Submersible vibration electric pumps “Malysh” and “Rucheek” are a common choice for autonomous water-supply systems of small households, including farms. They are compact, convenient to operate, and reasonably priced. But there is a problem: such pumps cannot cope with subzero temperatures. When the pump is switched off in winter, water is trapped in the supply Read more…
Some old friends once invited me to their dacha. A bike ride, a look around the garden plot. Then tea and a chat. I agreed and went one weekend. Summer, fields, a thunderstorm! Everything was planted, tended, and weeded. Inside the dacha house it was cozy and simple. But on the stove top there stood Read more…
The early nineties were marked by particular unpredictability — prices for everything rose not by the day, but by the hour. Of the buildings ordered for my country plot, the builders erected only the walls of a log bathhouse measuring 5×3 m without a roof, and then disappeared. There was nothing left but to finish Read more…
No matter how popular flower beds are among flower-growing enthusiasts, they usually differ little from ordinary garden beds. And this impression is not saved by attempts to refine them with all sorts of brick borders, fences made from random pipes, or, worse still, car tire covers. Besides, such flower beds have a permanent “registration”: they Read more…
Prepared cement mortar needs constant mixing, otherwise it hardens quickly. But that is easier said than done; doing this work by hand is extremely tiring — it is hard to lift a shovel full of mortar. How can one try to use one’s strength more efficiently? That is how this labor-saving device appeared in my Read more…
For almost twenty years, a design club for agricultural modeling has been operating at the Chernihiv regional Station of Young Technicians. Over the years, the students, under the guidance of their mentors, have developed and built many useful machines, mechanisms, and devices, many of which are of practical economic importance and bring real benefit to Read more…
On the spot where I planned to build a swimming pool near a country house there used to be an old pond that once served both as a fire reservoir and as a place for domestic geese and ducks to roam. But time passed: for firefighting needs there is now a water supply, and the Read more…
On his own land, the owner erected a two-storey shell of a “Canadian” house on a strip foundation. The adjacent plot had long been for sale. At last it found a new owner, who invited a surveyor for an accurate layout of the plot. During that procedure it turned out that the neighbour had built Read more…
We continue to introduce our readers — owners of garden and country plots — to nontraditional designs of cottage furniture published in the Polish magazine “Zrób sam”. SWING CHAIR There is probably no one who does not like a swing. However, while a rope and a piece of board are quite enough for children’s swings, Read more…
When furnishing a country house — whether a small garden cottage or a solidly built dacha — many people bring there the furniture that has outlived its usefulness in a city apartment. And most often this makes the whole setting mismatched, bulky, and at odds with the idea of a place for rest. Meanwhile, it Read more…
