The Do It Yourself World

I finally got the friction drive disc for my Snapper riding lawn mower. Today I put it on and the job was very fast and easy. I had to first cut the lining to fit the inside of the disc. It just presses in and stays in place. Outside I got my tools together and got to work on the Snapper. I had to use a socket to hold the center nut in place while I used a wrench to remove the four retaining nuts. The old disc retaining plate fell off. Behind that was a fiber disc. Then the old drive wheel came off easily. All I had to do was to put the new drive disc in place. Then the fiber disc and the metal retaining disc. Next I reversed the process of putting the nuts back in place using a socket wrench to hold the wheel from turning while I tightened the nuts. The job was done. That fast and easy. This literally took me longer to get the tools together than it took to do the job. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

Melanie and I went out to pick blueberries. Our property is covered in them. There are literally blueberries all over the place. We picked 3 pounds the first day and went out the next day to pick another 4.5 pounds of blueberries. We hope to gather enough blueberries to put away for the entire year. There is another little plant that looks like a cranberry but I am not sure. I would be happy to hear from you all. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

We are still gardening in the hope of providing most of the food we need for a year. I put up a chicken run area for our birds to play. It rained all day again but I kept working anyway. I raked the soil in our raised bed garden area flat so that we can plant the vegetables we recently got for free. It was raining as I worked but I have to get it done. It has rained all but 3 days in the last 4 weeks. It does not always rain all day but there are usually short storms with lightning and then sun in between. It is strange. Today though we had no lightning so I worked through it. Our garden is finally starting to grow. I think the warmer weather and the rain are both helping. We certainly do not have to water the garden at all anymore. I cleared up the construction zone by the chicken coop in order to set up a chicken run area. I put all the wood in a trailer that I got for hauling stuff around the property. A trailer is very valuable on a homestead for moving things around. Without it things start to pile up or projects get delayed. When I am finished with the chicken coop I will haul the wood out behind the wood shop and stack it neatly under some sort of shelter. Next I pounded some stakes in the ground to hold the new chicken fence. A neighbor had given me some heavy duty chain link fence a while back and I wanted to use it for the chickens. This is very heavy stuff and hard to work with alone but I got it done. When the chicken run was finished I cut an opening in the chicken coop for the birds to come and go through. I will open it in the mornings and close it during the night to protect the birds after they go to bed. On days when it is raining or we are not going to be home this will be perfect for me to let the birds have some fresh air and freedom. Other days I will put the chickens out in chicken tractors in the yard to eat fresh greens and bugs. The birds were loving it when I let them out. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

It rained non stop so I worked in the off grid wood shop and with the laser engraver. I gave an overview of the garden so far for the year. When it was not actually pouring rain there was a mist in the air. Not exactly rain but not dry. When you went outside you could feel the water hitting you but it was not really raining. I am not sure what you call that. It was wet. So I worked some more in the off grid wood shop. My wood shop is fully off the grid and powered by solar panels. The energy is stored in batteries in my nearby off grid electronics lab. I worked with the laser engraver and my band saw today. I etched out some forms using the laser and then cut them out on the band saw. I have not ever used the band saw until now although I bought it a couple years ago at an auction house for only $100. I have always dreamed of having a wood shop and now I do. I also prepared a bunch of coffee coaster blanks on the table saw and sanded them smooth using the belt sander. This was all done with off grid power. In the house I was working with the laser engraving images into coffee coasters for sale on my site Recycled Pallet Wood Products. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

This is the second half of the EleksLaser A5 assembly video. In this part I put on the drive motors and belts, feet and control electronics. It was exciting to test this out for the first time after putting it together. It will take me some time experimenting before I get this tuned in right but I sure do have some ideas already. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

I was going to work the garden all day but nature had other ideas. It rained hard all day so I cleaned out the wood shop and set up my tools. Then I worked on recycled pallet wood coffee coasters. The garden is doing better now that the air is warmer day and night. Plus all the rain we are getting means that we do not have to water the plants at all. The chili peppers are starting to look better now that it is warmer at night. We were having nights in the 40s and the peppers went dormant. It was raining all day so I cleaned out the wood shop. I sorted out all the nuts, bolts and other fasteners first. I had a bunch of boxes left to sort from our move to MI. Then I moved some heavy equipment around to make more space to work in here. I set up my table saw finally. Then I moved the portable work bench and the band saw. When I was done I sorted out some pallet wood and started to plane the boards. I am using off grid solar power stored in batteries in the electronics shop nearby. The solar power ran the planer under load with no problem. I planed a bunch of boards. Then I set up the table saw and cut the boards into square coffee coaster blanks. Next the blanks went to the work bench where I sanded them with the belt sander. Then I fine sanded them with the power hand sander. And finally the blanks went into the house where I burnt The Off Grid Project logo into the blanks using a laser engraver from Banggood.com I plan to sell the coffee coasters for $2.50 each. Please let me know if you are interested so I can get working on them. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

Since it was scorching hot outside I worked indoors and put the Elekslaser A5 laser engraver together. This will be used to make products for our Recycled Pallet Wood Products website. The instructions are all made out of images with hardly any words but I figured it out easily enough. There were a few glitches along the way but the company has a lot of videos out there to show you how to overcome any problems you may run into. They also have a support forum where they answer all questions related to the machines they sell. I would strongly advise anyone who has one of these machines to check out the support groups. You can learn a lot on there. This goes together easily enough. I think it took me about 2 hours and could have gone faster if I was not recording and showing my work at the same time. In this half of the assembly video I got all the way up to the frame of the machine. Stay tuned for part two. You can find Banggood products here: EleksMaker® EleksLaser-A5 Pro Laser Engraving Machine: https://goo.gl/PSYFCE (15% OFF Coupon: US3643) Extra 20% OFF For Laser & Hareware Clearance: https://goo.gl/iveJwe Banggood July Mega Stock Clearance: https://goo.gl/sDRiEM Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

It was 80 degrees by 8 am but I went out to work in the garden anyway. I am setting up raised growing areas in the new garden plot. It was too hot for me though so I eventually went inside to cool down and drink some liquids. I was dehydrating fast out there in the sun. I am hauling wheelbarrow loads of composted leaf mix over to the new garden plot. Over in our first garden plot you can see the results of planting in this soil. In the back two rows, in the far end I did not put any soil amendment. Here the plants are growing slower and appear stunted. This shows me that the soil I put on top is good for growing and much better than what I had before. Later I went inside to cool off and worked on the laser engraver a bit. It was hot and humid inside and out though so I did not get much else done outside. Setting up and learning how to use the laser takes some time so this was the best day for it. You can find the laser here: EleksMaker® EleksLaser-A5 Pro Laser Engraving Machine: https://goo.gl/PSYFCE (15% OFF Coupon: US3643) Extra 20% OFF For Laser & Hareware Clearance: https://goo.gl/iveJwe Banggood July Mega Stock Clearance: https://goo.gl/sDRiEM Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

We are planting our new vegetables and herbs that we got for free on the weekend. It rained very hard though and hindered our progress. I got a huge package in the mail today. I sorted out the herbs and various types of vegetables first. I put the herbs out in the raised herb beds out behind the house. I also always spread out the herbs a bit into other places in case they dont like one area. This gives us a better chance of keeping some alive through the winter and next year. I also planted some of the vine plants like pumpkin and cucumber but it was already raining as I worked on them. So I went out to the chicken coop and installed the hardware cloth window screens in the windows. Now the chickens have their own real screen windows. This will keep predators out while letting fresh air to flow through. I still need to put wood trim inside to further reinforce the screens. But it started to rain very hard and there was lightning so I went out to the wood shop to sort things out for a while till the rain slowed a bit. During a break in the worst of the storm I went inside. I got a package from Banggood.com containing a laser engraver. This is a CNC etching and laser engraving machine which is controlled by a computer. You can easily swap out heads on this machine for various work. I cant wait to get this put together and try it out. You can get the laser engraver and other fine products from Banggood.com here: EleksMaker® EleksLaser-A5 Pro Laser Engraving Machine: https://goo.gl/PSYFCE (15% OFF Coupon: US3643) Extra 20% OFF For Laser & Hareware Clearance: https://goo.gl/iveJwe Banggood July Mega Stock Clearance: https://goo.gl/sDRiEM Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

We were at the cabin again this weekend fishing and spending time with our family. Ace hardware gave away the last of their plants and we got a bunch of herbs, vegetables and flowers for our homestead. Melanie and I caught a nice bunch of fish this past week while out at the cabin. Last weekend my parents and sister were there with her children. This weekend it was just my parents and us. We had a great time all week though. Melanie and I hope to put away enough meat and fish on our own this year that we will not need to visit the grocery store for these. This means raising or own chickens so we plan to have about 50 or so this year. We are alternating them through in bunches. We hope to fill the freezer with fish as well. And later we will hunt to put deer meat away for food. On the path to self sufficiency we are putting in a lot of vegetables and herbs at our new homestead. When we got a call from Melanie's friend that Ace was giving away vegetables we ran right over. We got 9 flats of vegetables, herbs and flowers and there was a lot more when we left. They wanted all the plants gone on this day or they would throw them away. We got some vegetables that we still needed which is nice. We also got some herbs that we did not yet have. And some nice flowers to pretty up the homestead. Melanie caught a large bass using my Banggood.com fishing pole. I love this setup. It has brought in a lot of food through the years. Out in the boat we got more sunfish in the evening hours across the lake. Someone sent me a selfie stick for the GoPro camera. This is a good quality selfie stick which I will keep with me on the go. Thank you. I also got my riding lawn mower friction drive disk in the mail. Now I can get that machine running and mow the lawn here a bit faster and easier. It was a great weekend. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

FIRST and foremost I do NOT want drama and I do NOT want my wife and unborn child harassed. If you tell me otherwise your comment will be removed. Next, please do NOT tell me to just ignore them and they will go away. We have been living here peacefully for three months now and "ignoring" them. So they take it to the next level. Up until now they have never touched my vehicle. Up until now they have only made noises, slashed fuel lines in garden tractors or stolen small things. But now they have stepped it up to the next level. Now that they are messing with the only transportation I have while living in the country with my wife and unborn child, they have stepped WAY over the line. You can beat me up and harass me to no end but when you mess with my family - IT STOPS NOW!!!!!!!! I have not been able to find a cyber harassment lawyer in Michigan yet. It must be in Michigan and hopefully nearby. Maybe even a college legal dept would take this on. Or the media. So far I have not found anyone that helps adult males in this area. There are many lawyers and laws for school children that I have found. I am asking my viewers to help me find a cyber harassment lawyer in Michigan who can help us put and end to this. Thank you. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

We had quite a show with fish swimming right up to the camera yesterday, the 4th of July. We went out on the canoe for a while with the GoPro camera underwater to see what we could pick up. We were rewarded with fish all over the place wanting to swim up and see the camera. Some fish actually kissed the camera. This footage was all taken at the lake by the cabin of my family in Lewiston, Michigan. The sun was shining bright and the fish were curious. We saw baby bullheads, minnows of all sizes, sunfish and bass. Hope you like the video. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

Melanie and I are at the cabin for the holiday and we took the canoe out fishing. The GoPro captures some beautiful colors and underwater scenes. We are using the canoe Marc gave us back in New York. We really love this boat. Actually everyone loves this boat. It handles well, is stable in the water and is easily propelled across the lake. I caught a small bass but my hands were full at the time so I did not get the camera going for it. There were bass all over around us at that time but after I reeled in the bass they were gone. At times I put the camera under water and got some other worldly scenes as we drifted along the surface of the water. Later back at the cabin I got some cool scenes in the shallow water. Baby bullheads swam toward the camera and one even kissed the lens before swimming off. The underwater scenes were the best I think. Later I captured the sunset again over the lake. It is so beautiful up here. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

Melanie and I spent the day planting seeds and seedlings on our homestead today. We have to grow seedlings to a certain height before we can plant them into the garden or the ground squirrels will eat them. This is our third attempt at putting in a garden this year. The first time everything froze the day we planted our garden. The next time we grew 300 seedlings inside our home and then put them outside to get some sun. A squirrel wiped them all out in an hour. Now we are sprouting seeds indoors and then planting the sprouts in starter trays. There we will grow them up big enough that the squirrels will not bother them. Then we plant the larger vegetable plants into the garden. So far this is working well for us. We just put in 26 pumpkin, squash and cucumber plants. I dug out holes and put in the composted soil mix before planting each vine. Then Melanie came along behind me and watered the plants. We have literally hundreds of small plants growing outside on a set of shelves. We have to take them out and water them twice daily until they are large enough to go into our garden. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

They say that the grass is always greener over the septic tank. I have found that the grass is greener under the chicken tractor. I have been moving the chickens around in the yard every day since I got them. Now you can see patches of very lush green vegetation where the birds have been in the past. The growth is much thicker and it is actually greener. It really is somehow greener. I have heard of the saying but never witnessed it myself. The birds are fertilizing the soil very nicely. This makes me wonder if I can put the litter from the chicken coop directly on my garden this year for better vegetables. If it did not hurt the grass and actually helped it greatly then maybe it will help our corn field. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

Today I take you with me during my daily chicken routine. Every morning I haul all the birds out to the yard to eat grass and bugs. This is about a 45 minute ritual. First I move the chicken tractor and then move the animal carriers. Then I set up the chicken wire to provide a larger area. Next I haul out the large meat birds. These are slow and lazy and pretty much stay put. They are easy to move but they are heavy. I put them into the cage on the wagon one by one. Then I take them over to the larger fenced in area and carefully set them on the ground. They are so happy to be out in the fresh air. Then I haul out the medium sized birds. These guys act like I am eating them alive when I catch them to put them onto the wagon. I haul them over to the chicken tractor and let each one fly out of my hands where they start to happily eat stuff. Finally I catch the little birds and carry them over in a plastic container. They are starting to get too heavy for me to carry them like this though. I release these carefully with the large meat birds. They can stay together because the meat birds are docile and have no pecking order. And then I have to bring in food and water for everyone. The birds eat about four quarts of food per day out here plus bugs and greens. Then they eat more inside the chicken coop at night. The birds are drinking about two gallons of water per 24 hour period all together now. They are taking up a lot of resources but they are going to be worth it in the end. We will have fresh meat and eggs. Plus they provide fertilizer for the garden. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

The ticks are very bad this year in many parts of the US. I will show you how they operate, how to avoid them getting on you and how to prevent them in your yard. There are a lot of myths about ticks that I first want to clear up. I have often heard of people talking of ticks jumping onto people or falling out of trees onto your head. Ticks do not jump. They are actually very slow creatures. Ticks will hang out on a tall grass or weed leaf and wait for something to pass by. When an animal gets close, it spreads its legs open wide and grabs onto the host. If the host does not pass right by close enough to grab but stand still for a while then the tick will start its slow process of crawling down the plant to the ground and then work its way over to the animal. Ticks do not fall out of trees onto your head. It may on a very rare occasion occur that a tick will wait on a branch but it is doubtful. Ticks can sense what you have touched or brushed up against. They will wait for days for your return. They will sit on a plant or object that you touched and wait for a free ride. So it may be possible that you brush up against a tree branch and a tick could wait for you there. But I have never yet seen a tick in a tree. Again ticks prefer to wait on the tallest grass or weed leaf. The way ticks attach to you is to just grab you as you pass by. Thats it. If you touch the plant they are on then they can attack to you. This makes avoiding ticks relatively easy. When walking on paths or roads simply avoid the tall weeds and grass on the side. They will hardly ever be found on the road because they cannot hang out and wait for a meal there. I have never picked up a tick while walking on a path or road. But the other day walking with my wife Melanie I stepped off the road into the grass with one foot and immediately had three ticks on me. It happens that fast. If you brush up against them then they are on you. If you must walk through the grass then keep it cut short if possible. Ticks again will wait on the tallest plants at the border of a yard. But if you are walking through the woods with no trails then you will certainly encounter ticks. In this case it is best to avoid animal trails. Ticks will concentrate on the animal trails and wait for a meal. If you must walk in the woods then you can also use some sort of tick repellent. These work somewhat but I have found that you have to bathe in the stuff in order to cover every part of your body. Even then there is no guaranty if a tick is desperate enough. You can prevent ticks in your yard to some point by keeping the lawn cut short and trimming all grass on the borders. Put mulch under shrubs and trees and keep all weeds and grass down. Put down gravel or mulch on your pathways and stick to them. Again the ticks will hide in the grass and weeds so avoiding their domain is the best way to prevent ticks. Ticks over winter in leaves so keeping the leaves raked up removes their winter beds. I always had ticks in my garden waiting on my vegetables. So I put chickens around the perimeter of the garden and never had a tick again. Ticks are attracted to animals. Chickens eat ticks. Its a win-win situation for you. You can let chickens free range in your yard or put a boarder around the yard and let chickens run around eating ticks and bugs. Guinea hens love ticks and gobble them up. Possums are much hated by people but they love ticks. A possum can eat many ticks in a day. If you have possums then you have an ally in the war against ticks. Check yourself often when walking in tick infested areas. Lift up your pant legs and check front and back. Occasionally strip down and check yourself thoroughly. After a day of hiking or walking in tick infested areas take a shower with lots of soap. Soapy water kills ticks. Plain water will not. If you follow all of these guidelines then you will reduce your chance of a tick bite drastically. Oh, and dont panic if you see a tick and slap it off. It can get back on you or someone else. Remember they are slow. Take your time and kill it so it cannot harm anyone else. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

Melanie and I have been sprouting seeds for our garden. Today Melanie is putting the sprouted seeds into starter trays to grow up a bit. The chipmunks and ground squirrels keep eating any seedlings we plant so far. We figure that if we put in larger plants maybe they will have a chance to grow since the plants that we bought from the nursery are growing just fine. Anything we plant from seed gets eaten up immediately. Any small seedlings with a bit of seed still attached gets eaten right up. They get dug out and eaten. We still hope to be able to grow a garden this year though. I put the chickens out in the yard each day to get fresh food and air. The birds are getting larger so there are now three groups of chickens. We have the larger meat birds which I am putting out in a hoop of chicken wire. They are slow and stay around the other birds so there is no need for a solid cage for them. The medium birds are fast and would run away in a flash so they stay in the chicken tractor. The tiny birds got pecked nearly to death by the medium sized birds the other day so I put them in with the huge meat birds now. The big birds are slow and dont peck anyone at all. The little birds are just fine and happy with them. One thing I have discovered is that the broilers have a very gentle disposition. They do not even bully the little ones away from the food. It rained in the afternoon and never let up so Melanie and I worked in the Chalet on our garage sale items. We are still sorting out what to sell and what to keep. It is a huge job since we got two full homes and a garage when we moved here. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

I put rolled roofing on the chicken mansion and we are cleaning out our new camper. A huge package arrived in the mail. I pulled the camper out and set it up so that we can clean it for use. It does have a leak in the roof so I will have to put on that metallic paint on roofing material you can get in 5 gallon buckets. We want to use the camper for hot nights here on the homestead and for our fishing trips while Melanie is pregnant. We can not just go out hiking with a tent on our backs anymore. We got a large package in the mail. Actually it came to my parents place a couple weeks ago. It contains a LOT of seeds. All kinds of seeds from herbs to vegetables to flowers. We are very happy to have these. For us it is not yet too late to plant since we are just starting the second garden plot. We are sprouting seeds even now for the garden area. There are many seeds in this box that we are going to use right away. And this year we hope to stagger our planting to spread out the harvest all season long. We hope to provide as much food for the year as possible. Out back I have been working on the chicken mansion. I am putting on the rolled roofing that I bought recently. I had the idea from TSC chicken coops and want to make a nice looking chicken mansion. Those chicken coops sell for about $300 and hold 4 to 5 birds. My chicken coop cost me a total of $60 so far with real sliding glass windows and is large enough for a large flock of birds. It took me all day in part because my parents came up for a visit. But I got the roof mostly done in a day. I ran out of asphalt cement so I could not finish the trim on the back side of the roof. This is going to look like a small cottage when I am done with it. I am very pleased with the chicken coop so far. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

I hauled two loads of compost to back fill our raised bed herb garden. Then I raked the soil into the planting boxes. Next Melanie and I planted our herbs into our new raised herb garden. It will take some time to fill out so we are going to sprout some lettuce for this year to make it look better and to give us some extra food. I finished mowing the lawn with the push mower. with the constant rain we are getting the lawn was badly in need of cutting. I measured and marked out the corn garden. then I tilled the soil 4 or 5 times. our corn is sprouting inside the house to give us a head start on growing while I work the soil. I will till again in a couple days. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

I am making an herb bed out behind the house where the deck was. Melanie is busy making daily videos now so check out her channel. In the morning it was raining very hard so I worked on the computer for a while. Later I put the birds out to enjoy the sun while I cleaned out the chicken coop. I scraped out all the old pine shavings and filth. This I hauled to the compost bin by the garden. Chickens are truly muti purpose birds. They provide us with meat, eggs and fertilizer. I put down new bedding and left the chicken coop open to air out all day. Melanie wanted to get the herbs planted right away so I pulled off the remaining boards from the deck out back where the previous owners had a screen tent. I then shoveled out many wheel barrows full of sand to make space for good planting soil. This will make a good raised garden area for our herbs. With the divisions already in the boards it will give us separate planting areas for each type of herb. I will run two walkways across the middle further dividing each 12 foot long strip into three sections. It took me the better part of the day to haul out all the sand but I finally got the job done. I was nursing myself back to health due to dehydrating at night from the humidity so work was slower than usual. After that I went and got a load of compost to put directly into the garden beds. I was hoping a truck load would fill it up but I was wrong. I will need at least one more truck load to fill up the herb garden beds. I think this is going to be beautiful when done. We will eventually have stone pavers around the garden and through the walkways. I left a board in the middle on one side to allow us to sit some potted plants or sit on a chair and enjoy our herb garden. Later I went to town to get gas for the lawn mower and cut the grass with the self propelled push mower until it ran out of gas and I was running out of daylight. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Check out our other channels: Off Grid Homesteading With Melanie: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ The Do It Yourself World Electronics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q TR Tech Tactical & Survival: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

It was payday so Melanie and I went out on our normal monthly shopping trip. We also got a camper today for an awesome price. We left in the morning to do our monthly shopping and did not get back from running the roads until 6 pm. Then soon after we left again for another store. In the late afternoon when we got back from our first run of shopping we emptied the truck. We got a great deal on herbs and vegetables. We got four flats for the price of 2. Now we can plant all the things that we lost to the ground squirrels. Now that I know the ground squirrels will eat seedlings next year we will plant early and grow the plants safely in a greenhouse until they are larger. But for this year we have to get something going so buying was our only option. I also got the roofing for the chicken coop although I did not show it on video. I hope to get that done soon. We hit the road again and picked up a Coleman popup camper for only $30. This camper actually still had some things inside and Melanie and I had fun sorting through it all and discovering things. There is more than $30 worth of stuff in the camper which sweetens the deal. The camper is in relatively good shape considering that most popup campers get destroyed by mice. This one has only a few small mouse holes which we can easily fix. The cushions are in great shape except for one corner of one cushion where a mouse nibbled on it. A bit of cleaning and this will make a good first camper for our new family. We soon left for another grocery run. When we got home it was getting quite late but we are done with our shopping for the month. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

Finally after 5 days of rain we had sun. I finished clearing out the new garden plot area while Melanie worked on her crafts inside. I hauled two more truck loads of compost in the morning. I actually left without breakfast in order to get everything done in time. I got back for lunch. After that I finished cutting up the tree that I had dropped last week. Then I hauled off all the branches and brush into a pile to be later processed into mulch for our garden. Next I hauled the logs to the fire pit in front of our home. We have enough fire wood for bonfires this summer now. The tomato plants are growing now that we have had heavy rain but the chili plants are pale and yellowish. It could be the colder weather or it could be excess rain. I put fertilizer on the garden last weekend so the plants should be able to grow well enough now. Inside Melanie has been working on her crafts and making daily videos so check out her channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ/feed Please also have a look at my new electronics channel where I am experimenting with alternate energy: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

We have had rain for 5 days straight now so we are not getting much done outside due to lightning. But we are working indoors the whole time. Melanie has been crafting during the bad weather. She has started to make more videos recently too so check out her channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRwlShDuXP5WXdtXV15rAQ I spent most of the time in my wood shop and electronics lab sorting out boxes. I am still unpacking from our move. Many things got mixed into boxes through the years and it is quite a mess. I think it will take quite a while before I have everything unpacked and settled into our new homestead. I have separated my electronics from the homesteading videos so check out my new electronics channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMIqpFAOBkppGkgrSC11p6Q Warmer weather is on the way so check out my outdoor survival and camping channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChPdsvwahC2wh8lvWs6ud4g Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.

Saturday it rained on and off all day but we got some work done anyway. I worked inside the chicken coop while Melanie worked on her herb gardens. Melanie put more borders around the herb gardens. She hauled the stones herself and cleaned out the grass to make it look nice. She wants me to get her some mulch to fill it in and keep the weeds out. I worked inside the chicken coop. I built 7 nesting boxes for the hens using all scrap wood and OSB. These are large enough for even the biggest hen to comfortable nest in. They will be high enough so that each hen has privacy in her nest. Above the nesting boxes I build a chick brooder. This is a large sized brooder with a clean out tray on the floor. The tray is from the large dog kennel that I got at a garage sale recently. I use this for keeping the chicks outside during the day. The tray slides out easily for cleaning. I made the brooder just high enough to slide in the food and water trays as needed. The front wall will be hinged to drop down and allow me to clean out the brooder as needed. I will eventually insulate some of the walls to allow for raising chicks in colder weather. A tiki light set keeps the chicks warm at night while not using much energy at all. I want to put a battery in there and set up a solar panel on top of the chicken coop. With an inverter I will be able to heat the chicken brooder with solar power. I will also have LED lighting in the chicken coop. One light will have a switch for me to turn on as needed to service the chicken coop. Another set of lights will be used to extend the day light hours during winter to give the hens light for egg laying. I will have these on a timer. There will be boards across from wall to wall for the adult chickens to sleep on. The roosts will extend the actual space of the chicken coop into three dimensions. I figure I will be able to house 20 to 30 chickens in here during winter nights. With the future outdoor chicken run for daytime I think it will be good. And the birds go out into the yard to eat bugs and grass during the day anyway. Thanks for watching. Please Subscribe & follow my daily videos. Troy http://www.thedoityourselfworld.com http://www.theoffgridproject.com Note: Copying this video, in part or in full, is a violation of copyright unless the user has express permission from the owner. Violation of this copyright will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law.