Invincible Tire

 

 The wheelbarrow had been sitting idle with a flat tire for several months. I didn't really need it over the summer, most of the tasks required a hose and a few buckets. But as the weather (hopefully) begins to cool off the wheelbarrow will be much more useful.

Another pneumatic tire like the one the wheelbarrow came with was priced at $20. I opted for the $35 invincible tire. Made of solid rubber and set on a sturdier hub it never goes flat. Considering the first tire lost a fight with a thorn on day 3, I figured it was well worth the investment.

The new invincible tire has an extended hub much larger than the factory tire, so I cut the old spacers to fit. I've since seen tires sold with new spacers online, but measuring and cutting one of the old ones roughly in thirds was quick and easy. I just clamped it onto my workbench and cut it with a hacksaw.

The brace on the end is much closer to the larger 14.5" tire than it was on the old 13". It has some space, more than the bottom picture would lead you to believe, but it's tight. I may extend or bend the brace, or I may put a different wooden brace behind the tire instead. In any case, it works as-is for now. It's already back in action hauling pine straw out of the forest and mulching the fruit trees for winter.

Mulching the Fig

The fig, pomegranate and grapefruit trees are all out in the open in full sun on a South facing slope. They get plenty of sun in this location, but they are also out in the cold winter winds. In order to better protect them I used the same mulching process on all three, shown here on the fig. I mulched the fruit trees back in the food forest similarly, but with less mulch. I'm hoping that since they are more sheltered they should be OK with less. If I get worried about it later this year I can always add more pine straw from the surrounding woods.

As you can see from the top picture in the top collage the yard has slowly been creeping in on the fig. I had mulched it similarly last year but the grass has made its way back in to the trunk of the tree. In order to reduce competition for resources I hoed a circle around the fig, giving it about two feet in all directions free from grass and weeds.

After I cleared out the competition I layered garden soil, cardboard and pine straw as mulch. Each tree up in the front received 4 cubic feet of soil as mulch, the trees in the back only received two cubic feet each. I put down about one cubic foot of soil to level out the ground and get some good soil contacting the majority clay soil underneath before I put down the layer of cardboard. The cardboard will eventually break down into soil as well, but should suppress the grass enough to keep it from breaking through this year. Also, most of the grass roots were removed with the hoe.

As shown in the top right picture of the bottom collage, I layered the other three cubic feet of garden soil on top of the cardboard making sure to leave some space right around the trunk of the tree. I put a layer of pine straw on top of the soil to retain moisture and hopefully prevent erosion. Then I placed a couple of pieces of slate under the fig to block any grass or weeds from sneaking up through the area directly under the fig that didn't receive any mulch. They should hold some heat from the sun on those long winter nights as well.

Finally, I put the sheet plastic back up around the base of the fig. It isn't entirely opaque but will block a lot of the sunlight from hitting the trunk directly, preventing possible sunburn. It will also block out the worst of the wind. I put the cute little puppy dog statue back on top and voila! The fig is ready for winter.

Repairing the Gate

As you can see from the above photos the gate had been damaged in a storm. The hinge on one of the gate arms had both twisted and bent the hinge open and had also pulled loose from the post. I took out all of the remaining screws and assessed the hinge. The only damage was to the piece attached to the gate arm. I used a couple of C clamps to hold it still and beat it back into shape with a hammer. It's not perfect, but it's much straighter.

The post itself was slightly damaged as well. The wood had split, loosening but not losing the corner of the post. I reattached the hinge to the post mainly using the old screws. One screw was missing so I used a longer screw and set it at a different angle to better secure it to the sturdy portion of the post. You can see the difference between the screws in the pictures below. The longer screw appears to have a larger head, but it actually has a small head. I used an odd nut washer that I had to make sure the new screw wouldn't pull through the hinge.

The newly reshaped hinge holds the gate arm both closer to vertical and more square to the post than it had been. Now the gate closes and latches... just in time for deer season.