Chico Gardens: 2014

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Combating the global food crisis: Diazotroph Bacteria as a Cereal Crop Growth Promoter

Three 16-year-old Mighty Girls from Cork, Ireland won the Grand Prize at the 2014 Google Science Fair in September for their discovery of a new way to use bacteria to dramatically increase the yield of several basic food crops -- research which could have a major impact in addressing food scarcity while making agriculture more eco-friendly by reducing the need for fertilizer.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Tea Smiths Wellness Teas

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Test results - Rock Dust, BioChar, pH

Monday, September 8, 2014

Please forgive me for this political agenda on my gardening blog

I hope you will take the time to read this essay I've written. It describes the systematic failure of our political system.

The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1972 required candidates to disclose sources of campaign contributions and campaign expenditures. It also limited spending on media advertisements. But that portion of the law was ruled unconstitutional — and that actually opened the door for the Citizen's United decision. This was a step forward for equality and transparency of our elected officials. But the very powerful very rich were still in pursuit of more control and contrived a treacherous plan to deceive us by suing in two important cases.

In 2010 the US Supreme Court ruled on the Citizen's United vs Federal Election Commission and gave corporations and unions the right to spend unlimited sums on ads and other political tools. It's important to note that the Citizen's United decision was about spending, not about contributions. This did not affect contributions. For that they created what is know as "independent-expenditure only committees" such as Speechnow.org which represent spending by individuals, groups, political committees, corporations or unions expressly advocating the election or defeat of clearly identified federal candidates.

In 2010 the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals also issued its ruling in the Speechnow.org v. FEC which removed contribution limits as applied to SpeechNow. Previously the courts had ruled that limits set by the Federal Election Campaign Act applied to this group called SpeechNow. It is still illegal for companies and labor unions to give money directly to candidates for federal office, but together with the Supreme Court’s earlier Citizen's United decision allowing unlimited corporate expenditures, the SpeechNow ruling was just what the ultra wealth needed to create a government controlled by "Political Action Committees" (Super PAC) where most of the funding comes from just a few rich individuals.

The Supreme Court kept limits on disclosure in place, and super PACs are required to report regularly on who their donors are. The same can’t be said for “social welfare” groups and some other nonprofits, like business leagues leaving another loop hole for the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers to create a nonprofit called the “Association for American Innovation” that will act as a hub for funneling undisclosed spending towards the Kochs’ political projects.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is another "Business League" which allows corporations and wealthy individuals to use congressmen as lobbyist and collaborate on bills, often presenting industry-backed legislation as a grass-roots organization. It brings Republican state legislators and big corporations together to frame right wing legislative agendas in the form of 'model bills'.

In November we will have an opportunity to vote on reversing the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling for Citizen's United. Please vote.

As you know I am an advocate of the https://mayday.us/ superPac. It's time we used their trickery and corrupt laws against them and put an end to "Political Action Committees" (superPAC) . Jim Rubens is the only Republican running for Senate that supports Campaign Reform, but there must be others who would like to get back to running the country rather than spending 70% of their resources on being re-elected. If we persist we can make this happen. Please contribute to Mayday.us

Thursday, August 28, 2014

What I Learned From My 2014 Summer Garden

I wanted a record of this years garden. The foliage grew so thick in the hydroponic section I was unable to track down a leak. Usage became ridiculous and I ended up filling the sump twice a day with water rather than waste the hydroponic fertilizer.

The bioponic systems did well. Summer heat put a damper on everything including the tomatoes. Even the squash seemed to regain vigor once the 100+ days passed. Bell peppers in the hydroponic system did well, but failed due to blossom end rot in the bioponic systems. I found [this article about Blossom End Rot] that may be helpful.

One Earthan bed became clogged by a root and I lost all the flowers on my Tomatillo, but even though a second set of flowers came back, I doubts I will get a crop.

My wicking barrels did not wick quite as well as I would have liked. So I'll adjust the soil mix. These barrels did not get enough sun in this location, so I will have to find a different location. That is one of the best attributes of this simple low cost design. Relocation is not a problem.

The vertical section will get a modification to the water supply. I plan to install a check valve after the pump and a high pressure connection after that. When the 1/4" tubes clog I will simply give it a blast of fresh water.   In fact this is how I will maintain the level in the sump tank. Each time I fill the sump I will be clearing the 1/4" lines.

The 8W Earthan Bed system performed well over the summer. Water usage was extremely low in both the wicking barrels and the 8W Earthan Beds. Without a doubt I feel these two systems hold the most promise. But one thing I've learned is that any garden that relies on a mechanical system is prone to some type of failure which places the wicking barrels squarely in the best position.

I began the season using weed teas, fish emulsion, and kelp in the 8W Earthan Bed and the Vertical Garden, but the Vertical Garden was abandoned due to high maintenance (clogging).

After the other bioponic Earthan Bed clogged I began to fear that the system might become clogged, but I now feel it would have been okay since it was a root not muck that caused the problem.

But this caused me to switch the 8W Earthan Bed over to plain well water with an occasional slurp of fish emulsion and liquid kelp plus a little Fe DTPA, MgSO4, and HCl after only a few weeks. My goal for this system was to use no urine.

Clogging is a concern I will eventually have to face with all of the Earthan Beds as I doubt even the worms will be able to keep the rock bed clear forever.   The advantage is that the water stays well aerated which should increase plant vitality and vigor.

Water use was extremely low in this systems even though I top watered every few days.

I'm still enjoying handfuls of cherry tomatoes from every section of the garden everyday The soil less section of the bioponic system produced more cherry tomatoes than we could eat. This and the hydroponic section were the best performers. I credit this to aeration and high nutrient levels. The main bioponic garden (not the 8W garden) received about 50% of my fresh urine plus fish emulsion, kelp, Fe DTPA, MgSO4, and HCl.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Mycorrhizae

I attended a class put on by Santia Morganics about Mycorrhizae. I learned about how mycorrhizae is colonized. These are my notes.

There are 3 major types of mycorrhizae.
(1) Endo or Arbuscular mycorrhizae (which exist on 85% of the plant families),
(2) Ecto mycorrhizae (which exist on 10% of the plant families (mostly woody plants), and
(3) Ericoid mycorrhizae (which exist on less than 5% of the plant families).
There are several other more obscure forms of mycorrhizae, but they are highly specific and not used from a commercial perspective.

Some producers grow all of their types together whereas Santia Morganics grows each isolated from the other and combines them in exact proportions when packaging the final product. This assures that their product contains a controlled proportion of each type. Growing several types together will allow a few to dominate the mix. Each type has different preferences such as pH, and therefore it's impossible to level the playing field for each when grown together and some types may fail to grow.

The reason so many types are sold together is to provide one that will find your soil adaptable. So it's important to have a a good assortment of different types.

Santia Morganics also grows their mycorrhizae in vivo where as some other manufactures grow in vitro. In vivo means that it's grown in live plants and soil. In Vitro is grown in a sterile media. By growing in vivo the mycorrhizae become more adapted to interacting with actual live plants and other microorganisms. The in vitro grown mycorrhizae fail to replicate the precise cellular conditions of an organism, particularly a microbe.

Santia Morganics sells mycorrhizae for soil and another for hydroponics.

The later is finer and water soluable, but the process of reducing the size destroys some of the mycorrhizae so it will contain a little less. These two mycorrhizae products already contain sufficient amounts of nutrients to help the mycorrhizae become established quickly, but they also make a couple additives that will and promote the growth of mycorrhizae. One is made for soil and the other is made to dissolve into water so that it can soak down into the root zone or be used for hydroponics. These additives contain no mycorrhizae.

The Myco-Fusion line consists of all three types of mycorrhizae, as well as Rhizo-Charge and Bio-Jolt companion products, both which are designed to maximize yield.

The relationship between plant and fungi evolved to help the plants access low levels of phosphorus in the soil but after adding mycorrhizae phosphorous should be avoided for as long as possible because mycorrhizae do not grow and colonize roots when the phosphorus level is high. Therefore it is best to let the relationship become established before adding phosphorous.

Mycorrhizea can survive for many years as long as it is not subjected to heat over about 120 F. It will lay dormant until the conditions are right and a host root becomes available. It is okay to store your mycorrhizae in a warm greenhouse so long as it is kept dry and below 120 F.

Endomycilium is the type we vegetable gardeners want unless we are growing hardwood plants such as blueberry in which case we would want Ectomycilium. Endomycilium grows inside of the vegetable roots and sends Hyphae out to feed the plant with water and nutrients. One cubic centimeter of rich organic soil may contain 1 km of fungal hyphae.

The mycorrhizal fungi become the interface between the soil and plant roots: the fungi colonize the roots internally, and the soil externally. Internally, the fungus becomes the interface where nutrient exchanges occur between the fungus and plant by direct contact of the fungus with the root cells: carbon energy moves from the plant to the fungus, and soil nutrients moves from the fungus to the host plant.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Thorium!

Our media is not built around effectively and accurately disseminating the facts to the public. Our media is built around putting your eyeballs on their print or their website and keeping them there. And the best way to keep you there is to scare you to death. - Kirk Sorensen

I know this has little to do with gardening, but the benefits we may see from thorium will drastically change the world, and possibly the way we garden. Imagine abundant energy, abundant clean water, and sustainable hydroponics!

Watch this video to learn more!
http://youtu.be/qLk46BZfEMs

Thorium has long been rejected as a nuclear fuel - Why? Because uranium produced weapons grade platonium and we knew how to use Uranium. Why experiment - Right?

Why then am I getting excited about thorium? It's because both India and China are committing to building thorium reactors! It's been done before with total success but the Atomic Energy Commission lost interest because it's useless for building bombs. India has finalized their plans and will soon begin construction and plan to have a 300MW prototype in operation by 2016!

With that being said here are some statistics

    World Energy Demand 2009    5,000,000,000 tonnes coal   31,000,000,000 barrels oil5,000,000,000,000 m³ natural gas           65,000 tonnes uranium 1 Kg Thorium = 13,000 barrels oil 2.2% of fossil fuel is used by freight trains .   1 Ton of cargo can be moved 430 miles on a gallon of diesel. Hydrogen is twice as efficient as diesel I'm guessing that means by weight. Guess what - Hydrogen can be a product of a thorium reactor! A coal plant releases 100 times the amount of radiation as a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy - Scientific America
Amazing isn't it? Nuclear has gotten such a bad rap for so many years.
It's actually a lot safer too. This chart shows natural and man-made sources of radiation

Check this out - Thorium is a very concentrated source of energy.
1 gram = all the energy you use this year!

Thorium is abundant and found with rare earth materials that would further benefit our energy efficient technology. Remove the restrictions over mining thorium in the USA, and we would have a win/win.

We seem to be falling short when it comes the using this technology

It's much less expensive to build molten salt reactors that use thorium than it is to build light water reactors that use uranium. Once a good design is finalized they could be mass produced unlike conventional Uranium U235 technologies which can only be cast in Japan.

And there are other benefits!
Almost no economic penalty to desalinate sea water. There is an abundance of thorium, and it is a waste product of rare earth mines therefore the cost of fuel is very cheap. The cost of Molten Salt Reactors (MSR) is many times less expensive that light water reactors. There is no possibility of a melt down and MSR require very little education to run - in fact they do not even require supervision for months at a time. The process creates insignificant amounts of transuranics (the dangerous stuff). The temperatures are higher which is why there is no need for high pressure water. The turbines are smaller and more efficient creating more power. Thorium does not produce materials that can be used for weapons so it's a low security site.

Other products can be made besides electricity. Hydrogen can be made which in turn can be used to make ammonia for agriculture. Finally sustainable hydroponics!

With a little chemistry synthetic fuels such as methanol for gasoline or dimethyl ether for diesel can also be made

Transuranics (the dangerous stuff)

The thorium cycle generates only 1% of waste in comparison to conventional Uranium U235 technologies which run into other problems.

Thorium provides safety and less problems

It's really sad and deceptive that oil companies claim to be promoting green technology such as Algae bio-fuels, wind, and solar when Thorium reactors are far more efficient, less expensive to build and maintain. Why? Maybe it's because they know these can't compete with oil. These methods are prone to failure.

Thorium can compete and will provide the world with cheap, clean, safe and abundant energy on a smaller foot print while providing clean water and hydrogen as well as other hydrogen products for fuels. We can breakup carbon dioxide, disassociate water to create hydrogen, ammonia, and make fertilizer and desalinate sea water for crops and residential use. All of this at extremely low cost, and very little damage to our environment. Thorium is so abundant that we will not run out of it for thousands of years!

If there was a lot of energy and it was cheap and not harmful to the environment, what would you do that you are not doing now?

Exxon Mobile attempting to improve their image.

Oil companies spread rumors and untrue ideas about nuclear energy. Campaigns like the one below are intended to scare the public. But even Light Water Reactors are safer and less damaging to the environment than coal, gas, or oil. Which have been well know to explode, and spill and coal mining is not only dangerous and unhealthy, it's destroying vast areas of pristine forests.

This report was given to JFK in 1962. The government had the information, and designs to built Thorium Reactors, but the information was suppressed. Who might want this information suppressed? There had already been a reactor working for 4 years in the 1960's. Instead of making progress we abandoned this technology, and now it's being developed and patented by India and China. We still have a chance to set this right but our politicians bow to the demands of big oil.

We live much better lives today because we learned how to use carbon. What about thorium? Thorium has a million times the energy density of a carbon hydrogen bond.

Watch this video to learn more!
http://youtu.be/qLk46BZfEMs

Thursday, July 10, 2014

There's still time to plant your winter crops

Redwood Seeds has these to offer
&
Johny's Select Seeds recommends these winter vegetables.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Glyphosate Alternatives

Let me acknowledge that glyphosate is only the "Active Ingredient" listed on many herbicides, and that it's actually the unlisted adjuvants that we need to be concerned about. Unfortunately the regulations only require safety testing of the active ingredients even though the adjuvants have been found to be 1000 times more toxic. The only other dangerous ingredient in RoundUp that I know of is polyethoxylated tallowamine POE-15.

In an effort to avoid using glyphosate I did some research on how the kill weeds around ornamental landscape plants, pathways and driveways. I still and always will object to Glyphosate and 2-4-D being used on or near vegetable gardens.

Here are the methods I was able to discover:

Pulling weeds by hand, and sheet mulching. This is great for a small area

Zinc Sulfate mixed 1-1/8 oz per gallon will treat 4 sq ft. At $12 per 10 lbs this works out to about $0.35/sq ft. Yikes!

BurnOut Weed & Grass Killer made of a special blend of citric acid and clove oil and other patented synergistic components. If I try this product I'll post the results, but from what I've read this too only stunts the plant and leaves the roots to grow again. If you have used this I'd like to hear about your results.

Weed Dragon is a large propane torch. Reviews state that they are effective at temporarily removing the weeds, but repeated treatment will be required to eventually kill more persistent weeds. Attacking the weeds again several days later seems to be advised.
The Weed Dragon delivers a 400,000 BTU while the mini delivers 25,000 BTU. The later uses a small disposable tank, and is easily held by one hand where as the former uses a 20 gallon tank and is often accessorized with a cart. There is also a 2.5 gallon model that is worn like a back pack.
Apparently 1 gallon of propane will last about 1 hour depending on how high the flame is turned up. Not all models have a flame adjustment.

Vinegar, salt, & soap mixed at 1/2 gal vinegar, 1/2 cup salt, 1/2tsp liquid dish soap will also kill weeds. This mixture costs about $6.00/gal. I don't know what the application rate is supposed to be, but I used it as I would use Roundup. After several applications there was only a few blotches otherwise the plants were healthy.

I mentioned this did not work and someone else told me I had the recipe wrong and absolutely guaranteed that her formula as shown above would work. Below are the results after spraying 5 times over 8 days. The large broad leafed plant shows only a small amount of damage. The grass lost color but regained its strength soon after the experiment was over.

I did find that I could pour a couple ounces directly on the root area for excellent results, but causing the soil to become incapable of supporting plant life is not what I'm after. Even Roundup leaves the soil in better shape than this.

I hate the idea of supporting Monsanto or any biotech bent on destroying the earth with GMO and toxic chemicals. But they do seem to have the only spray on products that will kill weeds. How poisonous these herbicides are is a matter of debate. During the past 30 years I've never been particularly careful about handling Roundup or 2-4-D, and I don't seem to have been affected, but I've had friends who were in Vietnam that were severely harmed by defoliants.

Of course I'm not advocating that we ingest it. Only a crazy person would do that right? Oh yeah our GM foods have been modified to resist Roundup and therefore hugh amounts of the stuff is sprayed on our food. This I object to, but spraying my driveway seems okay to me.

It seems too cruel but I may have to do my own experiments with Roundup. The group of good and natural folks I would like to be able to include myself in say that Roundup destroys the life in the soil. Somehow I doubt this. Over time, the glyphosate can be tied up by cations in the water or it can be biodegraded by bacteria. [1] By spraying the leaves of a plant, those chemicals are taken down into the roots and might poison some of the microbiology, but with all the bull that I've been feed about vinegar I simply don't trust the disinformation any longer.

Here's the thing. Don't make up the facts just to make you case. Some organic herbicides such as herbicidal soaps and oils have been found to be more harmful to aquatic life than Roundup. The EIQ (Environmental Impact Quotient ) of Roundup is only 15.3 (on a scale of 1 to 100). [2].

Making up your own facts does more harm then good. It doesn't work for Monsanto and it does not benefit the fight for a clean world. This poor lab rat was fed Roundup. Let's get real, nobody puts Roundup on their food like table salt except maybe the farmers using GM seeds. So buy organic.

But don't tell me vinegar kills weeds and that it's just as good as Roundup because it's not.

1. http://www.walterreeves.com/gardening-q-and-a/roundup-breakdown-in-tap-water/
2. http://www.sustainable-gardening.com/archives/403

Monday, June 30, 2014

Buying Healthy Food

Buying healthy food is becoming quite a challenge. It may surprise you to know that even baking powder can contain GMO. At the bottom is a list of ingredients to be wary of from
http://responsibletechnology.org/ShoppingTips-2013.pdf?key=35730635

Studies in cell research have demonstrated the mechanism by which micro RNA from genetically engineered foods may alter organ function in humans. This means that these studies have found that micro RNA can attach to the receptor sites of our DNA!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3351922/

Several stores have good reputations for selling Non-GMO. Whole Foods and Costco should be praised for their efforts. But just because the package says 'Organic' you may still be buying GM food. This is because some foods come from China where there is no testing. But in an exploratory fashion, Whole Foods Store goes the extra step by testing those foods!

I'm have mostly negative feelings about buying seeds from Seminis because even though they claim to sell Non-GMO seeds they are a subsidiary of Monsanto. My preference is to avoid putting any money in Monsanto's pockets. On the other hand if Seminis does well it may wake Monsanto to the fact that we prefer not to be poisoned. Imagine that!

Another reason to avoid buying from corporations like Seminis is they sell hybrid seeds. These seeds are protected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or by the USDA’s Plant Variety Protection Office. This means you can not and would not want to use the offspring seeds from your crop. While you may not plan to use the seeds you are still supporting world wide ownership of our food supply when you buy from a company that restricts further use of the seeds. Buying seeds from a company such as Redwood Seed Company ensures the seed you plant are open pollinated (OP) so you too can save your own seeds. Redwood encourages their customers to save seeds and even goes so far as to offer free classes about how to do it! I like people who share and would prefer to see them excell because of their fearless trust in mankind and their product.

So here's the list. Some of these may sound kinda strange. Like baking powder. I never knew it has corn starch in it. As you can see GM comes in many products you might never suspect. Right near the top is aspartame. It contains phenylalanine which may be manufactured with the aid of genetically modified micro-organisms (escherichia coli). This process has been used industrially in the USA for many years.

Another wake up call about ascorbic acid – it is synthesized from corn syrup. - See more at: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/is-your-vitamin-c-the-real-deal-or-a-gmo-wannabe/#sthash.j4uUQjaA.dpuf

Another wake up call is ascorbic acid. I never would have guessed it is synthesized from corn syrup. The problem with this unnatural Vitamin C is that is not discriminatory in its anti-microbial abilities as it also wipes out good bacteria or probiotics in the gut. Whole foods based vitamin C does not harm beneficial intestinal bacteria in the same way as synthetic vitamin C does.

There are so many things that we've been lead to believe are good for us. Well they may be, but if they are the product of GM, then we really need to know. Would you have questioned vitamin B12, vitamin E, isoflavones or lysine?

ascorbic acid (vit C) Aspartame
(also called
AminoSweet®, NutraS-weet®,
Equal Spoonful®,
Canderel®,
BeneVia®, E951)
baking powder
canola oil
(rapeseed oil)
caramel color
cellulose
citric acid
cobalamin (vit B12)
colorose
condensed milk
confectioners sugar
corn flour
corn masa
corn meal
corn oil
corn sugar
corn syrup
cornstarch
cottonseed oil
cyclodextrin
cystein
dextrin
dextrose
diacetyl
diglyceride
erythritol
Equal
food starch
fructose (any form)
glucose
glutamate
glutamic acid
glycerides
glycerin
glycerol
glycerol monooleate
glycine
hemicellulose
high fructose corn syrup
(HFCS)
hydrogenated starch
hydrolyzed vegetable
protein
inositol
inverse syrup
inversol
invert sugar
isoflavones
lactic acid
lecithin
leucine
lysine
malitol
malt
malt syrup
malt
extract
maltodextrin
maltose
mannitol
methylcellulose
milk powder
milo starch
modified food starch
modified starch
mono and diglycerides
monosodium
glutamate (MSG)
Nutrasweet
oleic acid
Phenylalanine
phytic acid
protein isolate
shoyu
sorbitol
soy flour
soy isolates
soy lecithin
soy milk
soy oil
soy protein
soy protein isolate
soy sauce
starch
stearic acid
sugar (unless cane sugar)
tamari
tempeh
teriyaki marinades
textured
vegetable
protein
threonine
tocopherols (vit E)
tofu
trehalose
triglyceride
vegetable fat
vegetable oil
vitamin B12
vitamin E
whey
whey powder
xanthan
gum
Popcorn is NOT GM

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Summer is the Time to Plant Winter Squash!

Winter squash takes about three months to mature. For a September harvest it's time to plant!

Remember squash are heavy feeders so add plenty of compost below and around each plant

Time to choose your brassicas for late summer planting.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Weeding

Ray has documented an experiment where he weeded one section of his garden and let the other go natural. So what do you think? Is weeding just for show or does it help your plants grow better?

This link will start his video at the point where he shows his experiment.
http://youtu.be/Zl_zxmqQ1EU?t=8m48s

Or you can watch the entire video about compost tea nutrient extraction which is different from brewing compost tea for microorganisms.

Friday, June 6, 2014

Easy Tea Brewer

Last year I build a compost tea brewer that created a vortex. Time has taught me a few things and today I rebuilt the brewer to make the whole operation a lot easier.
The whole vortex thing is impressive and fun to watch but I really don't see the benefit. If you are into the mystical power of vortex then this design is not your cup of tea (Like the pun?)

Once the tea was made transporting to the garden became a choir that I disliked so much that the tea would often sit too long and ended up being wasted. The trick was to make clean tea that I could pump through a hose to the garden beds. Experiments showed me that simply placing the compost in a strainer bag did not let sufficient water flow through the bag.

This new design uses an airlift pump to recirculate the tea water through a strainer bag filled with compost. The airlift adds plenty of aeration to the tea.

I built this from parts I had around and will change the 3/4" pipe going to the bag to a 2" pipe for even better flow. A PVC Slip Coupling on this pipe holds the bag in place with the zip tie just above the coupling.

I also cut the container down to a depth that I can comfortably reach the bottom of. Cleaning the 33" tall 55 gallon drum was quite difficult and messy since I had to place my head an shoulders into the drum in order to scrub it out.

I'm running the new design for the first time right now. Cleanup will be easy as removing the bag of compost and wiping out the barrel. Distribution will be done with a high powered sump pump. I will be able to spray full strength tea on my plants and water them with an abundance of active microbes.

With this easy brewer I will be far more likely to brew very often.

For those who are looking carefully at the photos you may have noticed the 2" pipe connects through the bottom. This adds stability to the pipes. I might not have done this except the original design used this hole to create the vortex. It think it is a good idea and may even replace the cap that I put on to seal the bottom with a 2" valve in case I should ever want to drain the barrel from the bottom.

Most of these pipes are not glued so they all come apart easily for cleaning.

After using this design I saw a way easily increase the flow so I extended the air lift all the way to the ground. This design works just as well and turned out to be even quieter than the previous design. Cleanup is not significantly more difficult so I will keep these changes, In fact it is so easy that I would not have any trouble making tea every day.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Water Storage

As water becomes more difficult to obtain we are going to be forced into looking for better solutions.
This is a section of a modular water wall.

I did a quick search and others are also thinking along these lines and some of the walls are very decorative. The idea of free or cheap drums is admirable but they are not large enough nor are they aesthetic.

It's time to think outside the box. What about large reservoirs of water under our houses or hidden within our walls which would also be used to moderate temperature with it's thermo-mass.

I used to live in a very old house in downtown Tucson. The walls were built of adobe and they were nearly 3 feet thick. The hot Tucson summers were quite bearable due to the thermo-mass of these walls even though I had no air conditioning.

If we were to build houses like this our energy and water consumption would both drop. A stucco finish would make the walls look like any other house except for thick walls, and the comfort would be amazing. This water could be collected during the rainy season and used later in the hot dry summer months to grow food and ensure a beautiful cooling landscape.

.
A family of five uses about 1 acre foot (about 325,000 gallons) or (1225 m³) of water a year. So saving water from your roof top may only make a small difference, but small differences add up. Right now it costs about $1000 to process that much water from waste water or to build a new reservoir.

Desalination has been done in other parts of the world and California is going to build a desalination plant in San Diego capable of 50 million gallons (189000 m³) a day. But the cost is probably going to be twice the cost we are used to. There are also concerns that the plant will kill fish, but efforts are being incorporated that should solve this problem.

In total fifteen desalination projects using reverse osmosis are proposed along the coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco Bay. In the past many other desalination plants have been closed due to the high cost of operation. The plant will use an enormous amount of energy -- about 38 megawatts, enough to power 28,500 homes.
The efficiency works out to be about 3 kWh for 1 m³or 88 gallons / kWh fresh water. Sounds like a lot of water, but the reality is this will only provide about 7 percent of the total water needs of San Diego County.

Another problem I see is that this is going to be privately owned. I would prefer to see communities own their own water source.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Why I Buy Organic & Non-GMO & Support Local Organic Farmers

Organic farmers are stewards of the land rather than soil rapers

Organic food is free of chemicals

GMO farmers use more aggressive control measures, such as increased use of chemical sprays.

Organic food is free of unsustainable petroleum fertilizers

Organic food promotes better health.

Organic food tastes richer, sweeter and is more satisfying

Organic food uses natural defenses, and has no unhealthy pesticides

Bio-engineered crops harm species that are not their target, such as monarch butterflies.

Organic growers use sustainable methods of growing food that promote soil health rather than destroying the soil

GMO transfer pesticide-resistant genes to related weeds may produce "super weeds" immune to commonly used control methods

Nature adapts and may begin to produce 'super bugs' putting heirloom plants at a disadvantage.

Locally grown food costs less to ship

Locally grown organic food uses less fuel to deliver to consumer

Locally grown organic food is fresher

Locally grown organic fruit tastes better

Locally grown organic fruit has a higher nutrient value than fruit picked early.

Seasonal vegetables taste better and deliver diversity through out the year

Organic growers are more productive

Organic growers use less fuel hungry machinery

Local organic farmers employ local people

Organic growers use less water

Organic growers use Non GMO seed

Organic growers do not use toxic Roundup. Glysophate is the listed active ingredient, but the other ingredients are even more toxic

Organic growers do not have to lie about the toxic chemicals in and on their food

GMO crops are infecting heirloom crops

Organic growers provide better variety and seed diversity

Less wasted produce when you buy from local organic farmers.

Ordinary, familiar foods can become allergenic through the addition of foreign genes.

Locally grown food lasts longer

Maybe you can help be think of more reasons to support local and organic farmers.

For more detailed information about GMO [CLICK HERE]

Chico Gardens