People always ask what to do and not to do on a new homestead. From experience, we’ve discovered two rules nobody ever mentions. These are NOT optional!!

RULE NUMBER 1

Get a tetanus shot. The first thing the emergency room will ask is, “When did you have your last tetanus shot?” If you don’t remember, then it’s time to get a new one. But, don’t wait! On your way home from signing the purchase paperwork, stop into prompt care and request one!! Don’t even ask me why I know this. It’s a long story.

RULE NUMBER 2

This goes with rule number 1, and we discovered it over the course of a spring build.

I noticed one of the grapevine supports we installed last spring, which is 9-gauge wire, was beautiful and silver and the other was rusted. I remembered not having enough wire at install and running up to the store to pick some up. I didn’t pay attention to whether it was galvanized or not. This spring, we replaced the rusted wire with galvanized wire, and pulling the old wire out of grown, twisted grapevines was not easy.

The next project was building a new bird run, but we got stopped in mid-project, awaiting the excavator to come dig a swale in front of the run to keep the storm water from flooding it. After the new (and expensive) hardware cloth sat in the yard in the rain for a couple weeks while we were stopped, we noticed it was turning brown and rusted. It never occurred to us to make sure it was galvanized. Eventually, it will become weak due to rust and need to be replace, and that’s not a good thing. Yet another expensive purchase looms near as we complete the bird-run framing and need to cover it with new GALVANIZED hardware cloth.

So, rule number 2 is ALWAYS BUY GALVANIZED METAL!!!

We hope these simple rules save you time and money and that you stay healthy. Get that tetanus shot!