Fiberglass Millstone Fountain.
I’ve wanted a millstone for ages. It’s the best way I can think of adding a water feature that would be safe around the kids. However, they’re rare and quite expensive. This one is fiberglass! And only 25 lbs. Hmmmmm…
If you are planning a solar project or are just interested in seeing how much solar radiation you receive during the year, the Sun Chart program should be checked out.
You enter your coordinates or zip code and let it do the calculations for you. There are other options for date ranges, labeling, time plotted and more.
Here’s our charts:
Solar Chart : December Through June
Solar Chart : June through December
Check it out at: UO SRML: Sun chart program
We live on 2.5 acres in Colorado. The soil fertility here is poor, to say the least. It’s quite rocky - with large granite boulders. 
In order to reach my goal of having a more permaculture orientated family space, I’ve had to resort to a more “standard” method of planting up my veggies this year.
Here’s what’s going on: We currently get to the children’s play area via walking out our garage and down the slope. You then go through the gate and back up toward the house to the “playplace”. This walkway is what I’m considering to be Zone 1. However, we put in several trees in this area in order to provide shade for the pathway, house and play area. So, it’s not open to vegetables; aside from some lettuce I suppose. Anyway, I’ve mentally extended Zone 1 into the area near the playplace. As the kids play, I will be nearby and more likely to weed/harvest/etc the garden.
Two trips down to the feed store and 60 straw bales later = four raised beds + some extra for erosion control around the driveway. The raised beds were created by building a rectangle out of 12 bales each. Here’s another view of the beds.
Yesterday, we got 9 yards of a topsoil/compost mix delivered. And once again, my poor husband was out in the sunshine working on a project I had created for him - moving earth into the beds. He was pretty good natured about it.
Upstairs, I have our seedlings getting hardened off. They’re in full sun with the windows open. Our last freeze is typically Memorial Weekend, so I’ll plant them up the week after that. I’ll list what we’ve got going in another post.
Once more pic to add - the apple tree that’s at the northeast corner of the playplace.
I look forward to your comments, ideas and sharing of your projects as well.
X-posted at Permaculture zPod at Zaadz