Suburban Aquaponics Preventing Overflows Simple Fix!

Watch this video to see the latest change to the indoor aquaponics system. From time to time, throughout the life of this system, I have had the occasional goldfish die and get stuck at the screen on the bottom of the solids lifting pipe. This causes the water in the fish tank to get very high and sometimes spill over onto the floor. This also seems give the fish the idea that it would be cool to jump out and find a cooler place to live.  The floor is cooler but not as nice for them as the tank would have been!  I even have a fish stuck in the swirl filter from a recent overflow of the tank.  We just hate fish casualties, but they have happened from time to time.

I was browsing some other aquaponics hobbyists videos the other day and came across this very simple idea to have some holes in the solids lifting pipe just above the normal water level as an overflow. I have not put too much thought into this issue but this seems like a perfect solution. Unfortunately I have not been able to re-locate the video I watched to give credit to the person who thought of this simple idea (many others probably use this also).  Its such a simple fix, I wish I would have done this sooner!

This should easily help prevent any future overflows which will be great for the fish and for our basement floor.

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Clean Simple Automatic Chicken Watering System

Tired of cleaning the chicken water dish?  In this video, I will show you the process I used to build our no-maintenance watering system and install it in our chicken coop.  This system was designed to tie into a future rain barrel system that I hope to setup soon.

To teach the chickens how to drink from it, I held each of their beaks up to the chicken nipple until the water dripped out.  It took a few tries for each bird over a period of a couple days, and only when I took away their plastic dish and they were thirsty enough, did they really catch on to the chicken nipples.  The chickens have been exclusively drinking from the nipples for about three days now.


I hope this helps inspire some ideas for your coop as well!

Thanks for watching,

Todd

 

 

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Thankful For Our Simple Life

To me, Thanksgiving is the beginning of a very special holiday season.  When I think about my childhood, this time of year sticks out to me more than any other.  It’s Thanksgiving and Christmas that we get to see lots of family, play with new babies, and laugh together. 

This Thanksgiving, Todd and I are thankful for our simple life.  When I say “simple” Im not talking about Simple Suburban Living, although we are very thankful we get to share our life with others through this platform.  Simple has nothing to do with anything we do, but rather why we do what we do.  We have purpose now and that purpose drives everything we do.  When you know your purpose, it makes decisions easier.  Simple also doesn’t mean we move and get things done slowly.   In fact, we get more done now because we are passionate about what we do!  We are focused on the most important things instead of a bunch of things that don’t really matter. 

So what really does matter?  Jesus.  Jesus, plain and simple.  Everything else falls into place once you have accepted Jesus into your heart.  You were made so God could love you.  He sent Jesus so He could be with you forever.  Now that we know that, our life has purpose.  Does that mean we’re doing everything perfectly?  No, we know that we are sinners in need of a savior and we are so very thankful God sent us one.  It’s just that simple.

 

 Friends, my hope for you is that you find your purpose, too.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need prayer or have any questions.  My email is sslfamily5@gmail.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lisa - The SSL Family Mom



 

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Simple Suburban Life New Job and Failing Health

The Bible tells us that there is a time for everything and our family has been in a season of significant changes over the past several months.  Some are good, and some are not so good.  But we know that we are to count it all joy and trust our heavenly Father with it all.

The good news first.  At the beginning of September, I (the SSL mom) accepted the position of preschool director at our church.  Todd and I have been serving for several years together on the elementary side of the childrens ministry and when this position opened up, we knew right away it was something we were being called to do.  We are five months into it and we have been so blessed by the people we have been able to meet, serve alongside and grow closer to.  Our entire family serves the Lord together, side-by-side, and its amazing to be a part of it all.  But it did take some time getting used to our new roles, readjusting our schedules, and reevaluating our priorities.   And preschoolers are a WHOLE lot different than elementary kids.  Wet noses, wet pants, you name it, they do it.  And if you think just because you had kids of your own that you could do it, think again, theyre a force to be reckoned with in high numbers.

More good transitions, we have a high schooler!  While it is bittersweet watching her grow up so fast, we are grateful for the young woman our oldest daughter is becoming.  She loves her sisters, the Lord and sports.  AND she starts drivers ed next week, so look out.  Since we know these next few years are going to fly by, we try to remind ourselves how much we are going to miss her clothes all over the floor and dishes strewn about her room when she moves out on her own.  We are also in the middle of her bedroom renovation, so everything she owns is all over the house, literally.  But thankfully, Todd is mudding her room as I type and we will be onto the plywood flooring very soon.

The difficult news is that my mom was officially diagnosed with ALS in October.  ALS is tricky and there isnt a definitive test for it, but we knew something was terribly wrong with her.  A little over a year ago, my mom started to have difficulty walking, talking and swallowing.  She progressively got weaker and weaker over the last year and we got the heartbreaking news in October.  She now communicates to us with her phone by texting and it will speak for her.  She eats through a tube in her stomach, and is almost exclusively confined to a wheelchair or her bed.  A ventilator breathes for her at night.  Our family is now in a season of caring for her, showering her with as much love as we possibly can, and doing things for her that she can no longer do herself.  This is perhaps the worst disease I have ever heard of.  It takes everything away from you.  She cant eat the foods she loves, we will never hear her voice again, we will never hear her laugh again.  My daughters cant play Just Dance with their grandma on her Nintendo like they used to. She is the best grandma I could ever ask for to my girls. They miss her voice, they hurt to see her so helpless, and they are trying so hard to process it all.  We are bearing down, pushing forward, and putting all of our hope and trust in God. While we dont always fully understand, we are confident He is working good into this situation.  And we know He is a God who heals.

We hope this update helps to explain some of the random projects Todd has been working on over the past few months.  The candy canes for the churchs childrens play, the bedroom renovations for our oldest (weve been promising her closets for years and realized time is running out!) and the wheelchair ramp and video doorbell for Mom.   We love sharing our way of life with you all and are so blessed when you send us your comments and pictures.  They mean more to us than you could ever know.

Your friend,
Lisa, the SSL Mom


"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."  Genesis 50:20

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Simple Suburban Farming How We Utilize Our Small 1 2 Acre Yard

Live in a small lot in the city or suburbs? Did you know that you can still produce a decent amount of food for yourself? Here in the U.S about 80% of us call the city or the suburbs our home but why cant we produce some of our own food too!

In this video I give a quick tour of some of the ways in which we are utilizing space around our yard to grow food. It is a work in progress but much progress has been made in the last 18 months since we started this venture. The goal for us is to produce as much of our own food as possible for now and eventually produce all of our own vegetables and fruit for the year.

We started with the chickens last year and some small garden spaces. The chickens have been the highest producers and most impactful addition to our small homestead. We feed them our food scraps and they graze in our yard; in return they produce six eggs per day for our family. That is a lot of eggs! Chickens are probably the only real livestock that we will be able to have here on our small lot and they are a perfect fit here.

The first gardening step we took was to watch the amount of sun that we get in various areas of the yard. Unfortunately the best area for gardening at our home is also the septic tile field and cannot be used. We decided to start with raised bed gardens. Closer to the house in a hilly location where traditional gardening would not work well. We current are using 6 3X6 raised bed garden boxed made for free from pallets. These have been able to produce many pounds of sugar snap peas, over 180 carrots, 72 onions, over 15-20 cucumbers per week, basil, lettuce, dill, spinach, cilantro, and a potato harvest coming soon. You can pack a lot of food into a few square feet with the square foot gardening method.



Along our privacy fence we have about 96 of space that was not being used. This does not get full sun all day but it gets plenty for more than half. A garden bed was cleared along the fence about 36" wide and amended with compost, peat, and some sand. We then layered planting here so that we have some climbing or taller plants in the back along the fence, some tomatoes a along, vining plants along the front bottom edge and some corn plants scattered along the front edge in between the tomatoes. This is proving to be a very dense and efficient way to plant along this area and will produce a huge amount of food for us this year.

In the back of the property we sectioned off a small 20 X 20 area and planted six apple trees. We covered the ground with free mulch from the city park and we now have an orchard in the makings. As these tress grow and produce more and more each year we will eventually be able to make apple cider, apple cider vinegar, pies, canned apples, and dried apple fruit snacks for long terms storage.



We have also landscaped up near our house and instead of flowers and bushes have planted an herb and strawberry garden. This will be a perennial garden and will continue to become more diverse each year. We also utilize space between other landscaped areas for tomatoes, cabbage, peas, beans, sunflowers, and flowers to attract pollinators. Even though these are smaller scattered spaces they have proven to be very productive.

Each year the gardens grows, a few more fruit trees are planted, a few more raised beds are built, and more land is cleared from grassy nothingness to food producing farmland. Although we are not buying a combine yet, the small suburban farm is an ever expanding adventure that we will never be finished with. Thanks for tagging along to see how the SSL Family grows  in the suburbs. 

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Farm Fresh Egg Taste Testing with the Kids of Simple Suburban Living

Watch as the kids of Simple Suburban Living taste-test the farm fresh eggs from our backyard chickens.  We even scrambled up some store-bought white eggs for them to compare.  Although a very silly video, we hope it gives you insight on the benefits of getting backyard chickens of your own.  Our little homestead only got better when we added chickens! 

The kids of SSL can be very picky eaters, so we knew this was the ultimate test for our chickens. 

Thanks for watching!




This post has been shared at:  Homestead Barn Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, HomeAcre Hop

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Simple Furnace Clean Check Save Repairs and Save Money

In this video, I discuss some of the annual things I like to do to prepare our heating system for the winter months. It is very important to at least do a basic inspection of your furnace and heating system at least once per year to avoid any surprises in the middle of the winter! No one likes to be without heat and the cost of a rush service call or weekend service call can be very high. If you follow these basic instructions to service your furnace and heating components it can make a huge different in mitigating against any furnace problems.



I discuss basic furnace inspection,  cleaning, replacing filters, servicing humidifiers, and balancing the heating system for optimal air flow throughout your home. The last step is something that many people leave out of their annual routine and something I would highly recommend doing. You can have the most efficient furnace in the world but if you do not direct the air properly it will not be efficient at all!

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Simple Suburban Life What Its Like To Be Married To The SSL Family Dad

You know him as the do-it-yourself, gardening, chicken farming, computer geek.  But there are a few things about the SSL Family Dad that you may not know.  

Hes the man of the house, literally.  Hes completely outnumbered by me and our three daughters.  Even our dog, cats and chickens are all girls. He does a great job handling all of us, and hes not above doing a last-minute pony tail, or helping our youngest get in and out of her princess dresses ten times a day.

He says he hates it, but he really loves to shop.  But only at Home Depot.  You see, whenever we go to one of my stores, he stands around looking like the saddest person on the planet.  But send him into a Home Depot to buy a single item, and he never makes it out in under an hour.  Whenever I tease him, he says he has to think about his project, and talk to the sales guy, and walk up and down every single aisle, and plan things out. Thats called shopping, my dear, and you love it.  

He doesnt buy any clothes for himself, EVER.  If he owns anything post-high school, it was either a free t-shirt from church, purchased for him by me, or given to him as a Christmas present from his mom.  He also went from the Army, who provided him with everything he needed to wear, to a job at a company that provided him with uniforms, so he really never found a need to buy his own clothes. Hes the lowest maintenance guy I know.

If I were to sum up the SSL Family Dad in one word, it would be DEVOTED.  Everything he does, he does with everything he has.  Hes either all in or all out once he makes up his mind.  I like that about him, because I tend to be wishy washy.  And after all these years, Ive also never heard him tell a lie, not once, not ever.  Nothing in him has the ability to be dishonest, you can count on that.  Its refreshing, and an unusual quality in people these days.

Hes a loving, committed husband.  On the days I have to work, he makes me breakfast and brings it to me while Im getting ready.  He packs our lunches, feeds the dog, signs school papers, starts my car, hes the glue that holds our house together the days when I have to work.  Hes the glue no matter what day it is.  Even if my roses come from our local grocery store, he makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world every morning because I get to wake up next to him.  I wish every person could feel the love I feel from him.

Sometimes to thank him, I pour his coffee for him, too..........

Hes the best dad, period.  He loves his girls and everyone knows it.  They know it.  Hes sensitive to their emotions, but hes tough on them.  And when he promises them something, he never goes back on his word.  Ever.  They know when he says something, he means it, and they trust him. Thats huge. 

And holding him together at the core of who he is, is his love for the Lord.  Its the reason he does everything he does.  God is the reason why he loves me, loves our girls, why hes honest, trustworthy, and hardworking.  No, my husband is not perfect, nor is our marriage perfect, but he strives to please the Lord everyday of his life.  And that is what makes him the best catch, and the best SSL Family Dad.

And his favorite team is MSU (in case you didnt already know).

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind" ~Luke 10:27

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