Why build support posts when you can use a super-strong dome?!?!
I needed to come up with a way to support and spread out some of my vine plants in the greenhouse. By removing a nut on the hubs and installing a coupling and eye bolt, it is an extremely strong point for attaching a cable system to act as a trellis.
Installing it is very simple, loop the cable through on one end and clamp it, feed it through another eye bolt on the other side of the dome, and bring it to another eye bolt to figure out the final length. On this end, I loop it through a turn buckle.
Alright, moving right along….
Then just hook the turnbuckle into the last eye bolt and tighten the cable.
All that is left to do is to tie the plants on to the cables. I also run some twine down to the grow beds so that the cucumbers can grow up it and attach to the wire. Here’s a shot of the tomato and cucumber once they have really started to grow along the line.
A follower has let me know that he saw one of my videos posted on another user’s YouTube channel. I greatly appreciate the fact that they brought this to my attention. I am always happy to produce and post videos which are always free for you to enjoy. What I don’t like is some scumbag ripping and reposting my videos under their own channel. It probably won’t be a surprise to you, but I am a YouTube partner and do receive some ad revenue from my videos. (It’s very little, but every penny helps!)
If you happen to see one of my videos posted, and it’s not from the Web4Deb channel, I would be very grateful if you notify me of this theft. Thank you for your support and I look forward to providing more videos in the future.
New subscriber? Been around for awhile? What is this channel all about and why do we do what we do? These are a few of the questions that I hope to answer in this video.
A few years ago my wife and I decided to move into this small subdivision in small town America. Having both come from country roots it was a bit of a compromise for us to be in a community type setting. As we settled in those country roots began to take hold of our small suburban homestead.
We started thinking more about what we ate, how we got our food, how to save money and live a more simple life. We decided to have the SSLFamilyMom at home full time working on raising and caring for our family of five. Many decisions began being made that slowly turned this city lot into a small backyard farm.
During this transition we needed lots of information, repairs, cooking, gardening, aquaponics, chickens, and anything else you can think of. We started reading blogs, researching we articles and how-tos, and watching a whole lot of others on YouTube. We learned so much and used so many ideas of others. It was time for us to start giving back, it was time for us to share our lifestyle and our ideas with others. This was the beginning of the sslfamily blog and YouTube channels.
We are a family of five, often going in many different directions at once. Cooking, knitting, auto repairs, wildlife, hiking, aquaponics, chickens, DIY projects, home improvement, recipes, bible crafts, science experiments, inventions, sustainable projects, computer repair, and the list goes on and on. We decided on three YouTube channels to spotlight the kids, my wife, and my own projects individually and one blog to tie it all together.
We have been blown away over the past year at the response we have gotten, the lives that have been touched and the stories and projects that have been shared back with us. Our family has been truly blessed over the last year and much of it in part to those of you watching or reading this now.
So if you are a new subscriber what can you expect here? Well, just about anything! I try to release at least 1-2 videos per week on relevant topics ranging from home and auto repairs to gardening and sustainable living projects. Product reviews come around from time to time if I have a product that I feel would be good for that kind of thing. I always review honestly and never with a product that I have not used. I focus on aquaponics videos throughout much of the winter and to the outdoor garden in the summer. I also release computer repair and technology tutorials whenever they present themselves around the home as this is my profession. I always provide an honest outcome if I am trying something new and share the experiences I have had and what has worked for me or share what I have learned from others. Oh, and you may see a few bible verses shared on my channel, this is something that is important to us and our faith in Jesus is interwoven into everything we do here on our little homestead.
What not to expect? One thing you will not see here is us asking for money from you. We are not here to profit from you or ask for donations of any kind. It is always a turn off for me when I watch a YouTube channel or subscribe to someones blog to see them asking for money and that is not something I am interested in doing here. We also do not do unboxing videos. I will go ahead and open my own boxes off camera! I have not done anything in the way of Vlogging and do not really plan to do anything under this title (I hate the word myself). I may however, offer an opinion on a video or article if I feel it is relevant or feel the need to share with you.
What is coming up next? This is a long-winded answer so I will get to the point. I have so many things that I want to do that I will never be able to catch up. I may post an interactive list at some point for you all to be able to add things to as well but for now I have the following in the immediate works:
Improve the wood burning pool heater and the garage heater Chicken coop watering system redesign Fish "Pondaponics" Indoor aquaponics redesign Rain collection system Automatic garden irrigation Tire rotation Cast iron seasoning Chicken coop scraps feeding door and trough Wireless network tips and tricks Shop computer and the list goes on............
How can you support us? This is a simple answer, do what you are already doing. The best way to support the SSL Family is to follow along with us and share your stories, your pictures and your feedback with us. We couldnt do this without you!
Its been extremely hot outside this week, and were suffering a significant drought in much of the country. The chart above shows the levels of streams compared to their historical levels for this time of month. Though some regions are getting a lot of rain (the deep blue dots), much of the center of the country is experiencing drought conditions reminiscent of those over sixty years ago. The Dustbowl, as the period from 1934-1936 became known, was a drought characterized by Roland Dewing as the "most extreme natural event in 350 years."
Back to the heat, I got thinking about the Underground Heating Exchange Systems (UHES) the Chinese developed a while ago. The idea to pump air underground was first patented in the United States in the wake of the oil crisis in the 1970s. But the Chinese picked up on this technology and highlighted it as part of an integrated agricultural approach to feeding the Cold North East.
When I saw the Chinese paper (republished on the UN FOA website), I thought it was amusing that theyd used clay pipes for their experiment. After all, folks in the US typically use plastic drainage tubing for this sort of heat exchange system.
Then I got thinking last night - a problem with the plastic is getting it to simultaneously drain the water that condenses and keep out roots and pests. Clay pipe didnt sound bad, after all. Then the light bulb went off.
What if I used cinder blocks underground for the heat exchange "tubing?" At $1.65 per linear foot, it is more expensive than the HDPE drainage pipe. But I wouldnt have to worry about water draining through the blocks (it would) and I wouldnt be worried about the "tube" getting crushed.
That took me on another little adventure of the mind, as I tried to figure out how deep to run the "pipes" underground. The Chinese used half a meter, but what if one went deeper?
The ground temperature at 30 feet below the surface is constant - which is why caves are cooler than outside in the summer and warmer than outside in the winter. How far below the surface do I need to go to get to that constant heat, I wondered?
Then I found out something really fun at the Build it Solar website. It turns out the temperature profile of the ground lags the air temperature profile. Air temperatures peak in July (in my area), but the soil temperature peaks in August.
Then comes the cool part. That peak heat migrates slowly down towards the earths heat skin, so that the date of peak heat level at deep depths lags the temperature of the surface soil by weeks and months.
So not only will deep Underground Heat Exchange Systems access a larger thermal mass, the ground around that thermal mass will actually be heating up when the rest of the world is cooling down.
Im not sure how practical it is for a home owner to dig down 6 feet or more, but this kind of effort would be within the reach of a minor business. I would love to experiment with this next summer, if I can find a lot where I could dig deep...
Im writing about Australian Fish, and wanted to hark back to the 2006 segment on Gardening Australia that kick-started aquaponics in Australia. It was a five minute tour of Joel Malcolms backyard paradise, lush plants powered by silver perch and yabbies, all free of chemicals and enjoyed to the sound of constantly flowing water, yet far more water-efficient than any other form of gardening.
I searched my blogs high and low and couldnt find this video. Crazy! So here it is. If youve seen it, you know how delightful and relaxing Joels 2006 garden paradise appeared to a parched nation worried about chemical additives.
Time to add to my laziness and add some more automation. I no longer have to feed the fish a few times a day...however I still like to just stand there an watch them. What is it about them thats so mesmerizing???
This is a small automatic feeder that I made which holds about 4 tenths of a liter of fish food and has been running for a few years. I built this larger one for the new greenhouse which holds 2.8 liters.
The feed is controlled by a regular 3/4 inch wood auger bit which fits nicely into a housing which is a piece of 3/4 inch black pipe. This is driven by a 12 volt DC gear motor I got from a surplus store. This is a great motor since it has a slot instead of a drive axle so it’s easy to make the auger bit fit into it.
First I cut down the auger bit to the right length and grind down the shaft so that it fits into the slot of the gear motor. I then cut out the center of the black pipe. This is where the feed hopper will connect to the auger housing. A small piece of flat bar is used as a mounting bracket which will allow it to be mounted to the tank and attach the motor to the shaft.
After carefully setting up the pieces, I tack weld the auger housing to the mounting bracket, then remove the motor and finish welding the pieces together.
The feed hopper is made from an old computer cover. I made up a cutting template for the various pieces and sprayed adhesive to the cover to hold the templates while cutting.
I built in some tabs to the hopper walls so I could weld the pieces together. This is the point in time where I which I owned a metal break, but had to improvise with my vice and hammer. Luckily, the bends were not too complex.
After all the pieces were bent into shape, I ground off the paint so the seams could be welded together. I also drilled holes through the walls where the tabs would connect. This is so I could weld a tack through the hole to connect the thin sheets together. It’s similar to riveting the pieces together.
When the hopper is welded together, I grind the welding tacks down so they are flush with the sheet metal. The last bit of welding is to attach the auger assembly to the hopper.
I am fortunate to have access to a nice sand-blasting cabinet. This quickly and easily removes any loose paint and rust and makes a really clean surface to paint. After a couple of coats of paint, it looks almost as nice as work done by a pro ….almost.
I made up a level switch that turns on an LED to let me know when the feed is getting low in the hopper. I took a bamboo skewer and hot-glued it to a micro switch. The newly extended lever reaches into the hopper and has a float that hangs from it. When the level goes to low, the float will pull down on the lever and light the LED. I also added a momentary switch into the box which allows me to turn on the auger in case I feel like giving the fish a bonus snack.
I mounted the level switch box to the hopper and connected the motor wires through the box. Then the new feeder was bolted to the side of the stock tank. For now, I connected the feeder to one of our IX-180 index timers. It is programmed to run the auger bit for 20 seconds, four times per day. The extra input of the timer is used to monitor the water temperature in the tank. Eventually, the feeder, vents and other controls will be connected to a master automation system.
Here’s the float that sits on top of the food, when it gets low enough, it just pulls down on the lever and turns on the LED and this is the feeder in operation. Thanks for watching! Make sure you subscribe to this channel for more great videos!
Here is the first of three videos on how the aquaponic system is assembled in the geodesic dome. This first video recaps some of the installation that was done during the dome construction and shows a general overview of how the entire system operates.
Hi, I’m Rob Torcellini
This video series will show you the various details about how I set up the aquaponic system in the geodesic dome greenhouse.
This first video, I’ll explain how some of the components were installed during the dome construction. I grouped the video sequences by the component, not in the chronological order of when they were installed.
First is the central sump tank. This tank is used to catch all the water that is draining from the grow beds and a pump returns the water to the main fish tank.
While the foundation hole was empty, I built a brick wall around the tank. The wall leaves a gap around the tank so that it can expand and contract when the temperature changes. If this wasn’t installed, eventually backfilled dirt would crush the plastic tank. The end of each pipe draining into the sump has an elbow to help swirl the water inside the tank, which will help to reduce sediment buildup.
Also while the foundation hole was empty, I installed a large sump tank which is used as a buffer to compensate the changing water levels in the grow beds. The water from the fish tank drains into this tank and then pumps the water into the grow beds. This tank holds about 500 gallons of water and has a cone bottom, allowing sediment to work its way down and sucked out by the pump.
This tank also has a block well-housing built around it to protect it from getting crushed. This is a view of the central sump and buffer sump wells while they were being backfilled.
There is a network of drain pipes that are buried under the floor. These are used to collect the water from the assortment of grow beds that are throughout the dome.
The drains are 2” lines and are set at a slope to drain the water into the central sump. There are extra drain inlets that come up to the floor which will not be used, but at the time I installed this, I had not decided on the final layout of the grow beds.
All the pipes are backfilled with sand to protect them from damage. This allows me to easily dig them up if any maintenance needs to be performed. After I lay down the final floor, the drain pipes are cut flush with the floor. If any dirt or insects fall into the pipes, they will just get flushed into the sump tank. Here is the final view of the drain pipes with the central sump tank.
The last component is the main stock tank. This is placed in the northern section of the dome to help minimize light and algae growth. The tank is a scrap tank that I salvaged and it had a bunch of fittings that needed to be capped. After leveling out the area with a sand base, the tank slid right into position. While I was installing the drainage pipe, I buried a scrap section of 4” pipe between the sump and fish tanks. This allowed me to run the pump and electrical lines between the two tanks under the floor. Since the tank was so tall, I wanted people to be able to easily see the fish so I installed 2 windows.
This is a functional overview of the entire system. Water from the fish tank overflows into the buffer sump tank. It is constantly pumped, along with any solids under the floor and into the grow beds. The line to each grow bed has a valve to help regulate the flow. There is also a line that feeds back and shoots water back into the fish tank to help aerate the water.
Using bell siphons, the grow beds continuously flood and drain. The inner beds drain directly into the sump tank, while the outer beds drain into a raft system (not shown), which then drain into the sump.
There is a float switch in the sump tank that pumps the water out of the sump and back into the main fish tank.
The large sump tank is use to maintain a consistent water level in the fish tank. Since the levels in the grow beds and central sump tank are constantly changing, that difference in volume has to be offset elsewhere. Not only does this help with the water levels, it adds additional thermal mass to help keep the water temperature from fluctuating each day.
In the next video I’ll detail the plumbing installation. Thanks for watching!
We all want to be environmentally friendly and do the right thing for our planet, dont we? But how do we know which choices will leave the smallest footprint, and which items to throw away and which items to recycle? Finding the right answers are hard and when you do, they may surprise you.
The SSL Family Dad and I love to watch Ted Talks. If you havent heard of Ted, click here. Ted talks are available on all different topics but we seem to migrate to those dealing with sustainability and farming. One talk we watched earlier this year really changed the game for us, and I just love it when that happens. I love it when information just hits you over the head and changes the way you look at life forever.
This talk is so powerful, I think you should watch it right now and then finish reading this article because I will never do this topic the justice it deserves by trying to explain it to you myself. For those of you who are worried about burning up your data for the month like I would be, click HERE for the transcript of this talk.
And for those of you who didnt have time to watch or read it, Ill recap for you but only if you promise to watch or read it later. Its seriously THAT good.
The speaker, Leyla Acaroglu, states that "everything at some point comes from nature,and its how you use the materialthat dictates the environmental impact....what we need to do is we need to learnto do more with less."
Biodegradable materials, such as paper bags, do not decompose in a landfill the same way they would in nature. Landfills are anaerobic (meaning no oxygen) and biodegradable materials emit methane gas when they degrade. Some facilities actually capture the methane gas and use it to generate power, which is a good thing, and gives us an alternative to fossil fuels. Bottom line is, if youre going to pick the paper bag but take it home and throw it in your garbage destined for a landfill that does not generate power with its methane gas, then youre not picking the best choice for the environment. Landfills should be our last resort for items we cannot reuse or recycle.
Reduce, reuse and recycle. Sounds so "elementary", doesnt it?
So the best answer to the great paper or plastic debate is actually neither. The best option is to use reusable bags instead. But if you really need to pick one, pick paper. And reuse that paper bag, and then compost it.
Writing this article has forced me to look at everything were doing now with our waste as a result of this talk we watched, and I have to laugh because it seems that a majority of what we do here at Simple Suburban Living is centered around our trash. That surprised me, a lot. But it also reminded me that we are being good stewards of our planet by being good stewards of our garbage. Here comes Luke 16:10 again, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much." Its so true, isnt it?
Weve made some serious changes around our little homestead this year with regards to what we do with our trash. So this week, well be sharing how our family reduces the amount of our waste that ends up in a landfill.
Were calling it Garbage 101. (And dont forget to watch that video!)
This post has been shared at: Homestead Barn Hop, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Homestead Blog Hop
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