Construction of 8 Watt Earthan Beds

This video shows the construction of my Earthan Beds using an extremely quiet 8 Watt General Hydroponic Air Pump, and four individual air lift pumps.  Watering from below the dirt provides the perfect moisture with very little evaporation, and makes gardening easy.  The beds will remain moist for a long time even if you are away and the sump tank runs out of water.

The economy and dependability of the air lift pumps combined with recirculating water are so appropriate during this era of water, mineral, and energy shortages.

Earthan Beds provide the advantages of bioponics or aquaponics with real dirt where the soil web is allowed to flourish. 

Nutrients can be supplied by eco-friendly methods such as urine or weed teas.  5% of the natural gas we suck from the earth goes into making fertilizers.  Phosphorous is becoming harder to come by and some estimate our reserves will be exhausted within 50 years.  Urine contains amply amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous and many other trace minerals.  Less than a century ago none of the nitrogen was supplied by petroleum. Instead microbes made nitrogen available to our plants. The aerated water circulating through rocks you see in these beds provide the perfect environment for nitrification.

Return to natural resources.  Grow your soil and your plants will take care of themselves,

Wicked Beds

A look at the construction of my Earthan Beds. Previously these beds were Wicking Beds with sand in the bottom, but now I want to be able to let aquaponic water flow freely through the beds so I've replaced the sand with rocks. The soil I place back into the Earthan Beds is a mix of sand, compost, pumice, and garden soil, amended with Azomite. Pumice is not required, but it provides plenty of surface area for bacteria while making the soil light and airy. When I first started to use my wicking beds I noticed the smell of anaerobic bacteria. By allowing some water to flow out of the overflow tube each day I was able to prevent this anaerobic condition. When I removed the sand and soil from the wicking beds I found no sign of anaerobic bacteria. By letting the water flow through the Earthan Beds I will create a good environment for nitrification and prevent anaerobic conditions. The water from the Bioponic System will also provide nitrates and other elements for good plant growth.

The first video shows how I constructed the Earthan Beds

This video starts out with a tour of my fall garden.  

Click the hot spot to skip ahead to the nearly finished wicking beds.

Garden Update

It's been a week since I added Epson Salts.  While I don't see significant growth the Epson salts have brought vibrant deep green color to the leaves.

These plants may be a lost cause since they were stunted so young, but I'll continue to observe their recovery.
I am experimenting with 8 different methods of growing.  AP, Bioponics, Bio-Char, Hugelkuture, dirt, Wicking Beds, Hydroponics, and  Kratky Method.  The tomatoes from the wicking beds, hugelkulture, hydroponic and wicking bed systems taste very good.  Given the problems I've recently encountered with my bioponic system it's not fair to judge the taste from that system.

Of all the methods I have come to like wicking beds the best.  Water levels must be maintained, but the reservoir allows one to be less attentive and if the soil web is good the plants take care of themselves..

June 5th Systems Comparison

It's been exactly 30 days since I made my last walk around video.  This is a comparison to show the growth that occurred during that time.

Hydroponic Tomatoes 44" with 3" fruit

 Notice the dark green leaves.  The Hydroponic Tomatoes are doing better than any other system

Hugelkulture Tomatoes 44" with 3" fruit

 These tomatoes planted in an immature hugelkulture bed are slightly less green.  Nitrogen may be unavailable due to the mulberry buried below the compost top soil, but I have no complaint. They are doing well.   It will take several years for the mulberry to rot and provide a water supply for this garden.

Bioponics Tomatoes 34" with no fruit

 These tomatoes in the boiponic grow beds are smaller and not as dark green as the Hydroponic tomatoes in the background.  The pH has been maintained at 6.5 - 7.0 and the nitrates levels have been maintained above 5ppm.  I have occasionally added some Azomite for trace minerals to prevent chlorosis.  Yesterday I added Fe-DTPA-chelate.  Prior to this I was using EDTA chelate.

Last summer the bioponic system did very well, and I expect this plant will too.  The general health looks good and there has been no chlorosis, but when compared to the hydoponic and the hugelkulture systems I don't think it is doing quite as well.

Wicking Bed - I don't see any fruit on this one,  but it was planted late..

Wicking Bed - Can you see the big green toms?

Wicking Bed / Cherry Tomatoes 66" with lots of  fruit

Overall I would say the hydroponic tomatoes look best, but the wicking bed tomatoes are right there with them.
Here are some pictures from 30 days ago for comparison

Bioponic

Hydroponic

Looking from the opposite direction this arrow points at the hugelkulture tomato (second image down)

A Garden Update

This is my garden layout.  It's an odd shaped lot, but I've made it work.  I'm experimenting with wicking beds, hugelkulture, aquaponics, bioponics, hydroponics, and bio-char.

The greenhouse is for seedlings,

The propagation room uses aquaponic beds in a well insulated grow room with a 400W ceramic metal halide bulb, but the south facing window is generally all I use.  This room has media, deep water culture (DWC), and wicking beds for propagating by cuttings.

The hoop house has a bioponic system and a hydroponic system in it.  During the summer I can use a shade cloth and in the winter I keep the rain out with plastic which offers just a little freeze protection, but the ends are left open.  There are also to DWC beds connected outside of the hoop house.

The engineered septic system (ESS) takes up a large part of my nursery.  I can't plant in it so I've utilized the area by building a half hoop over it for vines to grow on.  This should create a very nice place with shade during the summer heat.  There are twi wicking beds up on the ESS which is raised 2 feet above the rest of the area.   I used livestck panels to create a curved trelis over this area.  Here is a picture from my friend Vlad in Serbia which shows the vines with fruit hanging down from above.  This is what I am hoping to achieve in order to create a shady area where I can sit and enjoy my garden

The plot map shows the potting table all the way around back of the workshop.  I moved it behind the greenhouse and hung some shade cloth.  This has worked out a lot better since it is closer to my potting resources.

This is my bioponic/hydroponic hoop house

 

 Panoramic shots

Garden Update and Request for Help With Deer

In this video I asked about preventing deer from entering my garden.  Since then I have begun to build a strong fence.  The minimum height is 6 feet.  My hope is that deer will look at the area inside as too difficult to jump into, and go elsewhere.  Many people talk about using smells and tastes to drive deer away.  My experience with hair, lion dung, dogs, dial soap, garlic and pepper is that these methods do not work. 

I hope you enjoy the tour.  I'm looking forward to posting more updates later this summer

Compost Tea Brewer with Vortex Action

I'm testing various pumps and designs before applying glue and Uniseals to the final version of this  compost tea brewer. 
I tested the brewer with an Eco Plus 7 air pump,  an old hot tub air jet blower, and a DR 083 Rotron regenerative blower . 

The Eco Plus 7 is capable of 200 liter/minute.  It handled the 48" depth very well.  
 
The hot tub blower puts out a lot of air, and also handles the depth very well.   But it's noisy,     I may switch between the two, and use the hot tub blower during the day and the Eco Plus during the night.

The regenerative blower delivers a massive 18 cubic feet per minute, but it's incapable of pumping air deeper than 24" so it will not work for this application. 


Four air lift pumps were too many, and even the hot tub blower worked best with just 2 air lifts.  That's OK because 2 air lifts rather than 4 simplifies the design, and cuts the cost by quite a bit as well.

I might build a very simple brewer out of the left over parts.  I'm thinking of one that would simply fit down inside of a barrel.  One air lift and a center pickup.  Keeping it from being swept away might be the biggest obstacle.

This is a concept drawing of my brewer where a vortex is created.  

After testing for a while I finally decided to use only one air lift and the Eco Plus 7.   Other people have made good compost tea with less, and I felt the noise from the hot tub blower was excessive.  The 200 lpm Eco Plus is a substantial amount of air, and the vortex is still plenty strong.

I have also seen brewers made with a small drill press mounted to a piece of plywood.  The drill press is then placed on top of the barrels, and a long stir rod is inserted down into the liquid to create a vortex.  This design lacks the extreme air provided by an air lift, but this design is being used at the Earthworm Soil Factory with good results. 

A common design is to simply drop an air stone into the batch and let it bubble over night.  This too seems to provide adequate aeration and movement, but I felt that the air lifts were the best of all the designs I had seen, and worthy of the extra effort.

My first batch worked well.  The microbes cause a lot of foam on top at first.  I would advise keeping the liquid level at least 12" below the top of the barrel.  I'm told, adding more molasses will extend the useful life of the tea.

I'm pleased to say even at 1/3 full the air lift continues to circulate the remaining tea.   This is good because it keeps the tea steered up while I'm draining the tank.  I used an old barrel with previously drilled holes for my prototype, and ended up with a 1" drain.  I will use a 2" drain next time. 

When I fill my bucket I place a paint strainer bag inside of a 5 gallon bucket unless I'm just dumping the tea on top of the soil.  This lets me use the tea in my watering can; otherwise the spout gets clogged.   The second time I made a batch of tea,  I placed the dry compost in strainer bags.  This also worked but not as well.  Below is a commercial brewer with a similar, but better idea.

I have been using the tea during initial seed planting.  It also appears to help avoid transplant shock.

I like this machine because it uses a bag which keeps the tea clean of debris.  Also the spray guns are great.

Building Hugelculture Beds

 I like raised beds because they make gardening easier and keep gophers out. 

 This is how I'm making my hugelculture raised beds.

Rounds ready to be dropped into the hugelculture bed

Large logs over 1 foot in diameter were used

I packed small branches in between too fill in the spaces

Looking down from a nearly completed section

I've covered the logs with dirt and washed it down into the material below 

Next I will add about 8" to 12" of top soil

This raised bed is also filled with wood scrapes below the top soil
I have potatoes planted in this box

In a few years these hugelculture beds will act as a large sponge reserving  rain water for the dry month.   If you have a hugrlculture bed I'd like to know how happy you have been with it.

What's Growing Now - February 2013

Today is February 14th.  It is expected to range between 39 - 72. The slightly warmer temperature is causing the  my watercress which were planted months ago to double in size within the past week. Watercress likes cool weather in the low 50F.  I will be planting more of it outside in my bioponic system.

Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)

Nasturtium is very similar to watercress, but they do not like freezing temperatures.  This beautiful eatable flower will benefit other crops and will grow during the Summer if kept shaded with plenty of water.
Nasturtium can be started indoors about 2 weeks before the last frost which is mid March for Chico, CA so I plan to direct sow my seeds a few weeks from now, but I already have a dozen started indoors.

Early February 2-8 I started 7 trays of

Heirloom, Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard from Australia - Seed Savers Exchange
Petite Mixed Color - Marigold - Lowes #l6567
Heirloom, Nasturtium - - Cornicopia
Heirloom, Strawberry Spinach- Seed Savers Exchange
Thai Basil - Siam Queen - Ed Hume Seeds
Hybrid, Super Sweet Tomato - Cornicopia
Super Bush Tomato - Renee's Garden
Crimson Carmello Tomato - Renee's Garden
Big Beef Beefsteak Tomato - Renee's Garden
Heirloom, San Marzano Tomato - Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co.
Heirloom, Cal Wonder Red Bell Pepper - Seeds of Change
Peperone Yellow Bell Pepper - Franchi Sementi

and I put small white, red, and purple potatoes from the grocery store in one of my hugelkulture beds along with Yukon Gold and Adirondack Blue Potatoes from Van Zyverden and some carrots

Of course none of these are GMO.