When I left my stable workaday job in favor of owning a small business, I also left my comfortable salary. Now I have the time to do all the projects I’ve been neglecting, but no longer have the liquid cash flow to fund those projects. So, I’m left to find more creative ways to source materials.
I am an urban farmer on a craigslist budget.
This is my craigslist wishlist:
- Bricks, bricks, and more bricks – I have a ton of walkways I want to build. Fortunately, bricks come up on craigslist pretty regularly. Unfortunately, they go quick. I’ll have to move swiftly to pick these up.
- Sand – See above.
- Bamboo poles – I will cut these in 16-18 inch lengths and create a boundary for my planting beds.
- Conduit and other electrical supplies – I want to wire some outside lighting for the front deck.
- Wood – I have several projects that require lumbar. For example, a storage container for next to the front deck. Tara likes to keep her car cleaning supplies, her shop vac, and her leaf blower out front. I’d like to keep it nicely contained.
- Glass. Windows, doors, panes, whatever – I want to build a greenhouse next spring.
- Water barrels – We have two of these, but with as much as it rains in this area, we are missing out on some major water collection opportunities.
- Cottage stones/manor stones – I need to put in a french well of sorts around the East and South sides of the house. Soil runoff has built up against the wall of the house and it’s too high up. We dug it out last year with the intention of framing the space in. I just haven’t had the chance to finish the project. When I find the right supplies, I will finish it up.
- Chickens, chicken wire, wood, other chicken supplies – Chickens = eggs!
- Bee keeping supplies, including hive, suit, smoke box, bees, etc – Bees = honey!
- Big tub, tubing, fish, planting trays, plants, pump – Aquaponics!
- Bird netting (or chicken wire) – to protect berries
- Blueberry bushes
- Strawberry plants
- Cement mix – I’m going to relocate the chain link fence from the unused dog run to enclose the chicken run and compost area.
- Planting trays/starter trays – We have a ton of heirloom seeds. I want to do our own starts next spring. Need supplies to make that happen.
- Solar power supplies – Shed needs to be lit up.
- Trailer or small truck (or big UHaul truck. I’m not picky) – I want to convert this to work on woodgas.
- Trellises, benches, other cool yard/garden supplies
- Trampoline – Kids have been begging for one.
- Fruit trees – I like fruit.
- Ceramic crock – I want to make up some sour kraut for Tara next year. That requires either a crock or a glass bowl. My pyrex would work, but I’m thinking if I’m making kraut, I want to make a whole crap ton of it.
- Canning supplies – Canning rocks, yo!
This list will no doubt grow along with my plans.