DIY Projects

 DIY Projects

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Making Sea Glass

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC made its first Sea Glass this year, June 2020. Here is how we made our Sea Glass out of recycled glass bottles:


Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC started making its Sea Glass for use with our hydroponics and aquaponics, as a growing media. Our location has currently been under construction and I have been using this time to try different methods for plant projects.  

I had thrown some turtle vine cuttings into the sea glass bucket while tending the plants and forgotten them. They all rooted. 

 


 What Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC used to make Sea Glass:

  • Glass bottles, jars or other glass items 
  • Sand
  • Salt
  • Safety Glasses and Gloves
  • A Hammer
  • 5 gallon bucket and Colander. 
  • Water, We used the garden hose.
  • A Rock Tumbler, but in this case a Cement mixer for large batches.

How Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC made our Sea Glass:
  • To start we collected all the items and prepped in proper safety gear to protect against sharp glass. Also the cement mixer was locked in the Garage to protect children and animals from getting hurt during the process, as well as being supervised. 
  • After collecting glass bottles, jars and misc. broken glass items, the collected glass was smashed with a hammer into small pieces.
  • Those pieces of broken glass, roughly a 1/2 full 5 gallon bucket for a batch, were placed into the cement mixer.
  • About a gallon of sand, we grabbed sand from our property, was added to the cement mixer mix.
  • About 4 cups of salt, regular table salt, was added to the cement mixer mix.
  • Then water was sprayed into the mix with the hose to make a slushy mix. 
  • Turned on the cement mixer and let it run in the locked garage, supervised, for a few hours during the day while tending the gardens and doing everyday tasks.
  • Afterwards the mixed mix was poured into the 5 gallon bucket again and with the hose water and the colander the new formed seaglass was cleaned of sand and salt.
All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely “at your own risk”. As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only.
If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (especially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition, or harm or even kill yourself or others.

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview 
Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!™






































Preservation through Dehydration:


An easy way to help preserve fresh fruit, herbs and other foods is through dehydration. Making your perishables last a little longer. Dehydrated foods can last from 4 months to over a year!

There are many methods of dehydration:
  • Sun Drying
  • Air Drying
  • Freeze Drying
  • Open Coal Drying 
  • Oven Drying
  • Electric Food Drying (Which is how Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC usually dries our herbs, veggies and fruits).


What you will need:
  • An electric dehydration machine. I use a Presto Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator. 
    • The Food Dehydrator you choose should come with instructions for how to best prep and process your dehydrations.
  • Cutting Board
  • Knifes
  • Storage for you dehydrated Goods

How to:
  • Read the directions for the dehydrating unit you have.
  • Cut/Slice the items you intend to dehydrate according to the specifications of the machine you are using. 
  • Place your food in the machine, turn on and wait!
 

All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely “at your own risk”. As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only.
If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (especially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition, or harm or even kill yourself or others.

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.
Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!™




Maple Tree Tapping


Here in New Hampshire Mid February to Mid April, dependant on weather, is Maple Tree tapping season. Carrying out New Traditions today by using some of the Maple Trees located at Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC to collect Sap to turn into Syrup this weekend. 

What you need:

  • A Maple Tree
    • 12-20 inches in Diameter for one tap
    • 21-27 inches in Diameter for two taps
    • 28 inches in Diameter or wider for three taps
  • Stainless Steel Maple Syrup Taps 
  • Hammer
  • Measuring Tape
  • Drill with 5/16 Drill bit
  • 5/16" ID 7/16" OD Clear Vinyl Tubing FDA Approved Food Grade Multipurpose Tube
  • Food Grade 5 Gallon Bucket with Lid

How To:

Identify your Maple Tree(s). Measure the size of the Tree you intend to use to verify that it is an adequate size. With the Drill and 5/16 bit Drill a 1.5" hole straight into the tree. Using the Hammer, hammer the Maple Syrup Tap into the hole in the Maple Tree. Push the 5/16 tubing onto the tap to seal, Drill a hole into the lid of the 5 Gallon Bucket to fit the hose into. The lid should prevent anything falling into your sap while you are collecting it. 





You will need to collect 40 Gallons of Sap to boil down to 1 Gallon of Syrup. This is a weekend project here. After the buckets fill they will need to be slowly boiled down to evaporate the water and make the Syrup sweeter. We will follow up this Post with another showing how we made our Syrup.

...https://www.littlelakeviewconservatory.com/2020/02/making-maple-syrup.html 






































All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely “at your own risk”. As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only.
If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (especially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition, or harm or even kill yourself or others.

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!™





Making Maple Syrup


Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC made our first Maple Syrup Run this year, February 2020. Here is how we made our syrup, following up from our Blog on tapping Maple Trees 

What you will need to make Maple Syrup:

  • Maple Sap (40 gallons of Sap will make roughly 1 gallon of Maple Syrup.)
  • Large Pots is what we used. There are also pans made specifically for Maple Syrup making.
  • Something to Boil the sap in the pots on. We used an old wood burning stove that a friend gave us. You could use a well maintained campfire or again a unit that is pre-designed for Maple Syrup making. You could use your kitchen stove top. We did to finish, but that will let a lot of humidity into your home, so not ideal.
  • Fuel and Fire/Electricity. We used wood. If you are doing the process the way we have you will need a lot of firewood to boil the sap for multiple days. 
  • A Hydrometer
  • A filter and something to support it. We used a funnel.
  • Your choice of storage. We used mason jars.
Boiling Sap through the Night and Day to make Syrup.

As our Syrup was boiling down low outside, we brought it into the kitchen to finish up. 



















How to, or how we did:

  • Pour the Sap from your 5 gallon collection buckets into large pans for boiling.
  • Start a fire in the wood stove to heat the Sap to a boil.
  • Keep the sap boiling uncovered until most of the water has boiled off. This may take a couple of days.
  • When you think the sap may be getting boiled down enough, take a sample and test it with your Hydrometer. Here's a link for how to use your Hydrometer https://www.wikihow.com/Read-a-Hydrometer. Sap reaches Syrup at 66% sugar.
  • When the Syrup is ready use a filter to strain the mixture so that you can remove any impurities. 
  • Pour your strained, 66% sugar Syrup into the jars or containers that you will be storing them in. Refrigeration is recommended. Syrup will keep longest frozen and will not fully freeze. 

Make sure whichever methods you use to use all safety precautions and beware the dangers of heat and fire. 


All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely “at your own risk”. As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only.
If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (especially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition, or harm or even kill yourself or others.

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!™




https://www.littlelakeviewconservatory.com/2020/01/sustainable-scraps.html

Sustainable Scraps

Some foods, such as celery, can be regrown from the produce you would normally toss. Instead of tossing our Celery scraps into our compost, we have decided to regrow our Celery. This is a great family project to do with kids or for anyone's own self sustaining household.



Celery from Scraps:

What you will need:

Celery Stalk Cutting
A Cup/or Dish
Water
Sunlight/Plant Light

A method for transplanting the Celery once it is restarted:


  • Dirt indoors in a planter or outdoors in your garden.
  • Hydroponic planting system
  • Aquaponic planting system. 

How to:

Once you have finished using your Celery, you will be left with a cut Celery Stalk. 

Take the Celery Stalk Cutting and place in a Cup or Dish with water covering the bottom of the Celery and leaving the top exposed to air. Place the Cup or Dish in a window for sunlight or under a Plant light if you have one. 

Change the water out with fresh water daily. After about a week or two you should see some growth in roots in the water, and leaves appearing on top.

Once there is regrowth, you can transplant your Celery to Dirt in a planter or outside depending on the season in your area. Celery is a harder plant to grow outside.

We have gone with an indoor small Hydroponic System to replant our Starters. 

What we used:

  • Organic Clay Pebbles for a Media
  • A Net Cup Pot
  • A 32 oz Wide Mouth Mason Jar
  • A water soluble Fertilizer to feed our Celery.


 All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely “at your own risk”. As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only.
If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (especially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition, or harm or even kill yourself or others.

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC was est. in 2019 to provide sustainable plants in NH and to share information to help people create self sustainability in their own homes.

Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.


Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!™



Pine Vinegar

With all the things we use orange peels, lemon peels and lavender vs. all the cleaning that is to be done we have turned to other sustainable ingredients to make our cleaning vinegar. 



Foraging outside we picked up Pine to make a Pine variation of our favorite cleaner. 


https://www.littlelakeviewconservatory.com/p/orange-vinegar.html

Vinegar Cleaning Solution is great for all purpose cleaning. You should test it on the material you intend to clean first. Some varnishes may be taken off by these mixtures. You may add water as desired to dilute your solution to meet your cleaning needs. 

Here is a great link for vinegar cleaning uses: https://www.today.com/home/28-ways-use-vinegar-around-your-house-t72276

Ingredients:


Pine Needles (that may have dropped from your backyard trees).

White Vinegar

A jar to contain your mixture



















How to:

Place Pine Needles in jar, fill with vinegar and seal for 3-6 weeks. To make the mixture faster, heat the vinegar before adding it in your jar. 

https://www.instagram.com/littlelakeviewconservatory/

All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely "at your own risk". As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only. 
If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (expecially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition or harm or even kill yourself or others.

Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.


Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!



Orange Peel Cleaning Solution Recipe

How to make an Orange Peel Cleaning solution:




What you will need:

  • A Jar
  • Oranges/ Orange Peels
  • White Vinegar
  • A Funnel (Optional)
  • A Spray Bottle

    How to:

    1. Peel Oranges.
    2. Place Oranges in a Jar.
    3. Fill the rest of the Jar with White Vinegar.
    4. Leave the Orange Peels to sit in the Jar full of Vinegar for 2 weeks.
    5. Patch test the Solution on the item you are going to clean.
    6. Clean.








        Some Recommended uses:

        • Glass Cleaner
        • Air Freshener
        • Adhesive Remover
        • Oil Spot Cleaner
        • Wood Cleaner
        • Hard Surface Cleaner
        • Floor Cleaner
        • Appliance Cleaner
        • Grill Cleaner
        • Ant Deterrent
        • After Shampoo Hair Rinse

        We used an Upcycled Pickle Jar and Cleaning Vinegar. Cleaning Vinegar is more acid than Regular White Vinegar. We only used the cleaning vinegar because we happened to have it on hand. The Oranges were snack bagged for kids' lunch snacks. Double use for the oranges. A Non-Toxic, All Natural, Bio-Degradable cleaning option.




























































































        All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely “at your own risk”. As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only.
        If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (especially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition, or harm or even kill yourself or others.

        Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.

        Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC was est. in 2019 to provide sustainable plants in NH and to share information to help people create self sustainability in their own homes.

        Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

        Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!



        Soil Sanitizing:

        When recycling used soil from old planters or elsewhere, it's a good idea to sanitize your soil to remove possible pathogens. 



        What you will need:

        5 gallon bucket
        A garden trowel/hand shovel
        Soil 
        Baking dishes
        An oven


        How to:

        Preheat oven to 200
        Place dirt in 5 gallon bucket.
        Mix with garden trowel/hand shovel. Take out any unwanted matter. 
        Place dirt in baking dishes.
        Place baking dishes in oven for at least a half hour. 
        Remove dirt and let cool before mixing with soil enhancers.

          

        All DIY projects shown on LittleLakeviewConservatory.com are purely "at your own risk". As with any DIY project, unfamiliarity with the tools and process can be dangerous. Posts should be construed as theoretical advice only. 
        If you are at all uncomfortable or inexperienced working on these projects (especially but not limited to electronics and mechanical), please reconsider doing the job yourself. It is very possible on any DIY project to damage your cottage, void your property insurance, create a hazardous condition or harm or even kill yourself or others.

        Little Lakeview Conservatory LLC will not be held responsible for any injury due to any featured DIY project.

        Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC

        Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC was est. in 2019 to provide sustainable plants in NH and to share information to help people create self sustainability in their own homes.

        Please feel free to contact us at LittleLakeviewConservatory@gmail.com be added to our email list or with any questions, requests and comments.

        Little Lakeview Conservatory, LLC * Grow a little!


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