The so-called architecture of small forms is undeservedly forgotten on garden plots. For example, pergolas and trellises are light openwork structures, usually covered with plants and forming freestanding “green” walls, gazebos, or covered alleys. Blending organically into the surrounding plantings, they create cozy corners sheltered from direct sunlight. In this KDM issue we want to Read more…
No matter how small a rural plot may be, cultivating it takes a fair amount of work and daily chores. One moment you need to plant something, the next you need to loosen the soil or hill plants up. And all of this usually has to be done bent over or squatting, which makes your Read more…
In two evenings I built a simple but productive concrete mixer that makes work on country-site construction much easier and faster. I was building a garage from 400x200x200 mm concrete blocks that I formed myself using formwork and this very mixer. It is made from an old 50–60 litre barrel. Anyone can assemble something similar Read more…
More and more often the editorial office receives letters and phone calls with the same request — to publish drawings and explain how to build a simple flour mill with your own hands. The need for such a device is felt not only by rural residents but also by city dwellers. “Modelist-Constructor” has already written Read more…
This is not about dancing in the garden beds, but about an original garden-and-vegetable tool that makes labor-intensive work—performed for ages with a spade (at best—with special forks)—possible even for elderly people (the author and test person of this design is already over seventy). Despite the “tortured” “formula of invention” by the patent office—“A device Read more…
The magazine “Modelist-Konstruktor” has published many thematic selections about simple but effective homemade devices that no smallholding can do without (see, for example, issues 7’92, 5’95, 6’97, 6’99). However, interest in such designs has not faded even today, as shown by the editorial mail. V. Solonin — inventor and rationalizer, one of our magazine’s active Read more…
In “M-K” No. 4 for 1989, an article devoted to skis-boats… was published. I read it and regretted that I hadn’t written to the editors earlier, nor shared my developments with the readers of “M-K”. Of course, the idea of float-skis is not new. But enthusiasts of this “vehicle” constantly repeat the mistakes of their Read more…
Presented tabletop milling machine will come in handy for craftsmen who enjoy working with wood to obtain relief surfaces on workpieces, various geometric ornaments, as well as to cut grooves, channels, pockets (both simple and shaped), etc. The machine consists of two main parts: a base with guide posts mounted on it, and a spring-loaded Read more…
Many rural residents who previously did not keep cows on their farm are forced to get them now. After all, the cow has always helped a person survive difficult times by providing milk. But the owner also needs to take care of the animal so that the cow is well-fed both in the stall period. Read more…
Strawberry, wild strawberry… They are often confused with one another, but the best of berries, by right, are considered to be strawberries. Bright, juicy, fragrant. With sugar and cream they make an excellent dessert. Jam, jelly, and medicinal pick-ups are also wonderful—especially from strawberries. Strawberries have an almost rounded-conical shape, a whitish coloring over more Read more…
