Jimbo's 2 IBC Low Energy System

Jimbo Rollins

That'll work. I've even read of something as simple as a ping pong ball in a pipe setup.
In other news, I found some alfalfa seeds at Whole Foods(last resort) and they also had celery seeds which I've had trouble finding elsewhere. So, yay!

tom77

BullwinkleII wrote:

Just out of interest, how much growbed do you have tom?

I have 3 IBCs tops 300mm deep so approx 1000 litres of media... and 4 strawberry towers with expanded clay but they have so little media not worth mentioning and three sort of NFT tubes flooded with space for 30 80mm pots with lettuce... Im adding 6 more strawberry towers to make it 69 plants....hopefully they wont suck :whistle:

tom77

Dave Donley wrote:

Hey Jimbo what about a valve like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Kerick-Valve-MA05 ... loat+valve

Thats the sort of thing I have been thinking of hooking up to a few 200 litre barrels to auto top up my system... I know they probably dont need to be big but they do look pretty puny :think:

at least they wouldnt need to have too much flow as it is fresh water and shouldnt be full of particles or algae

tom77

Jimbo Rollins wrote:

Thanks, B-dub. Always a wealth of information. I'll look for some alfalfa.
I did want to get some green stuff in their immediately, because we'll be leaving Saturday for a week vacation. Hopefully the bird-brains will figure it out. I'll throw some lettuce leaves from the AP up there.

Hey Tom! Glad you enjoyed the thread. Its been an educational experience for the last year.
Yes, the head dropping as much as 10mm or so can slow the flow significantly. I had a top-off valve in there last year that did a great job but had a metal housing so I eliminated it recently and need to come up with a new setup. Right now, temperatures are near freezing and evaporation is not such an issue. Manually keeping track of it is not a big deal at the moment.
As far as the dissolved oxygen issue, I've read alot of discussions regarding how water gets oxygenated, both here at the BYAP forums and elsewhere. The science seems to indicate that most oxygen transfer happens at the surface and that keeping the surface moving is important to the transfer of oxygen being effective. This makes sense in that I have observed in some aquarium setups where there is not any surface movement that a film will build up over the water surface.
Alot of debate, with some scientific evidence presented, has gone on about how much oxygen transfer takes place from bubbles moving up through the water column. Something to do with water pressure and surface tension of the bubble itself means that not much oxygen transfer takes place, as compared to what happens at the surface of the water. (I don't claim to be an expert here, just sharing what I've gathered from study. If anyone feels the need to correct me, please do so. I hate sharing bad info.)
I'm sure there is some oxygen transfer going on in the airlifts but not a critical amount. Keeping the surface agitated is the important part. That's why I directed the return flow to the surface. That will of course be kind of moot as will the low energy aspect when the strawberry towers are up and running. More wattage being used. And the water falling will certainly keep the oxygen transfer process going.

Well I know very little of the science too

... and it would seem to make sense that more of the oxygen absorption often happens at the surface and I guess thats why fish gulp at the surface when there is a lack of oxygen. I wonder if anyone has tried a more mechanical means of moving the surface water like a paddle wheel hooked up to a little wind turbine (not electric just mechanical) that could also provide some good movement in the water... I know my Jades really love swimming into the stream at the surface that is made by my air pumps which have all the airstones in one bottom corner :thumbright:

BullwinkleII

Goats can be trouble.

Fun, but trouble.

Fences are ignored and they use your car for a soft landing when they finally decide to stop pooping in your rainwater and come down from the roof

BullwinkleII

Turns out paddle wheel aerators are quite common

tom77

BullwinkleII wrote:

Turns out paddle wheel aerators are quite common

cool

although i think that one would splash most of the water out of my FT i think :lol:

maybe mini version for me

Jimbo Rollins

If we do goats, it will be as part of a MIRG (management intensive rotational grazing) system where you move your flocks frequently so that they don't tear up the turf and you bring different types of animals through one after the other. That way not just one type of forage gets over-eaten and has time to recover. You actually build your soil rather than robbing it of nutrients. And you never get a build up of waste like a regular pen. I'd like to have pigs for meat but the smell is horrible. Keeping them on the move and letting the chickens come through to break up the waste will help keep the stench from building up.
Hopefully the constant attention/training will develop more obedient goats. This is all theoretical at this point since I haven't fenced any pastures, yet.

BullwinkleII

Sounds perfect. A crowd of goats on pasture probably would get into less trouble than our pet goat that lived with the pig and 3 sheep around the house.

Have you read the omnivore's dilemma? If not it's worth a read. It talks about what you have in mind.

Jimbo Rollins

I'll have to check it out. Most of what I've read centers around Joel Salatin's methods. His plan usually involves cows and being on just over 2 acres, I'm not sure I'm up for the scale of having a cow/calf combo for milk and then having to get the cow knocked up regularly(artificially or otherwise) to keep calves coming and milk flowing. I could substitute sheep for the ruminant but I'm not a big mutton person. Maybe I just need to experiment with some different recipes if I had sheep. And I'd feel obligated to spin wool.
This is starting to sound like alot of work.

BullwinkleII

Cool, Joel Salatin's is the farm featured in the last part of the Omnivore's Dilemma.

Cows are worth about a thousand bucks each I think. Which means it's worth getting a vet in to do the artificial insemination.

And I can fix you up with an amazing lamb recipe

I was planning to keep the grownups for 5 years then sell them. Eat young things at one year. Grow out one female young thing per 5 head to keep for replacing breed stock. For beef I was going to have cows only and get a vet in once a year, or with sheep, one ram will service up to 40 ewes (!) so it would probably be worth having a ram.

I have farm envy.

I'll stop now

BullwinkleII

except for this

you dont have to milk cows.

baby cows do it and turn milk into beef

Jimbo Rollins

Oh, but we drink lots of milk. That would be the main purpose of having a cow or goats. The meat would be a bonus. I have found that I don't eat beef so much now that I'm semi-retired. Just not burning those calories and using that protein. Getting by on grains and greens more than I used to.

Jimbo Rollins

Bad news-we lost a chicken the other day to predation. The drawback to free-ranging.
Good news-we got 3 more hens today. I was planning to get some Buff Orpington chicks when we come back from vacation. Instead, a neighbor was selling some hens to make room for turkeys and had 2 Buffs and a RI Red to replace the one we lost.
Everybody is getting acquainted and establishing a pecking order. Literally.
Also working on some wicking beds made from 55 gallon plastic drums. Got some paint on them today after cutting them open. The paint actually stuck through today's downpours. Woo-hoo! Since the rain stopped the work, we went shpping and got some corrugated pipe, potting soil and mulch. I have some charcoal leftover from stripping the top few inches of my growbeds that I'll use in the bottom of the wicking beds.
Can't wait to put them together and get some seedlings planted out.

Dave Donley

I'm also planning to use corrugated pipe and charcoal for the bottoms.

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Jimbo's 2 IBC Low Energy System

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