EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Lawn and Garden
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-03-15, 11:05 AM   #251
Xringer
Lex Parsimoniae
 
Xringer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
Posts: 4,918
Thanks: 114
Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts
Default

Amazing! I guess you guys are going to have a lot of salads and maybe can some of those tomatoes..

The preparation folks (Preppers) should find this thread very interesting..

__________________
My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits
EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..
Xringer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-15, 11:39 AM   #252
pinballlooking
Super Moderator
 
pinballlooking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SC
Posts: 2,923
Thanks: 172
Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts
Default

I am a walking dead fan I even have the “The Walking Dead” pinball machine.
Some of my friends say I am getting ready for the zombie apocalypse.


In the past we have made homemade salsa and caned it with extra tomatoes.


The guy that does Home
Also sells food safe deep water culture rafts.
He has been out of stock but he is getting some back in.

They come 2’x 4’
I requested 36 holes in each to give me more options for growing.
These are a little thicker than the Beaver boards I posted earlier.
He is closer to me so shipping should be cheaper.

I ordered 6 bards now I need to decide what size bed to build a 4’ 8’ DWC bed or 4’ x 12’ DWC bed. (DWC=deep water culture)

Last edited by pinballlooking; 08-03-15 at 10:17 PM..
pinballlooking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-15, 02:08 PM   #253
pinballlooking
Super Moderator
 
pinballlooking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SC
Posts: 2,923
Thanks: 172
Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts
Default

That is funny I just ran across this today. Doomsday Preppers.

"Endless Food Systems: Fish-Powered Aquaponic Gardens"

Endless Food Systems: Fish-Powered Aquaponic Gardens - Selling Survival Article - National Geographic Channel


We started the system with captured rain water. We have completely ran it off rain water so far not one drop city water. I guess the Preppers would like also.

Last edited by pinballlooking; 08-03-15 at 07:03 PM..
pinballlooking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-15, 03:43 PM   #254
Xringer
Lex Parsimoniae
 
Xringer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
Posts: 4,918
Thanks: 114
Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts
Default

That video at Endless Food Systems - Aquaponic Kits, Revolutionary Growing
is pretty good..
__________________
My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits
EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..
Xringer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-15, 04:58 PM   #255
jeff5may
Supreme EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA
Posts: 2,428
Thanks: 431
Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts
Send a message via Yahoo to jeff5may
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xringer View Post
The farmer in the video is not lying a bit. His "eden" system is a proven winner in my experience. I have DIY that exact system and it worked well indoors and out. Just a few goldfish will provide enough plant nutrients for whatever you can fit in the grow bowl. All of the materials for one of these systems can be bought new for under 50 bucks. Hydroton costs more than river rock or pea gravel but is much lighter.

His larger systems look rather non-durable to me. The grow beds can be had at a local grow store, sunleaves brand is lighter duty than botanicare. The reservoir can be made of ibc containers like this thread chronicles. Or you can use an easy-set pool found at a garage sale for cheap. They sometimes come with a pump and other useful stuff like fittings and hoses and...stuff.

Any way you go, it is worth the lost effort of pulling weeds and Roto-tilling. Not to mention fertilizer.
jeff5may is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-15, 10:22 AM   #256
pinballlooking
Super Moderator
 
pinballlooking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SC
Posts: 2,923
Thanks: 172
Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts
Default

I really like this guy’s greenhouse designs.

Here is a quote from their site.

"Our passive solar greenhouses are 100% sustainable. They perform on their own year round with absolutely no fossil fuel, we don't even have to plug in a fan. Stored water, balanced design, double glazing and natural convection are just some of the ways to greenhouse freedom. Once you've built one of our greenhouses, you will see that it begins to work for you - not the other way around. NO FUEL BILL. Our greenhouses have brought tomatoes through 31 below zero - the greatest test we could make. If your plans need the greenhouse to do more than that - you can add active solar or other ways to tap into nature's way of heating and cooling the earth. "


Latest Greenhouses - Penn and Cord's Garden

It uses natural ventilation instead of fans to vent.
It looks like it would work very nice for me.
I am thinking about making it 16’ instead of 14’ wide. This would allow me to put one more row of 55 gallon drums in front of the plants. The plants would not be so close to hot and cold glazing.
I can see he is using door hinges on the back vent but the front vent I can’t quite make out what he is using. (The front vent looks like a steel frame with a piano hinge.) This one looks like is has something above it to maybe catch snow I would not need that.







The vents are auto vents.
I have contacted him to see if he would sell me the plans.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	3026655_orig.jpg
Views:	2893
Size:	329.9 KB
ID:	5707   Click image for larger version

Name:	7324559_orig.jpg
Views:	2165
Size:	243.1 KB
ID:	5708   Click image for larger version

Name:	1407624_orig.jpg
Views:	1963
Size:	259.6 KB
ID:	5709  

Last edited by pinballlooking; 08-05-15 at 06:18 PM..
pinballlooking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-15, 04:47 PM   #257
pinballlooking
Super Moderator
 
pinballlooking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SC
Posts: 2,923
Thanks: 172
Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts
Default

Here are some of the next plants that will replace the current plants.






I went down to Habitat for Humanity ReStores. I bought 10 panels from sliding glass doors. Nobody wants just one panel from a door so they sold them to me cheap just to get some room for other things.
They are all double pane glass doors and tempered glass.

Then I bought 25 double pane windows. About ½ are aluminum covered wood. These will go on the roof and on the east and west wall. Some will go on the front wall and swing open for venting. These windows were $5 each panel.
I got all this for $215 out the door. Just the shipping for Polycarbonate was more than I paid for all of this.
It will make building it all a little more of a challenge but I love repurposing all these things.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	20150808_112426.jpg
Views:	1815
Size:	81.8 KB
ID:	5712   Click image for larger version

Name:	20150808_143200.jpg
Views:	2524
Size:	76.3 KB
ID:	5713  
pinballlooking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-15, 05:31 PM   #258
Xringer
Lex Parsimoniae
 
Xringer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
Posts: 4,918
Thanks: 114
Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts
Default

Wow, what haul.. I just Googled greenhouse made of old windows
and there are dozens and dozens of great images.

We saw a little mountain hideaway home on TV the other day.. Made of used windows..
It was pretty neat too. Lots of light coming in anyways..
__________________
My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits
EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..
Xringer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-15, 05:46 PM   #259
pinballlooking
Super Moderator
 
pinballlooking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SC
Posts: 2,923
Thanks: 172
Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts
Default

I had Polycarbonate double walled all priced out but we were getting to about
2K with aluminum trim. That just seems like too much cost to add to my project.

The doors I got will have a higher R factor also.

Here is a project that used sliding doors. I am planning on installing mine similar to this.
Dropped down between the 2x6's

Mine will have different size panels and windows. But I really don’t mind.
This Summer's Project: An earth-sheltered greenhouse






My build will still be based off this one but install the doors like the build above.
On my roof I will have windows. I thought the doors were to heavy for the roof.



I will trim mine out like this.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	dscn7368_resized.jpg
Views:	2669
Size:	129.9 KB
ID:	5714   Click image for larger version

Name:	untitled.jpg
Views:	2098
Size:	20.2 KB
ID:	5716   Click image for larger version

Name:	greenhouse-windows-trim.jpg
Views:	3075
Size:	20.4 KB
ID:	5717  
pinballlooking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-09-15, 05:49 AM   #260
jeff5may
Supreme EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA
Posts: 2,428
Thanks: 431
Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts
Send a message via Yahoo to jeff5may
Default

My dad and I built an earth ship inspired greenhouse when I was in my early teens, built much like the first pic in your last post. I Can't remember whether it had three or four door panels in the front, but we used car tires for the walls and bedrails for the framing. For insulation and thermal mass, we filled the tires with sandy dirt from a nearby river bottom. The only wood we used was for casing the windows and back door. The vent was above the door, and was recycled from a commercial greenhouse that was being renovated.

We lived near Denver, Colorado then. The climate there was much more extreme than here in the Ohio valley. With many more sunny days per year, making it through the winter was not a problem. During the hot season, we used white greenhouse plastic film on the outside to limit solar gain. Inside, a humidifier/cooler was made that resembled a fishing livewell. A PVC pipe with holes drilled in it dripped into a rain gutter to snatch heat and add moisture to the growing space. The gutter drained through the back wall and fed a miniature cooling tower outside of the growing area. On hot, dry days, the climate inside of the space resembled a rain forest jungle. The plants loved it, humans not so much.

Out there, snowfall was a blessing in disguise. Most of the light storms were followed by bitter cold, and the light snow would remain as insulation until the sun returned. The angle of the panels did not allow heavy snowfall to remain. Once it got thick enough it would slide off. One thing the earth ship guys told my dad was to allow for snow self-removal by not installing the door panels too close to the ground.

The greenhouse build inspired my parents to build an attached sunroom onto the southeast side of the house and it also performed very well at keeping the house warm in the winter. It was built by contract, and the builder did not understand the reason why my dad wanted low-e windows and 2x6 walls with blown cellulose insulation, nor why he did a concrete slab floor way thicker than it should be. He took the extra money and overbuilt it like my dad ordered, though. After the first winter, with the sunroom heating the house well, dad decided to overinsulate the roof with blown rockwool...I guess the savings were substantial enough to speak to him.

jeff5may is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:53 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design