Ultimate Upcycle - Outgrown the Bunk Beds!

Since we have moved into the house here at Wicked Raven Farm back in 2005, the youngest has had an "L" shaped bunk bed set with twin beds and built in dressers.  The bottom bunk had head and foot boards and the top bunk was held up by the dresser on one side and a desk on the other side.  It was a great system for boys who like to build forts, hideouts and have a "high up" Nerf shooting station to hide and wait for his victims!  This year though - he outgrew the bunk beds!  No matter how he tried to sleep on those twin beds he ended up with a leg cramp or a dead leg from having it through the end or off the side of the bed.   So we moved on up to a full sized bed for him.  It is perfect!

The problem though is that we are still using the dresser and the desk from the set, but we didn't have as much use for the headboard, foot board and the ladder that went with them - that is until I had to pick up another hat, tripped on another fishing pole and got tangled up in a compound bow while trying to get to a load of laundry!

 
 

So for the compound bow that belongs to the older child (20 so not really a child) and for his hats, I used the ladder from the bunks and added some small hat hooks and a set of center hooks to hold the bow.   The hat hooks will also hold bow accessories!  Then I used the 90 degree angle fasteners with two screw holes to fasten the ladder securely to the wall.  Looks great and works like a charm to keep those things off the floor and out from under my feet!  It could also be used for fishing poles, guns (using bigger hooks) or as a coat rack and its a real space saver as well!

 

For the youngest child (13) I used the head and foot boards from the bunk and the hooks pictured above to make racks for holding his hats, fishing poles and backpacks full of fishing gear as well!

I measured how far between the hooks needed to be so that the poles could hang with the reels on them and not get tangled up and then I divided the board evenly by that number and screwed the hooks on each side.

 Most of the work I did in the greenhouse as I chose this as one of my "rainy day" projects, and that is where I hide my tools so I can find them when I need them!

 

These pieces worked well since I was able to utilize the wasted space behind a bedroom door for fishing poles and gear.  The rack is the perfect thickness to fit behind the door and not get dinged up when it opens, and it doesn't knock the hats and fishing poles off either! 

 

Each rack can hold 5 fishing poles and any number of hats as well as fishing gear packs!

If we had used a wider stance hook we could also use these to hold guns for storage as well!

These can be moved easily, they are lightweight so they do minimal wall damage, and they could be painted to match any décor.  Take a new look at that bedframe you have stored in the garage and see if you can't upcycle it into a valuable piece of space saving utility furniture!  Have fun!

Vim and Vinegar - Round 2!

In an earlier blog I promised you another round of vinegar infusion and here it is!  Tarragon is one of the herbs that thrives on the farm (see above for "Whats thriving on the farm" tab).  It's not one that lends itself to being easy to cook with however as the flavor is very strong and it is easy to overwhelm your dish with this herb.  It was a recent basket ingredient on Chopped!  I like to use it as an infusion herb for this reason.

Tarragon grows easily here on the farm and seems not to mind wet, dry or poor soils.  It grows to about three feet tall here and when crushed with the hand you can smell it from a long way away for a long time.  I have also planted this around my apple and other fruit trees with great success - the moose tend to avoid those trees with the Tarragon planted around them.

Ginger Tarragon Vinegar infusion

for the size of bottle shown above

3 large sprigs of Tarragon

5 fresh ginger nodes (the little finger parts on the sides of the root)

Enough white vinegar to fill the bottle.

Mix all of the above in your bottle and store in a cool dark cupboard, shaking occasionally.  This product should be ready to use within 2 weeks.

It is a beautiful infusion and can be used in many sauces and marinades.

 

Bar B Q London Broil

For a 4 lb London Broil

 

2 C. Ketchup

1/2 C prepared mustard

3 cloves of smashed garlic (more if garlic makes you happy as it does us)

1/4 C light olive oil

1/2 C Ginger Tarragon Vinegar

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp onion powder

 

Mix all together and pour over the raw london broil (sometimes I use a Ziploc bag for this part).  Let marinade for at least two hours or overnight if possible.  Cook on medium grill heat for 15 minutes, turn, baste with sauce, cook 15 more minutes and repeat until to your desired doneness.  Enjoy!