Texas Springtime Snow

Yesterday it snowed in North Texas.  I was working on a Cascade Refrigeration System, you might know it as a Deep Freeze, and in testing the Environmental Test Chamber I made some snow.  Its about the only way to make snow in North Texas in March.  This chamber a leaked out its refrigerant over a long period of time.  We had an AC guy quote charging it, and he wanted $1500.  Wut?  So, we hatched a plan, did our interwebz research, got a manual, and a schematic.  This Thermal Test Chamber wanted exotic, and obsolete refrigerants, very expensive.  Our methodology is low budget, so we had to find the most cost effective way to do this.  We used some borrowed AC Gauges, R12 to R134a adapters, and one 12 oz. can of R134a to recharge this Thermal Test Chamber.  $12.99 at Autozone...  It hit -45F because of the Cascade, two stage, Refrigerant System...  Snow!

Z Gate Update

Here are a couple shots of the Z Gate after it has cured for about three weeks...

I cleared away the scrap concrete pieces, and there is a little natural mulch accumulation.

Its got a sturdy look...

Leavitt Garden

We had a plan to build two 8x4 Raised Garden Boxes on Saturday.  Casey had picked a design out of a Garden Manual, gathered the materials, and started working on the Boxes before I had arrived.  It quickly turned into a major undertaking when we all realized the volume we were dealing with.  Kevin and Casey went to get two cubic Yards of Raised Bed Soil.  That's 54 cubic Feet of Dirt.  It completely filled the bed of his Dodge 2500 HD pickup.

We had to start by marking off the area where we wanted to put the Raised Beds.  This spot is on the North West corner of the yard, and has good light all day long.  We used frame pieces to mark off the area, and then started using my new Pick Mattock to remove the Bermuda lawn.

 This was a fairly warm Spring Day, perfect for building another Organic Garden.  After removing the grass from the area, we dug the post holes to anchor the frame to the ground.  We didn't use concrete, instead we filled the holes with the native clay soil, then compacted the soil around the holes.  The posts are well planted.

After thee posts were planted then we added the sides of the box.  The Raised Bed is three 2 x 4s deep, about 10.5 inches.  We picked up two cubic yards of soil.  The Raised Bed is 16 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 10.5 inches deep (0.875 feet).  That works out to 56 cubic feet, and the two cubic yards of soil is 54 cubic feet, so the load of soil almost perfectly matched the size of the box.

So during the construction process the design of the Raised Bed changed, and it became on 16 foot, by 4 foot box.  The number of posts changed, not a bad thing.  The finished Raised Bed has a clean, and symmetrical look.  Now we are ready for some Tomatoes.

After we finished the Raised Bed we made some Smoked Chicken Tacos, Vegetable Kabobs, with fresh Pico de Gallo.  We all needed some proteins after this job...

Z Gate

This is the follow up to Double Stump.  I had decided to use 6 x 6 Posts, and did the same on the other side of the Z Gate.  So the mounting point for the Z Gate hinges is extremely solid.  This contrasts the way it was, saggy, and broken.  This time I build a little frame around the post to contain the concrete, and get the joint between the concrete, and the post off the ground.  This way water cannot stand at the base of the post.

Yes that was a muddy mess, but in the end ir is very nice looking.  Another thing about the Z Gate is the "Z" configuration.  I did several things to the Z Gate to give it dimensional stability.  There are two cross boards at the top, and a cutout for them in the side frame pieces.  They are connected with 3.5" screws.  The bottom cross piece also has 3.5" screws.  Then the "Z" piece crosses from the bottom hinge side to the top swing side, also secured with 3.5" screws.

The previous gate didn't have a frame.  It was all hanging off the 2 x 4 with the hinges attached, and nailed together.  So, over time the wood shank, the nails became loose, and the gate started to sag, causing the bottom to scrape along the ground.  The Z Gate is designed to maintain its shape, and not fail this manner.

Then the biggest job for the Z Gate is to contain Harlz...