Joy and I have various hobbies we enjoy and some of those hobbies involve woodworking, metalworking, and gardening. These are the main focus of our blog.
We are by far no expert in any of these hobbies, but we share here with you what we have learned and how we do things ourselves. There are of course many ways to garden and various methods for achieving certain outcomes in woodworking and metalworking.
The main goal for us is to learn each of these trades to the best of our abilities while enjoying them. Sharing our experiences and techniques is just an added benefit and we hope you enjoy it with us.
Each of these hobbies are geared around the home and garden and you too may be able to do the same if you have the ability to do so.
Woodworking
Woodworking has been a little hobby of mine for many years. As a kid, I preferred woodworking over metalworking because I felt that woodworking was much easier to do and easier to fix issues than it would be with metalworking. Little did I know that this was not quite accurate.
Some woodworking projects you may find here on our blog include:
- Woodturning
- Projects for the garden, such as raised garden beds
- Birdhouses
- Puzzles
- Cutting boards
- Wine glass holders
Not everything is on this blog yet, but we intend to add them as they come along. The number of projects we have in mind are, well, a lot. I am adding more ideas to our list of topics weekly! You can head over to our Instagram page to get an idea of what we are up to each week.
Woodworking goes great with the garden, especially when it comes to outdoors projects such as birdhouses and garden structures.
The birdhouse above is one of my favorites so far. It was even displayed on the Folgers website for a little while. I call it the Folgers Birdhouse. This project is a good example of woodworking that will fit well in the garden and incorporates some metal.
The birdhouse saloon shown above was a fun one to dream up. It includes some items we found in the desert.
The horseshoe birdhouse was an interesting one I wanted to try. It is by far the favorite for the birds as they move in every year. They like it so much that I ended up repairing it last year when the crows decided to tear off the roof to get to the nest inside. It was a sad sight that day. Instead of brad nailing the roof on like I originally did, I added wood screws this time so it doesn’t happen again. It is nice walking by this birdhouse once in a while and hearing the babies chirping.
Metalworking
Metalworking is a more recent hobby for me, like within the last sixteen years or so. It came after my preference of woodworking as a kid. My father-in-law is the one that really got me into metalworking when he introduced me to blacksmithing and welding.
I found blacksmithing an awesome hobby because of how you can manipulate steel into something completely different just by heating it up in a fire and shaping it with a hammer and anvil.
Welding was an added bonus I learned from my father-in-law. Until then I never welded a piece in my life but now I have some experience with using an arc welder, gas welder, and a MIG welder. I am no professional with any of them, but I do now own a MIG welder and gas welder and seem to make it work out.
Metal and wood go great together. Combining these two hobbies together is fun. Here is a recent project involving a little bit of wood and a little blacksmithing…
This key rack was made with a pine shelf that was burned using a propane torch. The metal is a piece of angle iron that was placed in the forge to a red heat and the edges hammered to give it some texture. The hooks are made with horseshoe nails with the heads flattened and then formed into a hook. Each hook is held in place with a copper rivet. Before the wood shelf is added, the angle iron and hooks are warmed up in the forge and a linseed oil and paint thinner mixture is applied to it while hot to give it the blackened look.
Bottle trees are fun to build and include in the garden. There are also some interesting history behind them. Check out the article Joy wrote on Garden Folklore: The Bottle Tree.
Gardens need some kind of metal art and these butterflies made with horseshoes, rebar and nails to a great job providing that.
Gardening
I will occasionally plant some plants, but I am more into working with the compost bins that are out in the garden or my worm bins to improve the garden soil. I enjoy working with cactus, especially when it comes to propagating new ones from either cuttings or offshoots. They also shoot out some wonderful blossoms each year.
Joy, on the other hand, tends to do more out in the garden than I do but I certainly try to get out there with her when I can. One of the challenges of having so many hobbies while working full time is that you are limited on the time you have for each hobby.
I get to contribute to gardening by working with the soil by composting. We have tried various methods, including three bin composters made with wire, trash cans, plastic composters, homemade barrel composters, and three bin composters made with wood pallets. They each have their pros and cons.
Another composting method we have been doing over the years is vermicomposting using red wiggler worms. This is a whole other world in its own and probably the most rewarding of all methods of composting.
Soil testing can be fascinating if you make it. Learning what your plants like and dislike can be a challenge at times, but learning the science can be fun. Have you ever wondered what is going on beneath that top layer of soil? This is where the “whole other world” comes into play. With a basic descent quality microscope, you can learn how to get an idea on the quality of your soil by looking at the various micro-organisms there are beneath that top lay of soil.
Yes!! There are living creatures under there doing their part in either helping your plants and destroying them! Hopefully you have good soil and the number of good micro-organisms are out numbering the not so good ones. As always, you need some of the bad for the good to feed on. With the microscope, you will see all kinds of living creatures between different types of Nematodes, Ciliates, Flagellate, Algae, Fungi, Bacteria, Protozoa…the list goes on.
It is a fascinating world under there and I will be sharing with you some of what I find in our garden beds.
Conclusion
Woodworking, metalworking and gardening can go hand in hand with each other and as our hobbies we bring them all together here on our blog to share with you what we learn from them. There is much satisfaction knowing that we can make a simple latch for a gate or a hook to hang something from in the garden and making a birdhouse for your feathered friends to enjoy. Eating from the garden when you grew it is so much more satisfying than buying something from the store. So go out there and make something or grow something. You can never say you are bored with nothing to do when you have different hobbies you can enjoy.
Rick Simper has various hobbies, including woodworking, metalworking, composting, and gardening. He is an Architect full time and uses these hobbies to get away from the busy week of Architecture.