Oldandfound1 Greenhouse And Aquaponics

[Big Al]

hi oldandfound1, the greenhouse is looking good so far. that's a pretty nice pumpkin.
was it late blight you had on your tomatoe's that's bad stuff we had it here last year.
well good luck this winter. Big Al

[Oldandfound1]

Hi Urbanfarmer, the pumpkin was a seedling this May, in the ground in June.

Big Al,
The blight was late. I had no real sign of a problem as the fruit was setting and maturing. A few early ripened were sweet. But as I have read, some tomato blight will set in from the bottom up after the fruit sets. I saw some withering up to about 18 inches on the 6' plus plants. Some of it my own fault at this point, as the plants were so large they overgrew the tomato wire stands and were crowding out the minimum sunlight periods we had. Rain! And when we had a stretch of sun, I was guilty of laziness, Top Watering the crowded plants instead of at the roots on my hands and knees. A few pounds of Roma's and Early girls, those that ripened. Sadly the giant beefsteak turned to mush. I threw out two wheelbarrow loads of bad fruit. We have 4+ acres here, and I dumped out in the woods behind the pasture.
I read also that neither tomatoes nor potatoes can occupy the ground for 4 years when the blight might die off.
Short of nuclear sterilization, or chemicals, apparently steaming (steam cleaner) the soil can be effective killing blight spores. The beneficial bacteria go too in any case.
Then this last week "symptoms" in our Well came to a point. Bucket watering the animals on Weds. morning, the water was suddenly showing ferrous color. No information was available from the county or the sellers when we purchased last January regarding the well - volume, depth, age, nothing except that the property was developed in 1963. Our well man Terry was out in February when he replaced a noisy pump control panel.
He was back last Thursday to replace the well plumbing an pump. Turns out it was 114' deep, he reset the pump at 100'. We have always had good water supply, good appearance, and great taste. However the symptoms Terry saw in February continued. Low pressure. He said then there might be a hole in the well pipe. When he pulled up the last 21 foot section we found two holes. One the size of a pencil, the other about half that size. Both holes were within three feet of the pump which he predicted. Curiously the water temperature was warmer than ground temperature for several weeks prior to this. Our electric bill was higher by $100.00 from our earliest months here than it should have been according to the electric company, family of two in a 1,500 sq.ft.rambler. Terry pointed out the pump was running non-stop heating the water in the casing. Water in the vertical casing pipe about 95' down was draining back through the two holes, triggering the pressure switch in the diaphragm tank room, cycling the pump endlessly. We should recover replacement cost with the electric cost in about 19 months. Pressure went from 40 pounds to 60. Disturbance of rust in the system is still clearing up.
[attachment=2:m2kauvnb]17 One of two holes in well pipe (Custom).JPG[/attachment:m2kauvnb]
[attachment=1:m2kauvnb]5 Pump end of Submersible (Custom).JPG[/attachment:m2kauvnb]
[attachment=0:m2kauvnb]14 Cringing at site of well pump (Custom).JPG[/attachment:m2kauvnb]

[Big Al]

hi oldandfound1, you just have to love well water if it's been in service since 1963
then i would say it's done it's job well. did you remove the dead tomato plant's from
the ground or leave them. you should remove them and either bag them up and send
them with the garbage or burn them making sure they are completely gone according
to my extension agent here last year. well good luck Big Al

[Oldandfound1]

Hi Big Al,
I did dig them up and throw them to burn pile out back. I did not burn them yet however. That pile will take a days labor. Thanks for the suggestion.
Dennis
Oldandfound1

[gosmith]

Hi Dennis,

You GH is looking pretty impressive! What kind of covering are you planning on using and how will it be attached?

Sorry to hear about your well problem. It's always a big surprise when the water doesn't come out of the faucet the way it's supposed to. Never cheap to get fixed either.

Our tomatoes got hit with blight as well. Looked like someone took a blowtorch to them. Right when they were starting to produce well too. Some years I've drip watered carefully to keep the leaves as dry as possible and still got nailed. Other years, it's overhead watering all season and it turns out just fine. I think it all just depends on the conditions of that particular season, so I wouldn't blame yourself too much. This weather sure has been good for our fall crops, at any rate. Our broccoli has been excellent. Looking forward to harvesting maple sap in another month or so. That's something new for us and I can't wait to pour some homemade syrup over a stack of sourdough hotcakes on a cold winter's morn.

Keep up the good work!

Gary

[Oldandfound1]

HI Gary,
You may already know there are several conventional products for covering and attachment of greenhouse cover applications. Regardless of choice it is the most expensive item of the build list.
A number of weeks ago I posed the question on this forum, "Where would a good vinyl come from"? And this company http://www.northerngreenhouse.com/index.htmwas recommended. There are several other vendors out there with confusing price differences, but as near as I can tell it is about mil thickness, and possibly anti-drip coating on the inside side. Anti-drip is available as a spray liquid, as it appears not to be available with Northwest Greenhouse Sales. I believe it will be their product and attachment that we will employ. Their product is of greater mil than others I have found available. The various double wall polycarbonate, and acrylic panels are out of my fixed income budget.
The Mrs. and I had a discussion late last week regarding the covering. While I had hoped to have an operating AP system date of Jan 1st 2011 we decided to install a covering early in late Winter. I have a workshop where the assembly of AP system parts will be built and moved out into the rain. Monday 11/1/10 here and pouring fiercely
There are component parts accumulated here for the last 6 months for construction of barrels, troughs, DWT, and tower which will keep me busy. In addition to the holidays fast approaching, one of the daughters in getting married this weekend the 7th so our lives are full and blessed.
Dennis
Oldandfound1

[gosmith]

Hi Dennis,

Heavy duty rain here as well, plus a little wind to go with it. Dogs give me one of those sad-eyed looks whenever I make them go out to take care of business. Funny they never seem to mind getting all wet and muddy when they play in the creek. It's all big ol' doggy grins then.

Thank you for the link. I had been looking at 6 mil, 4 year rated GH film, which is fairly cheap, but I'd sure like it to last longer before replacement. I assume the thicker 11 mil material with the UV stabilizer would be more durable? I've sure seen regular cheap poly tarps break down in short order.

Sounds like we may be on a similar schedule in the workshop over the winter. I'm about to start building my first wooden GBs this week, with hopes of getting a 10 x 20 GH up before winter is over. I've been reading the (convoluted) discussions at the Aussie site about various auto-siphon designs. What are you planning to use in your half barrels? I think I might do some experimenting in a 5 gal plastic bucket to try out a couple of designs.

At any rate, keep up the good work Dennis and thanks for the info.

Gary

[Oldandfound1]

Thank you DIY. Two years have passed by since my last post. Your reminder email to let DIY know I was alive brought me here.
Seasons come and go. The Mrs. and I look out each day on a PVC framed AP greenhouse as yet still uncovered. Weeds have infiltrated the gravel flooring. Monies were invested in other ways, a 1963 Massey Ferguson Delux 35 tractor and a brush hog to open up pasture grounds two summers ago. It is a work in progress. That summer was taken up with the construction of a livestock barn and paddock area. We currently have 5 sheep, a goat, and have now 4 male Alpaca. All of them contribute to a growing inventory of processed fibers.
Last winter we had a fierce ice storm. For over 24 hours the sound of trees breaking, limbs snapping, and the ice pellets showering every detail of nature persisted until I knew the Summer of 2012 would be one of forest management. Maybe a hundred Alder trees damaged. We also have some 60 very mature Cedar trees which survived the storm. Some of next summer will be devoted to "The Woods"..
Still the frame of the greenhouse awaits. Still managed to have some inground vegetables this year. Pronounced frost on the ground this morning. But the cabbages and kale will only be sweeter.
Oldandfound1 Dennis

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Dennis, nice to gear from you...