn't that so spiffy looking?  I love it!  I loved the paint I used because it was so easy to just spray it on, it seals up rust and prevents it from spreading, and looks awesome with that hammered texture.  I hope you can see the texture in the photo!  TIP:  There are a few moving pieces on the headpiece of the stand so while the paint was drying I moved each hinge and the latch a couple times to prevent sticking.

I gave the paint a couple days to completely dry and "cure" before I reassembled the milk stand, and added the finishing touches.  This stand looks identical to the stand sold by Caprine Supply so I went ahead a purchased the replacement feed bowl holder that they sell.  Thankfully it fit!  I also added a little something special for the comfort of my doe's : )  

Ta da!  I found this pretty foam mat at a big box store for super cheap, and I thought that it would be much more comfortable on their feet instead of that hard metal grate.  It's lovely and really brightens up the milking station, and it's super easy to clean and it's functional.  

Since we're all about frugality around here, here's the approximate break down of what this little project cost:

1.  Feed bowl holder:  $10

2.  Spray paint (2 cans):  $12

3.  Foam mat: $8

Wouldn't you pay $30 for a milk stand that looks as cute as this?

A Greenhouse Raisin' In Photos

Anyone else out there have an amazing husband?  When I say I have an amazing husband, I mean, wow...  His skill and completely selfless generosity floors me.  One weekend, I asked him for some help to build a little cold frame out of PVC pipe, and what does he give me instead?  A wonderful 10'x12' wood framed greenhouse!  I'm a blessed farm girl : )

Having a greenhouse has completely transformed my confidence in the gardening department.  I'm one of those people that has always felt intimidated at the prospect of growing my food.  No doubt, a large garden requires a fair amount of labor, and I've always feared that nothing would grow, or I would do it wrong.  I'm also what you would call a "researcher."  Being driven to research and learn is not a flaw but I can sometimes take it to a point where I intimidate myself!  Anyways, with the greenhouse, I now know that I can provide my vegetable starts with an optimum environment, and can then transplant only the most robust and healthy plants into the garden space.

My husband and his dad completed this project in just three days!  They have experience and knowledge in the construction department however, so I hesitate to call this particular project a DIY type venture, unless you also have experience or knowledge about building a structure from the ground up.  I've posted a lot of pictures here, however, in chronological order, so that the process and steps can be seen, and perhaps give you an idea of how things went together.

This was a pretty frugal project especially considering the awesomely useful building we ended up with!  My favorite feature of the greenhouse is, without a doubt, the floors.  On our property, we have an above ground pool that is surrounded with a redwood deck.  We have decided that we would like to remove the pool (consumes too much energy, it's laborious and expensive to maintain, and it attracts aggressive wasps and hornets like crazy!), and so we are slowly taking it apart and repurposing all of the salvageable materials.  The floor of the greenhouse is made of 2x6 redwood planks that we pulled from the deck, which saved us A LOT of money!  We also opted to use an inexpensive 6mm plastic sheeting to cover the greenhouse.  Eventually we would like to change this out to a more permanent and durable material, but for now (and hopefully through next growing season too!) it works fantastically and allowed us to build a functional greenhouse NOW.  We also already had a lot of the hardware and all of the power tools on hand.  Overall, I believe we ended up with about $200 in the lumber and concrete blocks we used as the platform, $60 for the 6mm plastic sheeting (we bought a 100'x10' roll), and $30 for the door.  The door was an awesome find.  We are lucky to have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore in town.  This store is a DIY-er's dream!  It stocks reclaimed and leftover material's from Habitat for Humanity's building projects.  The door was reclaimed, all glass, with a sliding screened in window, that works perfect for ventilation.  

And here's some views of the inside.  We still need to install some tables around perimeter, and since the greenhouse is 10 feet wide there should be enough room to install a long narrow table down the middle too.