Winter growing

 Cilantro day 18 from seed

 Chard and beets, day 18 from seed

Mustard, 4 seeds per pot

Mustard, 20 seeds per pot

Lettuce, day 18

Lettuce, day 19, finally sprouting

Day 18 

Lettuce bed, day 7 from seed

Lettuce, day 7 from seed

Chard, day 10 from seed

Grape cuttings budding at day 64 

Dismantling Compost heat pile

Cree1520 Led Setup

These Leds need bigger heat sinks and fans to cool them

A standard Led may be 1w

A high power Led is 5w

High power COB Leds are 15w and larger

$9......Arctic Alpine 64 GT Rev.2 CPU Cooler, fan and heat sink (x2)

$7......Power Adapter 12vdc, 1A

$9......In-line Driver 38vdc, 30w

$20.... Cree 1520 Led 3000k (x2)

$8......  Thermal paste  (.125)

$75....Total for two Lights

Picture of a Cree XPG next to two Cree 1520 COB's 

Heatsinks that came with the CPS fans

Power supply, linear switching is what you want, electronic vs. magnetic step down.

Mounted on heat sink

Wires tied in place to test the set up

Greenhouse 11/24/15

 800lbs of Food Scraps, 4 days worth

Sunflower Shoots greening up

Basil Seedlings, 18 days from sowing

More basil seedings

Basil growing in compost pots in the aquaponic trays

 Basil growing in compost pots in the aquaponic trays

5 days later

20 gallon algae tank

Water temp of 86 in algae tank

Heating Control Board

Plumbing parts form past setups to be re-used, 

Peaces that couldn't be saved for re-use, a down side to PVC

All layed out

Attached to back board and pond pomp

Winter beds

...so the pond pump wasn't cutting it so I caved and got a real pump and

air eliminator 

and expansion tank

Kinda outta space...

Taco 0015 pump, home made flanges

Taco Air Eliminator, this thing removes air bubbles from the system after the system is properly filled and purged of air

4.4gal Expansion tank

Compost Heating and Anarobic Digester

Material List

Old Industrial/commercial hot water heater       Free

5 rolls 1"x100' Poly pipe/Irrigation pipe            $150

1" Plastic Hose Barbs                                        $5

.75"- 1.75" Stainless Hose Clamps, 10pk          $9

  

Old Hot water heater, 100 gallon tank

100 gallon Steel tank in the canter of the pile 

Poly pipe coiled around tank

1" poly pipe

Flange welded to tank lid and body

Large innertube thats cheaper than car tube, UV stabilized, yum.

Fresh Woodchips

Woodchips are watered throughly before adding to pile

Adding food scraps and Coffee grounds to woodchips

Hot Mix piled up against digester tank.

Hot mix: 10 woodchip : 5 Food Scraps/Coffee Grounds

lots of water, 100gal per yard of mix

Second winding of poly pipe, wrapped tightly around the pile

Un-coiling tubing

Woodchip pile mixed with food scraps,  ready-to-go hot mix

Starting second layer of compost

I piled hot mix around the pile and added water, coffee grounds and food scraps

Coils spaced at  6-8"

 Pile of hot mix

 140deg F

Pile hot mix, water heavily and pack it down, I jump and stomp it down with my feet

Pile it on

Removing material from the sides after material is packed

Removed material to see depth/thickness

Third coil of poly pipe

Poly pipe connected with hose barbs and hose clamps

Third coil of poly pipe

Pre mixing hot mix

 1 part Nitrogen to 4 parts Carbon

1 cuyd gets 150gal of water

Mmmm ...Kale 

Adding another 18" layer of hotmix compost

Lots of compost, at 50 cubic yards here

The Tank top is at 6 feet high

Top siliconed and bolted on the tank after filling with compost slurry

80% Compost slurry : 20% Air space

Tubes entering drain pipe

1" Poly to 1/2" Poly pipe and off to the greenhouse for heating needs