Tomato Cages and a Rain Barrel

Here is the rain barrel I put together last summer. I bought the barrel for $5 at our local Coca cola bottling plant so I know there was nothing more toxic in it than high fructose corn syrup (toxic enough!) I drilled a couple holes, screwed in a brass faucet and an overflow spout and she is done. Some might say this is terrible waste of treadle sewing machine stand, but it is so cute. I topped the stand with a metal grate I found while walking the dog one day, hooked the barrel to the downspout and there it is.


This year's garden project was making tomato cages. I have been frustrated by wimpy cages and spent time making wooden cages that rotted and broke into pieces. Then one day, on another dog walk, I spotted a tomato cage that would work and be long lasting.

It began with a 16 x 4 foot cattle panel at the local fleet and farm place. Before hauling it out of the lumber yard I had them cut it half with their bolt cutters so I could get it on top of the car. At home I cut it apart into 1 foot wide sections. I first tried using my Sawzall with a metal cutting blade but that took forever so I went and bought a metal cutting blade for my (borrowed from neighbor) circular saw. That cut through the heavy fencing like butta'. I use the grinder to smooth the cut edges. I cut off the bottom so that I could set the cages into the ground.

I considered making them square but found that they were large enough in a triangular shape. I fastened the sides together with plastic zip ties. This way the ties can be cut and the cages can be stored flat inside during the winter.

Each cattle panel cost about $25 and yielded 8 sections. Three (or 4) sections make a cage so they cost about $9 each to make. They are sturdy and will last for years, I believe. Here they are in the garden. The tomato plants have since grown up and over the top but are well supported.

Happy tomatoes, happy me!

How I Insulated the Attic

So, this is the rock wool insulation that was in my attic when I bought the house. Every so often a hunk of it would fall off into the attic space below. I used duct tape to hold it up but finally it was time to remove it all and reinsulate.

This space is tall enough to walk in and I wanted to keep it a warm space for storage so I chose to insulate under the roof as opposed to insulating the floor and knee walls. I explained how I came to that decision in an earlier post.
I started off with 4x8 sheets of foiled backed polyisocyanurate- or Thermax or Tuff-R.

I hauled them home on the roof of the Passat.

I pulled them upstairs and got to work.

As I explained in an earlier post, I wanted a 1 inch air space between the roof and the insulation. There has been some debate as to whether or not that is needed but I decided to go with it. To create the airspace, I first used some 1/2 inch x 1 inch long boards nailed the full length of the rafters but that involved using a lot of wood and was going to add a lot to the cost. I decided I could use pieces of the insulation. So I cut that into lengths about an inch wide and used them to provide the spacing for the air gap.

I used adhesive to secure it to the rafters. This would prevent the insulation panels from making contact with the roof boards.

In retrospect, I should have applied the pieces to the whole length of the rafter. This would have sealed the area better. I had plenty of scraps of this stuff so there was no need to break it apart and space it like I did. My goal was to have no air infiltration from the ridge and soffit vents in to the attic space and using one long strip would have helped.

I measured between the rafters and cut each piece of polyisocyanate to fit. The rafters are approximately 3 1/2" wide. So there was one inch of air space and 2 pieces of polyisocyanate between the rafters.

It was very easy to cut and work with, lightweight but it was time consuming measuring and cutting each individual piece. I put the shiny aluminum side facing the roof rafters on the first layer but I was unsure about the second layer.

I decided to face the second layer out. I fitted each layer between the rafters. I filled any gaps with expanding foam insulation and then taped all the seams with foil tape.

It certainly made the space much brighter. I then used full sheets to add another layer of insulation on top of the rafters. I used screws and 1.5" plastic washers to hold the third layer up on to the slanted surface.

East side of the attic:

West side of the attic:

All the furniture and stuff from the sewing studio is packed in here as I work on painting and replacing the carpeting.

Lots of cutting and fitting was needed to work around the studs in the knee wall. Well, it is a lot taller than a knee wall.

And that is how I insulated my attic!