Dutch Bucket Hydroponics System

I finally got the Dutch Bucket Hydroponics System assembled and installed.

I chose to go with the Dutch Bucket system because of the low maintenance involved. Some would say it is more than other types, but the majority swear by this system.
I also made it only four buckets instead of more. This reason is because of the newness of this to me and the space restrictions. Once I dial it all in I plan to go ahead and extend it to a eight bucket system.


I pre-cut, pre-assembled and set everything up in the the shop before I took it out to the garden. 
It is made from four-five gallon buckets painted black with lids, 2" main drain pipe, individual 1/2" drains on the buckets, 1/2" irrigation hose with 1/4" feeder lines ran to each bucket.  

The nutrient container is 20 gallons with a homemade wood lid and the pump is a submersible 300 gallon per hour pump. I also put in a 4" air stone and a air pump to give the water a little extra air.
A timer is on the pump so it will water 4 times a day for thirty minutes.
The grow medium is Perlite. You can find it at Home Depot. They are the only ones that I found who carry it. 

 These tomatoes were started from seeds in the greenhouse. I washed all the dirt off the roots before I planted them in the Perlite.

Though my gardens are full of tomatoes already, I wanted to do this system to see if I can outgrow what is already planted.
The one thing I am going to have to do to make this work is create a shade for all this. The water cannot get too hot and the plants cannot dry out. Leaving them exposed to the sun will do both.

I cut a small slit in the lid next to the hole to hold the feeder tube.

As far as the mixture of the water, well that is something else. You can buy already mixed solutions you can add to the water but being the cheapo I am, I am doing it myself. If it works out then I will let you know, if not I will change the solution until it does.



And that's about it. I have spent over a year studying about the different types of Hydroponics and Aquaponics and this is what I came up with at the moment. I have more of these projects on the books. For instance, a horizontal, multilevel strawberry design, one that has fish, and a few more.
One step at a time. In a year or so I will look back at this first design and laugh at myself.

That's all I got for now,
MDR   

Tater Experiment

This will be the first time I have planted taters like this. Why not, last year my potatoes did not do well and I ended up having to buy some to have enough to put up. Worst case is, I will have to do the same thing this year to.

Being frustrated last year about the yield on the potato crop I set out looking for a new way to plant these things. I do not have the room to plow up 100 foot rows and just plant them like some folks so I have to come up with creative ways to square foot garden. This is what I came up with this year.



With only a few inches of soil in the bottom of one of the raised beds, I put news paper down covering the whole bottom. Of course the wind wasn't blowing until I started this. 

Next I wet the papers down to keep them in place until I could get the seed potatoes cut up and put and ready.
If you were wondering, yes that is 100% free rain water being used at 45 psi powered by the sun.

I cut as many eyes out of each potato as I could and rolled them in wood ash so they would not blacken or start to rot.

Then the potato chunks were set on top of the news paper, no digging.

This is really strange to me too. but that's how this is done. They say the roots will go do down through the paper and into the soil. This way the grass and weeds won't come up into the bed and around the plant.

Then I just covered it all with straw. No dirt, just straw.

You have to keep the straw moist to keep it from blowing away but other than that it's done.
I will add a little more straw when the plants come up and that's it.

The idea is when you need potatoes all you have to do is move back the straw and pick what you need without digging. This way the plants continue to produce for a longer period of time. Then when the tops dies off you harvest without any digging.
This one 12x4 bed has 12 plants in it. I don't know how many I could have put in it, but for now I didn't want to crowd it too much. 12 plants being harvested on and off until they are done will yield a lot of potatoes. I will know more once this gets going.

I also got the carrots in the ground this weekend and baby goats are everywhere, even in the house.

That's it for now. Baby goat pictures are to come.  

Must Be Doing Something Right

I don't know if it is one single thing I am doing or a combination of several things, but whatever it is it's right.

These two raised beds are full of Squash, Pumpkins, Cantaloupes and Watermelons. 

 Look at the size of this squash plant. It is like a Giant Elephant Ear.

And Carrots, I have never had carrots this big and bushy. I pulled one just to make sure something was growing under the top and the carrot was already eating size. Another couple of weeks and these bad boys will be pickled.

I got maters and I am happy about it. Last year the plants were big but they never produced any fruit. I have so many plants this year I think I will have more tomatoes than I will know what to do with.

If you were wondering, yes the girls did out fish me again. I sure am glad I am not making a living on what I catch. The girls on the other hand, they might could make a few dollars.

Right off the bat this morning before I even had the chance to bait my hook, the youngest "Wee" pulled in this  4 lb Alligator Gar. We don't eat Gar so I threw him back. The little devil, with all his needle teeth did get in a bite on my finger before I could get him back in the water and yes the blood was flowing.

Boppie (The middle girl) did manage to pull in some baby fish we could not keep, but at least the cork went down.

I, again did not pull one single fish out of the water, but I did get to relax, hear the girls laugh and have a little fun, priceless.


I hope y'all have a great week and thank you CFW, I am undeserving.    

The Calm Before The Storm

Here is a shot inside the little garden area of the Mini Farm and of the finished greenhouse we recently assembled. It is smaller than the one I was going to build but the wife says it will do just fine.
If you were wondering, yes that is the garden solar bathhouse to the right.






The potatoes have grown and now all the levels have been placed on the bins. All together they are five 2X6's high. One problem we are having is the potato bugs now.



This big boy to the right is the new and up and coming rooster who will replace the one we have if he does not start doing his job a little better. Even though we continue to hatch every month, the fertile percentages are only at about fifty percent with the other rooster. He can only find that right spot half the time. This one here is a little younger but he has already started topping the hens like a pro.

A friend of mine stopped by last night and brought me some more windows. Even thought the greenhouse is done, I still have a use for windows.
The two tall ones here in the picture will be used for the next project I just started, the solar dehydrator.
 Another friend of mine gave me this 1940's commercial incubator a few months ago and I did not have a clue what I was going to do with it until now.
This old non working incubator will be stripped of all the hardware and the windows pictured above will be set off to the side longways in a triangle type fashion to collect the heat. A little solar fan will draw the heated air through the windows, up through the box and out the top at hopefully around 140 degrees .
If you can't picture it then just wait. It should be done by next weekend.    If it don't work then I haven't lost nothing. I have everything to do this little project on hand.

The youngest girl "Wee" is a new momma. She is really excited about her new little bundles of joy.
They are baby rabbits if you don't know what they are.  

   




Huge storms are moving in tonight and the wife is getting ready to bug out as we speak. The wind is blowing so hard I feel like I am in a ship at sea with all the house movement going on.
If you don't hear from us for a few days then we will be in the van down by the river.
(If any of you ever watched Saturday night live back in the day then you would have thought that was funny)

I was Going Fishing But...........

From the beginning of last week I knew I was going to have to work this past weekend so I did not plan anything. I just figured the weekend was ruined so I didn't even bother.
Late Friday afternoon my contractors decided they had enough and were taking the weekend off. I was as giddy as a sixteen year old school girl going on her first date, I think I even giggled once.

During my hour drive home Friday afternoon my head will filled with the possibilities of what could get accomplished during the next two days. I did not want to forget all the ideas running through my head so I took out a note pad and while driving 70 miles and hour, started writing down all my plans. Of course I was watching the road and not my writing.
When I pulled into the drive an hour later I looked and noticed my list was huge. At the top, the very first thing was Fishing. At the bottom, the very last thing was Fishing and between the two was nothing but work.
This list of items to be done was an unachievable list. Only a person with super human capabilities could check off every item but I was determined to make a heck of a dent in it.

I did not have much time Friday to start on the mammoth list because I had a date with the wife. On the way out to the movies I checked my fishing holes for accessibility and was disappointed. The recent floods had the creeks out of their banks and there was no way to get down to them. It was pointless to even try. Two checks off the list and I haven't even got started yet, but those were the fun items I did not want to check off yet.

Bright and early Saturday morning had me building a new kitchen herb garden to add to the wife's first one I built a couple of weeks ago.  

Now she has three herb beds and I really need to get started on the solar dehydrator.

We also added three new raised beds to the garden area. This will make around 800 square feet of raised beds we have now. If you are wondering, yes the grass was removed and a barrier was put down. Now I need to add the sprinkler systems to the new beds sometime this week. 

We ran out of compost and had to make a run to get another truck load.
One wheelbarrow full at a time was hauled in and dumped. We actually still need more but it can wait.

The wife built some nice little pot holder shelves to keep all her pots off the ground so I do not have to weed eat around them all anymore.
Thank goodness.


The Mini Farm was also open all weekend and we had people coming and going during our work. I love it when they don't want to leave, but I was on a mission to complete that list.

I will not bore y'all with every detail of what was done so I just mentioned a couple of things I thought you might find interesting. I will say we kept a very busy pace for two full days.

We did go ahead and plant most of our warm weather plants on the hopes this heat wave we are having is not a fluke. Last year I was late on everything because I was scared, well not this year. All we have left to plant is Okra, Bell Peppers and Corn.

I will say this, it was real nice to work in the yard all day, in the sun and walk right into the garden bathhouse and soak our sore muscles.

And if you are wondering about that huge list, well all but one item was marked off. I think we did good.    

Is It Done Yet

I know, nobody asked to see the finished Kitchen Herb Garden Bed so I decided to show it anyhow.

To see the before picture look at yesterdays post.

Not bad for a hour and a half of work, a 55 gallon barrel and some old lumber laying around. Plus the wife is happy and that is really all that matters.

I am sure I could have done a little better job if I had the want too, but it'l do.

Now on to the next item of business.

It's a Wonderful Day In The Neighborhood

Everyone remembers Mr. Rogers right?
The goofy little song you are now singing in your head that he sang when he walked in and changed his sweater and then sat down and changed from his tennis shoes into his slippers, or something like that.
Anyway, that is just I feel like now days, little happy Mr. Redneck.

As soon I get home from my job, I come in, sit down and change from my work boots into my backyard pair of work boots. Then get up, walk right out the back door and go to work again without even saying a thing. What a lovely day in the neighborhood. I ain't complaining, I actually like it.

This time change stuff will make it where you can work yourself to death if you ain't careful. Last night I didn't get done until a little after ten. I grabbed up the wife, mom and dad and we headed to the goat sell. I don't know why I do it but every time I go I say I will never go again. We only were able to pick up two little ones and one of those was a mistake that I really didn't want. I guess it will eat good.

Tonight I finished the shade for the three raised beds so this is what it looks like. The East end will stay open for the morning sun and the Noon to West sun will be shaded. Lets just hope it works.
Maybe next year I can work on shade for the other beds. Right now I plan to plant only Okra, Corn, Squash, Watermelon and a couple of other things in full sun.    
I also finished the strawberry bed for the wife by using a huge tractor tire with the side wall cut out. I have it shaded from the West sun as well. By the way, did you know chickens love fresh tinder strawberries. I haven't seen the wife move that fast in a while when she saw the chickens helping themselves to her fresh planted strawberry plants.

Oh, that's not all. The wife said since I still had some daylight left I needed to build her another herb garden, just this time it needs to be closer to the back door so she could call it her kitchen garden. I took some old scrap wood and a barrel and did just that. The finished product will be done tomorrow I guess. The frame will be skirted in fence pickets to make it go with our decor. If you want a picture of it when I get done I guess I could post one if there is any interest.


That's all I got for now, I am done for the day. Thank goodness for dark and no I am not pulling out the lights....... Goodnight

Wet and Soggy

The weather was not in my plans for this weekend. I knew there was a 90% chance of a wet three days but I looked at it as a 10% chance it would miss me and I would be able to get something done.

The unwanted house time while the internet was down did land me and the wife some indoor work time.
Along with Wee, BEB and Boppy, we all jumped in and started the mountainous task of making over 20 cases of Hot and Mild sauce. We did not get close to finished, but it was still fun. 


During some of the breaks in the weather we would go outside and work on the garden shades.
Last summer the gardens burn up and we can't have that two years in a row so shade is a must.
I used 16' cattle panels wired end to end to make 32'. Then bowed them up and over three raised beds. The beds are 16' long, 4' wide with a 4' walk between them. Both cattle panels nailed to each side bowed up to 10' tall in the middles. It took 8 panels to cover all three beds making a hoop house effect. On the panels I will wire on Lattice work. I have 8-4'X8' sheets and that will shade the Mid day to West evening sun.
I will post better pics later but the rain dampened the completion of this little project.       

Wet And Muddy But Productive

Even though Sunday and even today is wet and muddy, we still managed to get some things taken care of.

 I got most of the gardens planted late yesterday afternoon and today. We started with the potatoes.

The moon was right to plant the taters between the 15th and the 20th of this month and we just made it All the rain has kept gardening to a minimum but I got tired of sitting around.
Along with the taters, in the raised beds we planted Lettuce, Cabbage, Peas, Carrots and a couple things I can't spell or pronounce. I don't know if I wan't to eat anything like that or not.

    

 The sun finally came out and I was able to get some pics of the Bathhouse with some of the added things.

I am not real happy with the names. Some of them turned out a little dark so I plan to redo them on yellow pine instead of old fence pickets. Maybe that will make them stand out a little better.

The Neighbor I Never Knew

I had been going to my wife's parents house all the way back to when I was around six years old. They lived in a small lake community on the edge of town and I always thought the place was oddly developed with houses being built anywhere they would fit. The whole place is filled with thick wooded rolling hills finally making it's way down to the waters edge. The pot hole filled gravel roads wind their way through trees and around houses giving you the feeling of being completely lost until it emerges back on the main paved road and once again civilization. In the community's heyday it was a 60's weekend fishing retreat with Quonset huts dotting the landscape. I am sure the stories it could tell would be something.     

Practically growing up over there and later when the wife and I started dating, I spent most of my free time just hanging out with her at her house. I always noticed her neighbors but never paid much attention to what they did. One neighbor in particular that lived directly behind her house stood out the most. The guy was always out and building odd looking structures. I guess at that point in my life I was not interested in anything but the reason why I was there so I would shrug it off and not think twice about this guy or his projects. Even if I was interested I am sure the man would not waste his time on a punk kid with mullet styled hair asking him questions, so I never did.

Twenty one years later, I can't remember where, I ran into his wife. She came out to the house a year or so ago and was surprised to see some of the solar builds and other projects I was doing. She told me to get with her husband because he was doing all the same stuff. She then started to send me pictures of some of the projects they had done and told me about some of the concepts. I started to get interested and at the same time kicking myself for not sticking my nose in his business earlier on to learn some of this.

Deciding I needed to see some of his work I invited myself to his house last weekend and was given the grand tour.
One of the first things I was interested in was his gardens. He built Chinampa  which is a rectangular shaped area of fertile arable land used for crops during the Mesoamerica era. Though labor intensive to build, they give off a more abundant yield than a traditional garden.

"I like to think outside the box" he added while giving me detailed instructions on how he placed the blocks and bamboo to construct his own.

I stood taking notes and patiently listening while looking around his place. He must have noticed my focus was now on to the next item and he quickly changed gears and walked me over to the Dome while talking the whole time. He called it his Geodesics Dome. The 9x16 hex growing house was built out of crisscrossing PVC pipes and covered with a twenty foot Chinese Military Parachute. A hole in the top and a reflective emergency blanked directs the the sunlight onto the plants and wherever else it is needed.

"This is the prototype of what I want to start selling and custom building for customers" he stated.
His goal on the growing houses it to expand his business and sell the pre-made kits plus install them for people who like the design and want them in their back yards.
I personally liked the fact you could have a garden bed all the way around the inside plus hang all your Herbs or other plants from the supports. If built right, this could be a self contained Terrarium.

I asked him what his main goals for building all this and why he is doing what he does.

"I want to be able to eat out of what I build for a least a year", he added "and I really want to be a resource to the solution of the growing problems we face."

Now the conversation was getting into some deep thought so I had to put on my "A" game and listen.
He continued, "I want to be able to influence schools to teach these types of programs to the students so they can learn to be more self sufficient"
All I could do was stand there and shake my head in agreement while trying to write this stuff down.

"People will get tired of eating the poisons the government is feeding us one day."

With that he spun around and took off walking yelling back "Watch your step and follow me, you will like this"
Down and around we came to a traditional hoop house where inside he was building a Aquaponics system. This system uses nutrient filled water from fish to flood the garden beds every so often and then drain back into the fish tank. You do not use traditional soil but a mixture of pea gravel and clay balls also know as Hydroton. His plan is to also build these as a package where anyone can buy one already made with easy assembly and have it in their backyard. This really got my attention because I have been designing my own for a while now. This was the first time I had actually seen one in person and in the process of being built was a added bonus for me.

Needless to say I stayed in there so long studying every aspect of the design he got bored, left and was now showing the wife some more stuff. Having my questions ready to be answered, I went out and found them at what he calls his Saxophone. It is the Hydroponics system.

This is a closed system pumping nutrient filled water constantly through the plants roots. For the water he soaks a bag of compost in a bucket making a compost tea and then pumps the water through the pipes to later return to the holding tank, mix with more nutrients and off again. The cups have holes in the bottoms for the water to soak the roots. After the plants have started and gain a root system they are then transplanted into foam and the roots hang free into the flowing water.

Both of these systems are great and produce around four times the plant yield normal garden soils do. It is like steroids for plants but it is all safe and organic.

"What are you going to do with all the extra produce you grow?" I asked.

"I have had a good life so I want to give something back. I want to donate the food to soup kitchens and homeless shelters."

My meeting ended with a handshake and a promise to be back in a couple of weeks to see the progress. I am shocked at the fact all this was going on so close to me all those years and I never knew it. Like I said, I am sure age had a lot to do with not knowing or even caring as far as that goes, but I can't stop thinking only if I would have thought to stop and see what all that building was about then I might be a lot further along than where I am today on my knowledge of all this.
It just goes to show, one day you might learn something from the neighbors you might not know.  

This Way And That

All I can say is, "Wow what a weekend." I was all over the place.

I crammed in so many things in such a short amount of time this weekend even I am amazed. I won't go into everything because you will just get bored, but I will hit the highlights.

Yesterday the "Junkin" did not go as planned. Fist off I did not have any money to do anything too serious even if I wanted to. I did find a old wire vegetable holder for a dollar I hung up in the bathhouse for the soaps and shampoos.

I also finished decorating around the sink area. The one thing I was looking for yesterday was antique signs that promoted bathroom products. I did not find even one. I never do find what I am looking for when I am looking for it. I am not worried, I will run across some one of these days.

After all the running around we ended up over a guy's house that thinks along the same lines as I do. I got to tour his facilities taking many notes and pictures. I do not want to say too much about it because I am going to do a piece solely about what he is doing but I will say this is some really cool stuff. 
We spent the remainder of Saturday night visiting friends that we have not seen in a while and enjoying good company. It was fun.

Today did not look like is was going to turn out with drizzling rain, high winds and cold temps. As a matter of fact I almost turned around and went back in the house saying just to heck with it, but was met at the door by the youngest. She said before I got busy she needed me for an hour in the rabbit area, so that is just what I did. She has some rabbits fixin to have babies and we had to move some around and hang more cages. I took the opportunity to reorganize the area and do some cleaning. I could not pass it up.

The sun finally broke out and then it was the wife's turn. I got the youngest started on the bathhouse signs and helped the wife plant all the onions.
"It is good to finally see some green out there", she said smiling at me.
We planted enough onions to do several cases of salsa this year. I also got her herb beds ready for planting in March.
After I was done with the herb beds I told her, "See what a little smile will do"

I stuck my foot in my mouth because she reminded me a promise is a promise while still smiling so I got busy on her screen door. It is not pretty but it's up.
The sliding door still shuts and now during the day she can open it and leave the screen door closed keeping the flies out.
This is the door I got from a Lowe's sidewalk sale a few months back. It was listed for I think $80.00 but I am not sure (I can't remember) and I got it for $7.00
While I worked on the door, I got the youngest started on the art work for the North side of the bath house. I ain't gunna show it till she is done, but it is really looking good so far.
I picked up the lumber for her from a friend of mine last night who was just storing it and not using it. He said he did not need it but did not want it going to waste. I told him I had the perfect project for it.

There are many more little details I could add but you would just get bored so I will save you from having to make that face and the signing sound as you hit the little X in the upper corner just to shut me up.