Building a Geodesic Dome Greenhouse Part 2

Here is the second video in the series of building a geodesic dome greenhouse.  It covers 3 different hub designs (and failures) along with the details of how they are assembled.  I’m trying not to make them too boring, but after all, its just a bunch of diagrams, cutting and welding.  At least you can see some sparks fly!  There’s a couple of bloopers at the end too!
 

Below is the transcript from the video:

In this video I will discuss the hub design for this dome and the next video in the series will detail the strut design.  This is 3V 3/8th dome so it will require a total of 46 hubs consisting of twenty-five 6-way, six 5-way and fifteen 4-way hubs that will be used along the base.  Because of the large span, this dome is going to need a hub that can withstand a great deal of compression force.  Plus, it must be able to withstand the downward force from heavy snow loads during the winter.

The first hub design had hanger bolts anchored into the end of each strut.  The end of each bolt would go through a hole in a piece of schedule 40 3-1/2” steel pipe which was used at the hub.  The strut was tightened to the hub with a washer and nut.  This is the first prototype using the hanger bolt method and a PVC hub.  The triangulation between each section was extremely strong.  When I created a full scale prototype, the leverage of a full length strut and removal of the triangulated pieces cause the hanger bolts to easily pull out of the end of the struts.

The second hub design was similar to the hanger bolt design, except a hole was drilled through the strut and a washer and nut was inserted.  This was to create enough surface area to prevent the bolt from pulling through the wood.  However, testing a full scale prototype proved to be too much force against the strut and the bolt acted as a level and split the wood.

The third hub design is completely different. The strut is sandwiched between two spokes.  Flat bar-stock is welded to the hub at the appropriate angles and a bolt is placed through the top spoke, through the strut and fastened with a nut under the bottom spoke. This full-scale prototype shows how 4 spokes of a 6 spoke hub would be assembled.  A load test shows it can support my body weight on only 4 spokes, plus none of the other struts are used to strengthen the legs.  There was some slight bending of the bolts from my bouncing but there was no hardware failure.  Regardless, the final design will use 3/8th inch bolts instead of 5/16th.

The central hub is made from 3 ½” galvanized rigid conduit which is about ¼” thick.  The conduit is cut into 3 ½” lengths.  The galvanized zinc is ground off wherever the spokes are to be welded.  Please note that working with galvanized material, especially using abrasion cutting equipment or welding should be done in a well-ventilated area.  Also, you should always wear gloves and safety glasses.

I made up a jig that will safely hold the bar stock to the drill press.  It allows me to consistently drill a pilot hole in the same location near the end of the stock.  Since I have 480 holes to drill, creating jigs and templates is crucial for building an accurate hub.  Once the pilot holes are drilled, I switch over to a stepped bit that will finish the hole at the proper size.  I then flip the piece over and gently remove any tear-out from the bottom of the hole.  Once the holes are in the end of the stock, I then cut it to the correct lengths.  I built a stop for my abrasion saw so I could cut each piece to the same length.  After cutting off the ends, I can go back to the drill press and drill a new set of holes for the next set of spokes.

Now it’s time to start assembling!  This template has markings on it so I know where the locations are for the 5 spoke or 6 spoke hubs.  I just place the hub over the template and draw a small mark on the hub.

This jig is used to accurately weld the spokes to the hub.  The hub is placed over the post and each spoke is held in place with a pin.  By using this jig, I can weld a complete hub in less than 15 minutes.

All the pieces are welded together with a standard MIG welder.  Another safety note:  Please weld in a well-ventilated area and free from items that can catch on fire.  Also wear the appropriate gear to avoid burns from the hot metal and use a welding helmet to prevent blindness.  Keep fire suppression equipment nearby at all times.  No one else should be in the area while using a welder.

When each hub is complete, any dirt and rust is removed by sandblasting and is then painted with cold-galvanizing paint to prevent future rusting.  I hope you enjoyed this video on making a hub for the geodesic dome.  The next video will show how the struts are made.  Thanks for watching!

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How to Winterize Your RV Travel Trailer 5th Wheel MotorHome or Camper

Check out this video for a complete walkthrough on how to winterize your RV, travel trailer, camper, 5th wheel, or motorhome. When the leaves start to change up here in Michigan, I know I have a few main preparations to make for the coming winter. One of these is to get the travel trailer ready for some cold weather and snow. In this video, I go through that process step by step and offer some pointers and advise for protecting the exterior, water system, and preventing mice from invading!

When we  purchased this used trailer, one of the first repairs I had to make was to correct some damage from the previous owner not winterizing the water system properly. The p trap on the bathroom sink had cracked from freezing and it was a pain to repair. With different types of pipe (ABS,CPVC, and PVC used in this trailer it took a few trips to the hardware store to get the random parts that were needed. This was a lot of work that could have been avoided with a proper winterization the year prior. I hope that this video can help someone out and help prevent extra repairs before the camping season begins next year!

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Update on the Wood Burning Pool Heater How Well Does it Work

I have had quite a few requests to provide some more detailed information on how well the wood burner works.  I would like to share some temperatures with you using a AGPtek Dual Two Channel Digital Thermometer.

I have been very happy with how well this pool heater has worked for us this year. We have had such a cold summer here in Michigan this year and this heater has been one of the only reasons we have been able to enjoy the pool. Normally, the solar heater and solar cover can keep the pool comfortable but this year it has just not been adequate. I have run the wood burning heater only when needed, maybe once or twice per week at the most. We have been able to easily keep the pool temperature above 75 degrees so far this year.

The numbers and methods here are just for rough estimation of how well the heater works, this is not meant for the science books, but should hold true with a heater of similar size and efficiency.

I measured about 69 gallons per hour with a 33 degree average warm up to the water. This was with an average sized fire going as the temperature here will fluctuate as you add wood and let it burn through. I have seen it as high as 45 degrees and as low as 15 degrees, so it just depends on how much and what material you are burning.

Calculations I used:  15,000 gallon pool divided by 69 gallons per hour (filled one gallon in 52 seconds) gave me 217 hours to heat all of the water 33 degrees. Or if you reduce, it comes down to about 27 hours for 4 degree rise for the entire pool. You can also just divide 33/217 to get a coefficient that can be used to create a formula. Y = .15x where Y is the degrees you will heat 15000 gallons of water and x is the number or hours you run the heater. So if we plug in 24 hours for x we get y=3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hopefully that makes sense to be used as a ROUGH estimate for calculating how much you can heat a similar sized pool.





Products:

                      

This post has been shared at:  The Homestead Barnhop, Simple Saturdays Blog Hop, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Natural Living Monday, Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop

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Hydrofarm Co2 Grow Fish Visit NOW!

Boot Your Plants Growth by 10 Time - In Half the time! With The Help Fish... Read More!

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Setting Up an Aquaponic Farm

Within a planet where every thing is carried out on the run and a lot more and more individuals complain about their lack of time, beginning a new activity appears as a way of social suicide (you are going to have less time for you to see your pals and your family). This is why numerous individuals are really reluctant in giving their precious time away on new activities, specifically if that new activity is gardening. But, what I want to propose you is anything easier, which even even though is really a way of increasing crops, has nothing else to perform with gardening. It truly is referred to as aquaponics and it truly is the easiest way to have fresh food in your table.

Aquaponics is really a program which requires increasing fish in typical tanks and utilizing their water, filled with bio-nutrients inside a system comparable with that promoted by hydroponics. The top thing about aquaponics is that you wont have to care for the plants, as the fish will offer you them enough meals to develop and create effectively. Youll just have to take care of your fish, which will also take significantly less time as you may only have to monitor the water and feed them. There is certainly no require to modify or clean the water as this is one thing which your plants will do.

This symbiosis in between fish and plants may be the a single that will save you lots of time and can provide you with the opportunity to take on this activity without having compromising your social or specialist life. Few minutes each day will be adequate for you personally to be sure that both your crops and your fish are alright! Actually, expanding plants and fish using the aquaponic technique is so simple that your complete family members will likely be prepared to assist you with that. Due to the fact it entails no dirty hands, bending and digging inside the ground, youll be able to even let your kids allow you to. Itll not take long to ensure that they are going to not get bored and also you will get to devote some moments with them.

Aquaponics is the easiest way via which it is possible to have tasty, fresh and healthy vegetables on your table each and every day. Theres no require to become afraid to start such a brand new activity as this really is 1 of the most effective methods you can take for you and your loved ones!

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Hydroponics Nutrients

In a traditionally grown plant, It gets its nutrients in the soil. The soil holds nutrients which are leached from rocks and minerals inside the soil, too as minerals from animal waste, and decomposed plant and animal matter. These minerals are then transferred into water in the soil, along with the water is absorbed by the plant roots. For hydroponics this idea is the exact same, only the execution is distinct. Instead of soil holding nutrient-rich moisture, a Nutrient-rich solution is applied towards the roots either straight, or by signifies of a developing medium.

A drawback to this sort of program is that there is no buffer towards the plants, so if theres something wrong using the nutrient answer, the plants will be affected. Also within a technique where no expanding medium is employed, if the nutrient answer is interrupted (energy outage, pump failure, clogged lines etc) the roots in the plant can dry out quite speedily causing harm to the plant.

In the final handful of decades different nutrient options for diverse varieties of plants happen to be developed. Some focus around the requirements of a distinct sort of plant, while other people are a far more common goal solution. A gardener can purchase minerals separately and mix their very own hydroponic fertilizer. Sadly, the fertilizers that make up a hydroponic formula arent sold as pure nitrogen or pure potassium, so it gets far more complicated. They may be sold as chemical compounds, such as calcium nitrate, potassium nitrate, magnesium sulfate, potassium sulfate and mono potassium phosphate.

Considering that there are various dependable pre-mix hydroponic formulas accessible, it is generally far more efficient and more economical to make use of a established formula that contains all the above described nutrients within the right quantities for plant growth. 1 that you simply basically add to water.

Some hydroponics systems use what exactly is identified as Aquaculture where a fish tank is attached for the hydroponics technique. The fish are fed typically, as well as the water in the fish tank circulates by means of the hydroponics method, exactly where the fish waste is absorbed by the plants and used for meals, and at the same time cleaning the water producing it suitable for the fish.

Regardless of whether you are employing a pre-mixed formula or creating your own its important to stick to these guidelines:

1. Weigh or measure the nutrients carefully.
2. Place the nutrients in separate piles or containers to be confident the proportions make sense.
3. Make certain no elements are left out or measured twice.
four. Accuracy must be inside 5 %.
five. If you are positive the proportions are correct, pour your nutrients into the water inside the mixing containers
and stir vigorously. Nutrients will dissolve ideal in warm water.
6. Measure the nutrient concentration level and record it.

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How to Make Your Own Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

Our family saves so much money by making our own laundry soap. I encourage you all to try it at least once!


The girls help me make it and we all enjoy that time together.  The process is much easier than I thought it would be, and much cheaper than I thought it would be, too.  All of the ingredients cost less than $10.00 at Walmart, and the amounts needed for one 10-gallon recipe cost less than $2.00.  The time it takes us to assemble it all is probably less than 15 minutes.  What a deal!


Disclaimer/Please Learn From My Mistakes/Warning:  We picked up a pickle bucket from a local pizzeria.  Unless you like the smell of dill pickles, you might want to go with a different smelling bucket than we did.  Our bucket of soap literally smells like soapy pickles.  But thankfully, our clothes do not. 

You can always add essential oils to your soap to make it smell even nicer.  If any of you use oils to scent your soap, please let me know which scent you use.  Id love to try, just not sure which one to use.


Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap Recipe


Ingredients:

4  Cups - hot tap water

1  Fels-Naptha bar of soap ($0.97 each, available at Walmart)

1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda* ($3.24 per box, available at Walmart)

½ cup Borax ($4.00 per box, available at Walmart)


Directions:


-Add 4 cups hot tap water to pot on stove over medium-low heat.

- Grate bar of soap and add to pot with water.

-Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water.

-Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax to bucket.

-Stir well until all powder is dissolved.

-Fill bucket to top with more hot water.

-Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-The next day, stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water.

-Shake before each use.



Optional: You can add 15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons once soap has cooled.

Recipe will yield 10 gallons of liquid laundry soap.


-Top Load Machine- 1/2 Cup per load

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (never tried, but hear it works great)


Here is our video that goes through the whole process.  I encourage you all to give it a try!

This post has been shared at:  The HomeAcre Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Simple Saturdays Blog Hop, Homestead Barn Hop, Natural Living Monday, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop

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How to Charge an Automotive Air Conditioning System

Watch this video to see an overview of how to recharge an air conditioning system in any modern vehicle. I am using the A/C Pro recharge hose, gauge, and refrigerant. The product can be found HERE.



Earlier this year in our Chevrolet Traverse, the air conditioning started to get a little on the warmer side, and throughout the summer has all but stopped working. I was afraid that a more major issue was the cause but was hopeful that topping the system off with some r134a would solve the problem. So far, the air has been working excellent since the recharge and I am hoping that no major leaks are present. The AC Pro kit comes with the gauge and coolant that you need to complete the job from start to finish and only takes about 10-15 minutes to complete.

This process should hold true for just about any vehicle with an air conditioning system manufactured after 1995. The hardest part, in most cases, is just locating the correct service or fill port on the vehicle but, luckily, it is pretty dummy proof.. The hose will only fit on the correct fitting so as long as it fits easily and clicks into place you should be okay.





The AC Pro video can be found here - http://youtu.be/Wn0C9jPOAAQ

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Geo thermal Cooling

Its been extremely hot outside this week, and were suffering a significant drought in much of the country. The chart above shows the levels of streams compared to their historical levels for this time of month. Though some regions are getting a lot of rain (the deep blue dots), much of the center of the country is experiencing drought conditions reminiscent of those over sixty years ago. The Dustbowl, as the period from 1934-1936 became known, was a drought characterized by Roland Dewing as the "most extreme natural event in 350 years."

Back to the heat, I got thinking about the Underground Heating Exchange Systems (UHES) the Chinese developed a while ago. The idea to pump air underground was first patented in the United States in the wake of the oil crisis in the 1970s. But the Chinese picked up on this technology and highlighted it as part of an integrated agricultural approach to feeding the Cold North East.

When I saw the Chinese paper (republished on the UN FOA website), I thought it was amusing that theyd used clay pipes for their experiment. After all, folks in the US typically use plastic drainage tubing for this sort of heat exchange system.

Then I got thinking last night - a problem with the plastic is getting it to simultaneously drain the water that condenses and keep out roots and pests. Clay pipe didnt sound bad, after all. Then the light bulb went off.

What if I used cinder blocks underground for the heat exchange "tubing?" At $1.65 per linear foot, it is more expensive than the HDPE drainage pipe. But I wouldnt have to worry about water draining through the blocks (it would) and I wouldnt be worried about the "tube" getting crushed.

That took me on another little adventure of the mind, as I tried to figure out how deep to run the "pipes" underground. The Chinese used half a meter, but what if one went deeper?

The ground temperature at 30 feet below the surface is constant - which is why caves are cooler than outside in the summer and warmer than outside in the winter. How far below the surface do I need to go to get to that constant heat, I wondered?

Then I found out something really fun at the Build it Solar website. It turns out the temperature profile of the ground lags the air temperature profile. Air temperatures peak in July (in my area), but the soil temperature peaks in August.

Then comes the cool part. That peak heat migrates slowly down towards the earths heat skin, so that the date of peak heat level at deep depths lags the temperature of the surface soil by weeks and months.

So not only will deep Underground Heat Exchange Systems access a larger thermal mass, the ground around that thermal mass will actually be heating up when the rest of the world is cooling down.

Im not sure how practical it is for a home owner to dig down 6 feet or more, but this kind of effort would be within the reach of a minor business. I would love to experiment with this next summer, if I can find a lot where I could dig deep...

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Cheap and Easy Tomato Supports How to support large quantities of toma

Every year I deal with this same problem, how to support all of these tomatoes!

Here are the best tomato cages Ive ever used:

And here are cheaper, shorter galvanized cages:

All of these products and more recommended items from the SSL Family are available at the

Simple Suburban Living General Store

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How to Make Flour Tortillas Only 5 Ingredients So Easy!

 

 

When I found out how easy it was to make homemade flour tortillas, it revolutionized our taco life.  I told you before how much the SSL Family Dad loves tacos.  Well he loves them even more on homemade tortillas.  Theyre softer, they taste better and they only have five ingredients.  Weve said goodbye to the remaining 15 chemicals that are in our store-bought tortillas forever and that makes me one happy cooking mama.

 

Ingredients

 

2 cups all-purpose organic flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons coconut oil

3/4 cup milk, room temperature

 

1.  Combine dry ingredients and coconut oil in a mixing bowl and stir.

2.  Add milk and stir.  Dough will form into a ball.

3.  Sprinkle flour on your surface and knead dough for two minutes.

4.  Place dough back in mixing bowl and cover with a damp towel.  Let sit for 30 minutes.

5.  Divide dough in half by twisting apart.  Divide each half into five equal balls of dough for a total of 10 balls of dough.

6.  Place balls of dough on a plate and cover with damp towel.  Let sit for 10 minutes.

7.  Heat skillet on medium.

8.  Lightly flour your surface and rolling pin.  Roll each ball into 8" discs.

9.  Cook tortillas approximately 30 seconds on each side.  Bubbles will form, you can pop them if youd like to make the tortillas cook more evenly.

 

Thats it!  So easy and they taste great.  We use them for sandwich wraps, too.  I usually make a double-batch at a time for our family of five.  They last 5-7 days in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.  I usually pop them in the microwave before making sandwiches if theyve been stored in the refrigerator.

 

Blessings!

Lisa

 

 

 

 

 

 This post has been shared at:  Country Fair Blog Hop

 

 

 

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How to Replace a Damaged Power Cord Circular Saw Drill Router Hand

Check out this video to see how to make a quick replacement of just about any power cord. In this case I am replacing the power cord on a Black and Decker circular saw but the process should be very similar for just about any brand and also other power tools.


STOP! If you are here on this page or about to watch this video you have no doubt already considered just wrapping some electrical tape around that cord that you cut. Am I right? How many of your tools already have tape on the cords? Come on, be honest, we have all done it. But before you break out that giant roll of black tape and start binding things together you may want to consider getting the job done the right way. Tape doesnt exactly make for the safest electrical connections and no one wants to see someone get hurt.


So now that we have that covered lets move on to a very fast and easy repair for that damaged power cable. You can pickup a new cable at any home center, hardware store, or via amazon with the links below. There are only two things to consider when getting a replacement. Does your tool have a 2-prong or 3-prong plug and what amperage does the tool draw. For most tools the amp rating is written on a label somewhere with the model number. It might even be on the cable itself. In my case I have a 10 amp tool. That just means that the cord I buy to replace the one I cut needs to be at least 10 amp or higher. In this case I purchased a 13 amp cord which will be just fine for this application.

Normally with any power tool the casing comes apart and splits in half exposing the trigger switch and the power cord inlet. Check out the video for an example. Once you take out those screws just unscrew the wire leads connecting to the switch (pay attention to white and black and their respective terminals) and remove the cord protector from the old cord. This is that hard rubber piece that is at the most flexed part of the  cord, where it enters the tool.  In my case removing the cord protector was the hardest part.

Once you have the old cord removed just slide the cord protector on to the new power cord and then fit it snugly back into the tool handle. Reconnect the wires to the correct terminals (Hot (black), neutral (white), and ground(green)).

Once things have been reconnected make sure the wires fit nicely back into the handle cavity and then replace the cover or side of the tool. Done!

This is a very simple and cheap (less than $6) repair that when done properly can add years of life to your tool. Dont risk electrocution or someone in your family getting hurt by putting a band aid on your tools with tape!

13 Amp 2 prong replacement cord - http://amzn.to/1NiHI4G
13 Amp 3 prong replacement cord - http://amzn.to/1NiIfnl

All of these products and more recommended items from the SSL Family are available at the Simple Suburban Living General Store

 

Please follow us on....

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Music - "Darien Gap" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/DarienGap


This post has been shared at:  Homestead Blog Hop

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How To Make A Aeroponic System Build a Backyard Aquaponics Program with our Step by Step ! Read Reviews

Complete Step-By-Step Instruction On How To Build A Fully Functional Aquaponics System Using Simple Components! Visit NOW!

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Where Need to You Place Your Aquaponic System

If youre decided to set up an aquaponic system in which to grow vegetables and fish for you and your loved ones, you can find some factors which you should know. The varieties of fish, the seeds which might be propagated and the specifics in regards to the proper water circumstances are the basic notions you need to know just before venturing in this activity. When you understand that you are able to start off putting each of the pieces on the puzzle together. Yet, another query arises: exactly where ought to you spot your aquaponic mini-garden?

The answer is simple: it is possible to put it anywhere you like provided that the location has sufficient light to provide the plants. As you possibly know, the plants need to have light to prepare their meals. When the place where they are put has no or couple of light, theyll be unable to prepare their food, which in time will bring about their death. This really is anything you dont want! Yet, if you have a space (regardless of if it really is your kitchen, living space or garage) where there is certainly a moderate light, then there is exactly where you ought to spot your aquaponic garden.

In the event you live in an location with extreme temperature or weather circumstances, you will find also some other items youll need to take into consideration. 1st, the temperature: your fish like to have a moderate temperature (normally varies in line with the type of fish you choose), so you must monitor it to meet your fish

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The Benefits of Fish Oil For Acne

Fish oil can be a dietary supplement which has been established to enhance all round health and handle circumstances like diabetes, arthritis and osteoporosis. What makes fish oil so remarkable is that it contains omega-3. Omega-3 is an crucial fatty acid identified in specific fish like salmon and mackerel. Omega-3 can also be located in plant-based substances such as walnuts and flaxseed. Recently, fish oil has grow to be recognized for its skin-nourishing effects. Fish oil could be employed to lower skin sensitivity, minimize acne outbreaks and promote healing on the skin.

Lowered Inflammation

Acne happens when skin pores become blocked by oil and bacteria begins to develop. Youll find two types of acne; inflammatory which includes whiteheads and blackheads and non inflammatory which contains papule, pustules, nodules and cysts. Research from the University of Maryland Healthcare Center shows that omega-3 fatty acids located in fish oil will help reduce inflammation and enhance the all round appearance of skin.

Decreased Outbreaks

Fish oil may also reduce the occurrence of acne outbreaks. This is because fish oil is a mood enhancer. Due to the fact stress can trigger acne outbreaks taking fish oil can improve mood, thereby decreasing the possibilities of outbreaks associated with tension.

Healing

Crucial fatty acids identified in fish oil assist promote skin healing by nourishing and defending the skin. Actually, the UMMC reports that fish oil is established to minimize skin sensitivity as evidenced in a study following men and women with sun sensitivity known as photo dermatitis. Moreover, the gamma-linoleic acid found in fish oil assists stimulate skin and is usually utilized to heal skin lesions frequent amongst eczema sufferers.

It is really simple to get your day-to-day intake of fish oil. There are quite a few supplements out there. Or enough amounts of omega-3 may be obtained by eating just two servings of fatty fish a week.

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How to Wreck Your Aquaponics System A Story of Citric Acid and Impatience

Sometimes against my better judgment, I do stupid things. This was one of those times......

If you have been following along with the aquaponics system I have been struggling with pH being too high since the beginning. This has had a negative effect on growth for far too long and I was beginning to get impatient. The results of my actions here are not entirely negative, but far from optimal.

It started with my filling the grow beds with the wrong type of rock in the beginning, river rock containing calcium carbonate. This caused the pH to be stuck at 8.2 and no matter what I did (adding vinegar, phosphoric acid, etc) nothing would lower it below that. I then switched out all of the rock with a new type which is pH neutral and that made an impact right away. However, I could still not get the pH to drop much below 8, it would keep bouncing back. I then discovered that my hard water contained high amounts of calcium carbonate and so I added a filter to the auto top-off. This started to make a bigger impact and I was able to get the pH dropped down to 7.5-7.6 over a period of about three months. I had to keep siphoning off water and trying to let the new filtered water slowly replace the hard water over time.

Having run this system at a high pH now for about a year I was starting to get impatient. This is where I went wrong. At this same period I was also just getting my new Tilapia added to the system and getting then used to the water conditions. I began looking for something stronger than the vinegar I had been adding to lower the pH and thought that a hydroponics pH down powered should do the trick. It was advertised as a pure phosphoric acid which would add phosphorous to the system and lower the pH. This was going to finally get my into the 6.5-70 range that I wanted to be at and I was excited to get the product and give it a try.

I know that changing pH drastically is a bad idea, especially with new baby fish, especially with a full cycled system, especially when I didnt read the label and the pH down power contained Citric Acid! Citric acid is a powerful antibacterial and will kill the needed bacteria that are the heart of the aquaponics system.

I started by adding the power one teaspoon at a time every couple of hours and testing the pH. The first day was exciting and I was able to drop the pH to 7, no fish dead, and all water tests looked good. Then I discovered the label with that listed citric acid as a component in this pH down powder. At this point I probably should have stopped using it but I was so close to getting the pH down to 6.5 and thought that if it was only a small component of the pH down product it would probably be ok.

The next day I came down to the system to discover dead fish and ammonia levels off the charts. I had killed the bacteria colony and probably all of them. The new fish were struggling to survive and I quickly saved the surviving 17 of 30 and moved them to a small tank away from my stupidity.

The silver lining here is that the pH is now at exactly 6.5, however it is going to take weeks if not months for the system to balance back out. Many veteran aquaponics system owners have a similar story to tell and so I thought I would share mine. I hope that this helps someone else out there to be careful and never add anything that contains citric acid! This is proof, even in small amounts it will kill the bacteria!

API Freshwater Master Test Kit - http://amzn.to/1xGbMDA

 

 

All of these products and more recommended items from the SSL Family are available at the

Simple Suburban Living General Store

Please check us out at www.simplesuburbanliving.com

and follow us on....

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http://www.facebook.com/simplesuburbanliving
http://www.twitter.com/simplesuburban5
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How it all started in Australia

Im writing about Australian Fish, and wanted to hark back to the 2006 segment on Gardening Australia that kick-started aquaponics in Australia. It was a five minute tour of Joel Malcolms backyard paradise, lush plants powered by silver perch and yabbies, all free of chemicals and enjoyed to the sound of constantly flowing water, yet far more water-efficient than any other form of gardening.

I searched my blogs high and low and couldnt find this video. Crazy! So here it is. If youve seen it, you know how delightful and relaxing Joels 2006 garden paradise appeared to a parched nation worried about chemical additives.

Enjoy!

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How To Build Your Own Strawberry Tower

By popular demand, heres a video detailing how I build my strawberry towers. I hope you find it helpful! Full transcript is below. Click on the video image to watch in HD!

Hello everyone.

One of the top requests I get is how to build a strawberry tower. This video will display all the necessary steps to build your own.

The first step is to place a mark on each end of the pipe, then rotate it 180 degrees and mark the other end. Then snap a line down the entire length of the pipe. You could also use a straight edge to mark a line, but I find the chalk line to be more accurate and easier. Turn the pipe over and snap a second line down the opposite side.

Along each chalk line you will place a series of marks. Starting at 2 inches, draw a mark every 8 inches. This will be the spacing between each pocket in the tower. If you are going to grow plants that need more root area, set the spaces further apart. I typically replace the strawberry plants every season. If they grow for more than one season, they can become root-bound.

Starting at the first set of marks, draw a line from one mark and connect it to the mark on the opposite side. Then turn the pipe 180 degrees and connect the next series of marks. Continue rotating the pipe while connecting each series of marks. These lines will be used for cutting the slots in the tower.

Along each cut mark, carefully cut through the pipe until you reach the measured mark you placed at the chalk line. Do not cut through more than half the pipe! Rotate the pipe 180 degrees and cut the next slot. When you are done, each slot should be on the opposite side of the previous slot.

Time for some good gloves. The pipe doesn’t become flexible until it is well above the boiling temperature of water. Please be careful!

The general area that will be heated will be an arch shape starting at one end of the slit, up about 8 inches to the back side of the neighboring slit and then back down to the other end of the slit.

Heating PVC should be done in a well vented area. If you overheat it, it can release some nasty gases. Please be careful! Continuously move the heat around the arched area. Try to avoid heating the area below the slit to keep the pipe from bending too much.

After a few minutes, the PVC will become soft. It helps to apply a little extra heat at the each edge of the slit since this is where the sharpest bend will be.

Push in the PVC so it makes a concave shape in the arched area. You will want to push it in enough so that it will touch against the back wall, but not create a seal since the water will need to trickle through that area, but don’t leave too big of a gap so your growing media will fall through it. When you let go of the pipe, it will usually spring back a little, leaving a gap around ¼”.

I found it to be very helpful to use a few spring-clamps to hold the tight bends in place while the plastic is cooling. You will want to hold the shape in place for a couple of minutes while it is cooling.

It takes me about 3 1/2 minutes to completly create each pocket.

When you are done, you will have some nice pockets alternating on each side of your new tower.

As the water flows through the tower, the surface tension in the water can cause it to flip out of the edge of the slit. To correct this, I added a collar around each pocket.

With some extra pipe, cut some rings about 1 ½” wide. Then remove enough of the ring so when it’s placed over the slit area, it extends just beyond the slit. Add some silicone adhesive and clamp the ring in place. Half of the ring should be placed above the slit line. Use clamps to hold it in place until it cures.

If you’re not going to be draining directly into a sump tank, you’ll need a way to catch the water from your towers. Take a 4” cap and add a fitting to it. Drill a 7/8” hole and thread it with a ¾” tap. There are several ways of adding fittings, but I found this to be very cost effective method.

Take a ¾” NPT to barbed fitting and screw it into the tap. If it is screwed in far enough, it will be higher than the base of the cap. This work well to help any media that as fallen through from going down the drain and clogging it.

This cross-section shows how the fitting is placed into the cap.

Place the cap on the bottom of the tower. The bottom pocket should not be filled with anything so you can clean the base cap if necessary.

To hang your tower, drill a couple of holes on both sides near the top and insert some S hooks. Use a wire or chain to hang it from a strong support.

To connect the tower drains together, you can attach them with tubing and barbed fittings. I made some stands from scrap 3” pipe to support the bottom of the tower. Then I used a 1-1/2” pipe with holes drilled in the side to catch the water from each tower. Each pipe then drained into the main sump tank.

Filling each pocket can be a challenge so I made a tray-type funnel to speed up the process. Take a section of pipe and do a cut down its length. Heat the entire piece so it can be flattened, then bend up the edges so it forms a V shape.

I created a cross-cut section so you could see the inside of the tower. Please note that this sample is done with black ABS so you could see the various surfaces easier. Each pocket will hold about 5 cups, or 1 liter of growing medium. This is enough space for most shallow root plants like strawberries or lettuce. For my strawberry plants, they will usually get water for 10 minutes every hour and a half.

Thank you for watching. Here’s a quick slideshow of my strawberry towers in action!

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How NOT to Make Kale Chips

 

I would like to blame it all on the kids, but the truth is, it was all my fault.  Im the one that looked up the recipe.  Im the one that assumed that "Total Time" meant Total Baking Time.  BUT everything else that went wrong was on them.

 

The middlest SSL Kid took it upon herself to create this video.  The topic was her idea, the camera was hers, and she literally did everything herself except for preheat the oven.  And although our oldest was not in the video, she edited the entire video by herself, thanks to her 8th grade media productions class.

 

Although not edible, we are still very proud of the girls for trying to make kale chips on their own.   We all had a lot of laughs and we hope you do, too.

 

 

 

 

 

This post was shared at:  Homestead Blog Hop, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Homestead Barn Hop

 

 

 

 

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How to Change The Oil in a 2003 2004 2005 2006 Chevy Avalanche or Simila

This is just one of those things that I think more and more people need to get back to doing themselves. I have had bad luck with cheap oil changes and have vowed to never pay someone to change our oil again.

I have learned in the past that it is much more fulfilling, cheaper, and better for your vehicles to change your own oil. The quickie oil change places use horrible oil and I have had some bad experiences with loose drain plugs, leaks, filling the wrong fluids in the engine, and other mishaps at these places. In the long run, I choose to put the saved money into better oil and to ensure that I have done everything correctly.  If I screw something up I only have myself to blame. Changing your own oil is just one thing that we should all know how to do and, since it only takes less than an hour, there is no reason to hand your expensive vehicles over to someone else. This is also part of becoming more self-sufficient!

You can use the tool below to find your oil filter, air filter, and even buy oil at the bet prices I have found!


I like to bring the kids along when I can and show them how things work as well, even if they never have to do this on their own, they will understand how it is done and why.

Watch this video for a basic walkthrough of how to change the oil in a 2003-2006 model year Chevy Avalanche. This walkthrough will also be similar for Chevy 1500 trucks, suburban, Cadillac escalade, GMC, Silverado, and other vehicles with the 5.3 liter Vortec engine.

This video goes through the process that I use to get the job done.  Many of you may have other suggestions or ways that you do things. Please share your experience!  Thanks for stopping by.

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How to Make Soap From Bacon Grease

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What to do with all that leftover bacon grease? With this simple process you can turn that unwanted grease into something useful around the home - soap. This recipe is very simple and the process takes about 90 minutes from start to finish.

 

The first step is to get the grease separated from any bits of burned bacon or other "stuff". The easiest way to do this is to pour it into a cup of warm water and mix it up. Let the mix sit at room temperature for a couple of hours and then put it in the refrigerator overnight. The grease will all float to the top and the bits will sink to the bottom. This also solidifies the grease a bit to make it easy to scoop off the top. I saved up the grease from a few batches over about 2 months and was able to get about 22 ounces. The lard keeps in the fridge for quite some time to you can save it up for as long as you need to.

 

 

 

Once you have enough it is time to weigh it out and determine how many ounces you have. This will be the base for the recipe and all other ingredients will be based from this amount. Once you have the ounces head over to www.soapcalc.net and click on "soap calc lye calculator". This will take you to an 8 step process to determine your recipe.

 

1: Select NAOH - This is the type of Lye I used and is commonly bought as pure lye drain cleaner. You can also use KOH which is derived naturally from wood ashes.
2. Input the weight of your lard - mine was about 22 ounces
3. You can leave this at about 38% as they recommend
4. Super fat can be left at 5%. You can go lower and you will end up with a less oily soap, go higher for a more oily soap. If you go too low you risk having pure lye left over from the saponification process which could be bad for your skin. I recommend 4 or 5%
5.  Select "lard, pig tallow" from the list of oils. Here you can see you can make soap from all kind of different oils.
6. Click "add" and then type 100% in the box. You can mix other oils in with this calculator as well if you so wish.
7. Calculate and then display/print your recipe.

You now have all of the info you need to get started.

 

Get out two stainless or glass pots and set on separate burners, put both on low or one notch up from low heat. Next weigh out the water according to the recipe and add it to one of the pots. Add your lard to the other pot. Weigh out your lye according to the recipe and slowly stir it into the warm water until it is dissolved. Once the lard is liquefied go ahead and add the lye mix to the lard and slowly stir it in.

This is where the fun begins (ok, not really) you need to stir this mix for about an hour. I stirred it for about 5 minutes and then went away and came back after about 10 minutes to stir again. Keep doing this until the lard thickens. Once you are getting a trace behind the spoon when you stir you know it is ready.

 

At this point you can add some food coloring and essentials oils or other fragrance as you wish. You will need to turn the heat down and stir the coloring and fragrance in pretty well (I didnt do this well and that is one reason mine turned out pink and not red.)

 

 

 

Now you can pour the soap into some kind of mold. I used a plywood rectangle mold that I threw together in a few minutes. You can purchase nicer ones below. Once in the mold you need to let it sit for 24-48 hours and then you can cut it out and slice it into bars of any size. It is best at this point to let the soap sit for a week or two to fully harden and let the saponification process complete fully.

 

 

 

At that is it, you have just made soap from back grease or lard. We have been using it for about a month now and we all love it. It is not the best soap you can make but for next to nothing you can make basic soap from grease that you would probably throw away anyway. You can also be creative with the soap calc and add in other types of oils to get different results, have fun with it and see what you can come up with. Please share any recipes that works well for you on our Facebook page or here on the blog or YouTube comments.

 

Pure Lye - http://amzn.to/1KIq0Je
Soap molds - http://amzn.to/1dadmUR
                        http://amzn.to/1AJpUxu
                        http://amzn.to/1KIqaA7

 

 

All of these products and more recommended items from the SSL Family are available at the

Simple Suburban Living General Store

 

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Special thanks to The King of Random for the inspiration on this process. http://www.tkor.squarespace.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post has been shared at:  Our Simple Blog Hop, Front Porch Friday

 

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How to Rotate Your Tires and Why

Can you rotate your own tires? How often should you rotate your tires? These are some of the common questions out there surrounding this very simple process. You should be rotating your own tires unless your tire shop does it for free with the purchase of your new tires. This is a very easy process that should be done along with oil changes or at least every 5,000 miles or so.


Step 1: Using an impact wrench, 4-way, or tire iron loosen all of the lug nuts on all four tires. Do not take them all the way off yet!


Step2: Safely jack up the front or rear of your vehicle and use jack stands to support both wheel off the ground. remember to use jack and jack stands only on solid frame on the underside of the vehicle. 


Also place wheel blocks under one of the tires and make sure you are on a flat surface and the vehicle is in park. Move your jack around to one of the opposite wheels from where you placed your jack stands and then lift the wheel off the ground. you should only be lifting the wheels off the ground just enough to slide your hand underneath the wheel. You should now have 3 wheels off the ground and one wheel on the ground with blocks in front and rear of the tire.


Step 3: Remove the 3 wheels that are off the ground and place them in the position that they will go next. More on that in the next step.

 

 

 

Step 4: Tire rotation for front wheel drive vehicles - the two front tires will go directly to the same side in the back. The back tire on the right will go to the front left and the back tire on the left will go to the front right.


Rear wheel drive vehicles - Both rear tires will go to the front on the same side. front left will go to rear right and front right will go to rear left.


Step 5: Rotate the tires according to the pattern in step 4 for the three wheel that you have off. Then lower the jack and move it to the other side, lift the vehicle and switch the remaining tire.


Step 6: With all tires securely in place, lower the vehicle to the ground fully. Next, tighten all of the lug nuts fully now that the tires are on the ground and will not spin.


Step 7: Take your vehicle for a test drive. You may hear some mild humming or it might "fell" a little different for a couple of weeks especially if you have waited too long between rotations.

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Pallet Garden Update and FAQ How Did They Hold Up

How did the reclaimed pallet wood garden beds hold up? It has been a year since we have put these free raised beds into action and they have done us well so far. Throughout the last year this project has become fairly popular and there have been some common questions that I thought I would try to answer here.

Will the pallet wood  hold up to moister over the long term? This is a very valid concern and one that I, quite honestly, shared as well. They have only been through one year so far but as far as I can tell they have held up perfectly. I do not see any signs of rotting where the soil has been in contact with the wood and the outside of the wood has aged nicely. Only time will tell the full story here but I would guess we can get about 5 years out of these before we start noticing any issues.





Arent pallets treated with chemicals that are unsafe for your garden? The wood that we are using from the pallets was all heat treated and this is something you should look for when using it for food production. We also lined the first set of beds with greenhouse plastic since the wood had some oil staining on it we didnt want in the soil.





What soil mix are we using? Last year we decided to try the square foot gardening method with these raised beds. With that came using the Mels mix soil mixture that consists of 1/3 compost 1/3 peat and 1/3 vermiculite. This is a very nice soil mix however it can get pretty expensive to fill beds of this size and vermiculite is hard to source locally. We ended up having to order ours online  and it was not cheap! In an effort to keep costs down after we had already ordered the vermiculite we ended up probably not putting in enough compost and good nutrients and added more peat as a filler. Needless to say in the end the growth we had was not stellar. We were happy with our little gardens but this year we want to focus on filling them for less and increasing production.

I will have another article soon with our new method of soil fill for the four new pallet beds that I have just built, stay tuned for more on that. We are focusing on locally sourced and bulk materials rather than as much big box store products.





Do you put landscape cloth in the bottom of the beds? This question comes up often and then answer to that is yes and no. With the two original beds I put together I did line the bottom with cardboard before I filled it up. However, I do feel that this is largely unnecessary and I dont think it really serves a purpose.





Would you use screws rather than nails to construct these next time? I was surprised at how well the nails held up with the original two that I constructed and so I continued to use nails with the rest that I have built. The fact is, I suppose screws would hold better in the long run but that brings up the cost significantly since you need quite a lot of screws for each one. I used drywall nails that I had laying around for the first few and some roofing nails for the rest and they seem to hold up just fine.

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Music - "Epilogue" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/Epilogue

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