Recycle – ReUse – RePurpose – Reduce Waste

The De Cristofaro Homestead is also now home to Hamlet & Wilbur Farms. Yes, if you haven’t heard, we have started a pig farm. With that, many things needed to be done to accommodate the major changes in what we do around the property and how it gets done.

Wind Fencing – Recycle That Wood!

Our property needed a ton of clean up (and still needs some) after years of neglect; so many aspects of that clean up were used to benefit our future endeavours. For example, there was a ton of wind fencing blown down or just simply fallen over all around the property. We utilized a lot of that fencing (which is older than all of us) and built a few secure paddocks with it.

The only thing we actually purchased for the project was wood screws / deck screws to fasten it into the existing fence rails. All the wood was already on the property, we just removed it from where it was and repurposed it elsewhere. Amazing cost savings and amazing opportunity to recycle!

Tree Trimmings – Awesome Opportunity to Recycle

We had a ton of tree and bush trimming to do. There was a smaller Maple tree and Crab Apple tree that needed to come down as they were right alongside of the back of our house. This is not good because of the potential damage the rooting could cause. We also had a ton of trimmings from around the property as we cleaned up areas like our tree lined driveway and the pasture.

From all of this cleanup we had a ton of branches to get rid of. We rented a wood chipper for a weekend and created bedding for our pigs for the winter. Some of the wood chip / mulch will also be used in the garden and in a couple of other areas that our dogs or pigs are in. All of the wood chips will definitely be used and most likely we will do the same next year as we clear out more of the pastures. Recycling and RePurposing materials from the property makes so much sense.

Wood – Pallets – Recycle

Our family now has 5 big dogs; Great Pyrenees & Maremma. In the winter, and during the rest of the year actually, it is extremely convenient for us and the dogs to go out the back door, along the deck, and down the steps where they can access a large portion of the backyard grass to do their bizzzziness. However, we had a makeshift enclosure created to get us through the first winter which simply did not work and needed securing several times. We also wanted to expand the space they had to run around and make it secure. There are many times we want them outside but, secure and not roaming.

At our Agro supplier, they go through a ton of pallets and can never get rid of them all, so, now they have someone who is taking them! We have built a complete farm fence using pallets! 31 pallets were used in total. For framing purposes, we did have to pick up some 2×4’s which also assisted with stabilizing the fence in the ground. You will see the use of the 2×4’s, in the pictures, but, the 1×4’s on the top of the 2×4’s is all wood from our property, it is wood we just had on the farm to recycle.

Chicken Wire was used in the top portion of fence above the pallets and we also had that already to recycle. The amount of wood that potentially would have been needed to create such an enclosed area would have been massive. By repurposing pallets someone could not dispose of, we eliminated the majority of the need for wood and created a farm like fence enclosure. Next spring, we will be staining the fence created as it may end up being permanent for a few years as our dog run off area. In the winter months, it will be easier now to get the snow off the deck for the dogs as we won’t have a wire fence in the way.

Ashley and Lisa also used pallets to build an apple bin and some ramps and steps for the pigs to get in and out of their enclosures and into the pasture paddocks for grazing. Some pallets were also used to secure other paddock enclosures for the remainder of our summer this year. Some of the repurposed wood from the pallets and the property was also used to do minor repairs to the barn. Sealing up holes and old openings we don’t need or have just been created because of the age of the barn. The backside of the barn faces northeast which means it takes a beating from the wind and snow through the winter months.

We will definitely be stocking up on pallets over the next couple of months as we will most likely be using them to create pig paddock areas in the spring. They are the ideal livestock solution for so many things. Our plan is to build pig shelters within the paddocks using pallets. Just another way to recycle the wood!

Seeding – Can You Recycle Plants?

Another way we are doing our part in the reduction of the “carbon footprint” is by reseeding or seeding. With the plants from this year, we have been collecting seeds from them all and will be using those seeds for the next couple of years. As each year comes, we will simply gather seeds from all those plants to use for the following season. By doing this, we reduce the need for having to buy those seeds. One of the big things however with the seeding is the actual plants we are primarily doing it with. Of course, veggies, but floral species to encourage pollination.

The flowers that are loved by bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. This year, Summer 2023, our sunflowers, lavender, and marigold plants were amazing. The amount of bees, butterflies were awesome and we had a few regular hummingbirds pollinating as well. Creating healthy and inviting environments for pollinating bees is something we should all be doing as our bee populations are down around the world. (this does not include wasps and hornets, they need to go, lol)

With the number of seeds we have already collected this year, we are excited about next year’s planting  already! We do have to issue a disclaimer, yes, we did have a ton of bees on the property this year in our gardens. However, we had a little help, there is a honey farm about 3-5km away so bees are definitely travelling for sure. Next year, we hope that the bees will be working our property hard with their pollination and bringing back pollen to their farm. Plans for encouraging them to spend more time here is underway.

(no, we don’t want a bee farm, we all quickly dismissed that idea J)