Its Getting Cold

Weve had a couple of nights when the temperature fell below freezing but Ive found some ways to add enough heat to the green house to avoid death of my tomatoes.  The first night I found out rather late in the day that it would freeze.  I quickly set up a little charcoal grill that has a domed cover.  We lit it and the following morning I found that most of the briquettes had been consumed, but not all.  Although I plan to eventually install the necessary heat and smoke dispersion to my chimenea, for now I found a room sized convection heater for less than $40 at Home Depot plus a Frost King regulator plug in that will start the heater when the temperature drops to 35 degrees and stop the heater when the temperature raises to 45 degrees.  This will save on electricity costs while keeping the killing frosts at bay.  It is hard freeze that kills plants. 
I also purchased four workshop 2 tube florescent light fixtures and a box of daylight (6500 kelvin) bulbs to add an additional amount of light and some heat directly over the grow bins.
I plan to plant lettuce, peas and spinach in rain gutter trays that are heated with a warming cable meant for seedling trays.  These are intended to be like the display at Green Sky where the water trickles down the gutter and discharges into the fish tank.  After looking at the price of rock wool growing bricks and other alternatives I am using coco fiber in my grow cups.  This came about when I found a super sale on some hanging baskets furnished with coco fiber.
Meanwhile Im making a mad dash to finish up my winter coop which will use black painted tubes filled with water to gather heat during the day as well as a solar panel to run a fan and light.  It will be interesting to see how I get through the impending winter.

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Getting My Feet Wet

A couple of years ago I decided to erect a prefab greenhouse in my back yard.  It is 10 x 12 in area and rather attractive, but so far it has been an orphan.  This past week I visited my daughter and learned about aquaponics.  Suddenly my greenhouse has a function.  The cycle of water between a fish tank and grow beds provides an answer to my concern about the lack of water in a putative emergency.  Although it is unlikely it will handle the job of feeding me and my household, it will surely be an asset if food prices continue to rise.  I have already invested in many of the items that are needed for an aquaponics setup.  First of all, I have the greenhouse.  I also have an evaporative cooler to keep the temperature inside the greenhouse from soaring in the summer.  I have bins to convert into grow beds and an old cast iron/porcelain tub to use as a sump.  My daughter provided me with the necessary plumbing for the bell syphons required for a flush and fill system and I purchased pumps and aerators for the water supply. Above is a picture of my greenhouse with a seedling table and the bins I plan to use as grow tanks.  The walls of the greenhouse are made of corrugated transparent polycarbonate, both tough and light.  I plan to insulate the north wall with sheets of insulating foam and use 55 gallon drums of water in matte black as thermal sinks for winter warming. 

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Fish Tank Fail Or OOPS!

I should have a fish tank that will be the equivalent of my grow bins to give the fish enough room and handle the exchange of nutrients efficiently.  So far I have planned for a little more than 200 gallons worth of grow bins and planting tubes.  The commercially available tanks take up too much room or are too expensive, or both.  If I build a strong wooden box that is 2 x 2 by 8 it will have well over 200 gallons in capacity and it will fit neatly in my greenhouse.  Fish pool liner and wood for the pool would come to under $100.  Since I dont have to deal with outdoor conditions, cattle (as in a stock tank which is built to withstand large animals), or other similar conditions, it seems the best solution to my need for a large tank.

We installed the fish tank, plumbed the grow bins and decided to do a water test before adding gravel or chemicals.  The grow bins each consist of three 27 gallon bins connected with ABS pipe with the bell syphon installed at one end of one of the bins.  The sump is an old porcelain/cast iron bath tub.  I have a 550 gph pump.  The cycle went beautifully from the first in one set of bins and required only a little tweaking in the second set of bins to work as well.  Meanwhile we were filling the fish tank.  It had reached the point of beginning to drain when we heard a little popping noise then a wave of water ripped the side of the fish tank as over 200 gallons gushed across the greenhouse floor.  It immersed the electrical cord connection but fortunately it was on a breaker and immediately cut out before we could be electrocuted. 
We quickly discussed what could be done as the greenhouse slowly drained.  We purchased concrete mix, chipboard for forms and reinforcing mesh.  Today we will mend the side of the fish tank, create walls of concrete to contain what is now  liner.  None of the joints of the fish tank failed.  It was a simple failure of the material.  With concrete walls to provide the resistance to pressure we should be back in business again and ready to add gravel to our grow bins.

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Several Ways to Harvest Sunlight

I have essentially finished my winter coop which is adjacent to my greenhouse.  The picture above may require some explanation.  Under the corrugated polycarbonate sheet that constitutes the roof of my small chicken coop are two separate systems for harvesting solar power.  On the left is a solar panel with the battery pack above it.  This gathers electrical energy to power the 75 watt incandescent bulb that turns on for several hours in early morning with a timer, adding necessary light and heat.  On the right is a black painted panel on which Ive placed 36 cheap water bottles.  During the day the black panel heats up the water in the bottles which is stored as thermal energy and released gradually as night falls. 

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