Working Disorder

I think if the Moose were born or growing up now, he would have been diagnosed with some disorder for someone who can't seem to get or come up with enough work.  You see, it was 5 a.m. this morning, and any other normal person would have been sleeping in after the work we did at the Compound on Saturday.  Not him, he's up, walked the dog and came back in and spent about 15 minutes trying to solve a problem we've been putting off at the Compound with the pond.  Since he came up with a solution, our day was planned. We would have been out the door by 6 a.m., but he was out of luck as the big box store was not open until 8 a.m.  Lucky me!  It gave me just enough time to feed the bird, feed us, pack a lunch and drinks, fold two loads of laundry, help pack the car, shower and get out the door at exactly 8 a.m.

The problem:  The pond had a bad case of algae, as the water sits stagnant.  Now that there are thousands of tiny fish, and we're sick of looking at the slick green snot that grows on top, we needed to come up with a solution.  To most, that sounds easy, but we have no electricity.  It's not as simple as putting in a pump and plugging it in.  We are totally off the grid.

The Moose decided to use two pumps, one as a fountain for aeration, the other to pump the water through a filtration process of sand, rock, etc.  But before he could complete this part, he came up with a plan to get a good amount of the pond scum out of the way.  He used some left over screening, stapled it to two pieces of thin wood, and made what ended up being a 3' x 8' pond skimmer.  It did a great job.  Totally transformed the entire pond. 

While he was in the pond in waders, he decided to try and get rid of The Fart.  The Fart is the odd bubble (s) in the pond that happen to show up now and again.  You have to actually gradually walk them over to the side of the pond, so the smelly gas (hence the name The Fart) leaves from under the liner.  It's really foul smelling, rotten eggs hundred fold!  Yuk..

Here's what it used to look like:

Well, the fountain and pump/filter both work as intended.  We already have an array of solar panels that we'll use to run them both.  We just need a larger inverter to handle the electrical requirements.  This way, they can run even if we are not there.  We'll set them up on a timer, so the12 volt batteries can keep up with their charge from the solar panels.  Now we're considering Talapia for the pond.  Anyone had success raising them?

Here's the fountain set up, and if you'll notice NO FART!

 

Back to Eden Experiment - Central Florida Part 1

The day started with a light rain, and lasted of course, until we were done with one of our weekend projects.  Our main project was to lay down mulch in the garden 4-6 inches thick, per instructions from the Back to Eden film http://backtoedenfilm.com/ we watched a couple of weeks ago.  Boy, will we need more mulch.  Now I know why Paul from the film had so many piles delivered to him.  Our mulch isn't as pretty as his, but hey it's free!  Here's where we started:

Here's where we ended:

Doesn't seem like much, but it took us about 2 hours to get this laid out.  We figure we'll need at least another 8-9 loads to complete the entire garden area.  There are some plants peppered throughout, that we started a couple of months ago, but due to the rain, and poor soil conditions haven't done very well.  We're experimenting at this point, so we left them in to see how things progress.   What you don't see is the muck!  It has rained again, and the ground was already saturated, and this new rain didn't help but get our boots stuck in the mud.  We look forward to the layer of mulch, instead of mud.

We'll slowly work on mulching the rest of the garden over time.  We're not in a rush, except to finish this main garden area.  The other areas are for back up, experiments with crops, etc.  When shtf we'll have additional growing space already prepared.  We look forward to seeing how this progresses, and we'll keep you posted.

A Honey of an Idea!

I've decided to go for it! I'm going to start a hive at the Compound. It'll be one of my next big projects. Since springtime seems to be the best time to get the new hive up and running, I'm going to study up as much as possible, and purchase the items that are needed between now and then.

When I ask people what they think, their first and only response is; "you're going to get stung"! I'm sure I will, but from what I can tell, it's not life altering, and as long as you are methodical, and calm, the number of stings will be minimal.

There are so many benefits to having your own hive; of course honey as a sweetener, beeswax for making candles and lip balm. It's also been used as an antibacterial application for wounds. You'll also get a higher yield from your vegetable garden, and help save the honey bee population (they are dying off by the millions each year, thanks to pesticides). Did you know that by consuming raw honey from within 50 miles of your own home, you'll actually reduce your overall allergies to pollen when the season strikes? The honey contains pollen, and helps your body build up a tolerance. I learned that from the "Beekeeping for Dummies" book. I'm sure my family will get sick of hearing me talk about bees. As much as they did about chickens when I got started with them.

I find the topic interesting, and after spending time working in our own garden, reading articles about GMO's, and systemic pesticides, the benefits are endless. Seems like a win win. Advice anyone?

Picture from the National Geographic: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/honeybee/