Larsen Poultry Ranch - homesteading journey

[Bruce]

I agree with you. I don't think portable ACs are very efficient. Spend more money and get something that will heat and cool a larger area.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Hubby bought one. It doesn't feel much cooler than the swamp cooler. He thinks it's better...

 

[Bruce]

They have them at the massage place and they seem to work. We had one at our old house and I swear it actually heated the house. Hot air going out a thin plastic "tube" that got hot. Plus it had this dumb @SS flat tray under it that held pretty much no condensate and was a b1tch to keep it empty. Stopped using it and tossed it in the dump when I cleared the house out.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Almost 11:30 at night and it's still over 85°. My feet feel swollen and I had to take my ring off my right hand as I was afraid it would get stuck. Left hand can still get ring off. Supposed to stay hot for the next 10 days, but might dip down into the mid 80s during the week. I don't remember it getting this hot last year. Either that, or this house just sucks and the last one had actual shade.

 

[Baymule]

I’m sorry you are feeling the heat with no AC. I’ve lived with no AC at various times in my life, I got used to it. I don’t want to get used to it any more. Hopefully the heat will break and things will cool off for you.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I’m sorry you are feeling the heat with no AC. I’ve lived with no AC at various times in my life, I got used to it. I don’t want to get used to it any more. Hopefully the heat will break and things will cool off for you.

Unfortunately I think it's gonna stay hot, probably into September. I think part of the problem is that this property is not irrigated, so the whole place is dry and hot. If we can get irrigation water and pipeline/sprinklers going and keep it green next year I think it might not be so bad. Hubby has sprinklers going on a timer in the driveway zone, and I don't think the "grass" is going to come back. I think it was just weeds and miner's lettuce. I think I'll see if I can buy some clover seed but I'm not too confident that anything will sprout. Plus the darn turkeys will probably eat the seeds before they get a chance to grow.

I think I'll go by Green Acres on the way home and see if they have any suggestions.

 

[Bruce]

miner's lettuce

Apparently we don't have that one.

What you need are some nice big shade trees all around the house.
What you DON'T need are some nice big shade trees all around the house that can fall on it.
Catch-22!!!

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Apparently we don't have that one.

What you need are some nice big shade trees all around the house.
What you DON'T need are some nice big shade trees all around the house that can fall on it.
Catch-22!!!

Yeah, there's several oak trees that shade on the eastern side, so those help in the morning, but they are too close to the house for our comfort and we'll be taking at least several down once hubby can get his dad's lift truck & possibly the crane over here. I want to plant a loquat or several that side, they are evergreen and should give decent shade. Not sure they'd get tall enough to shade the house though.

The south side doesn't have much in the way of trees, but there's an oak a decent distance away that might give shade, haven't watched it to be sure. Don't want/need to take that down because it's far enough I feel comfortable. Going to plant some citrus in that zone, there's a grapefruit but it's not very big.

Western side has some trees but the ground slopes downward that side so I think they are less help. The ones by the master bedroom need to go as they are closer to the house than we'd like and interfere with the internet signal. I want to redo that area and remove all the rocks and plant a butterfly garden there. Maybe we can get a Crepe Myrtle, those can get decently big given enough time, although they are messy. They can be shaped to a tree or shrub. Mom's are like trees in her backyard, taller than the house but not by much. They are probably 30+ years old.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I went by Green Acres and they didn't have the 3 or 5 gallon nursery pots I wanted, so I got some 2 gallon pots. I bought a strawberry guava and a pineapple guava.

I also took some pics of different shrubs that could possibly work for along the driveway with the neighbors to block the view. I think it'll probably take 3 years or more for them to get tall enough, but they might work.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Hubby was busy this afternoon after work, prepping the area to install the new subfloor.

Penny is supervising.