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we've been snowed in for almost 3 weeks now. got out 1 day between snows and freezes. the weather is suppose to break on sunday and next week should be warm and Very wet. Almost all of the Greenhouse components have arrived, there was 1 day warm enough to paint the PVC poles. PVC can not come in direct contact with the UV/radiant/thermal coated greenhouse plastic or the plastic will deteriorate faster, voids warranty if you have one. we got a deal instead of a warranty. greenhouse plastic of the size we are using would have cost 200 bucks To Ship on top of the 3 to 400 price tag. The folks at Gritt's Greenhouse happened to have an ancient roll that no longer fit their Ginormous greenhouses it was a considerable savings. thanks Gritt's Greenhouse for hooking us up with the plastic for our greenhouse and a bunch of used coconut hull hydroponic grow bags (to be used for seed starting soil amendment/potting soil) the solar food dehydrator is finally complete, waiting for assembly. after analyzing the cost & time of building a cabinet style dehydrator box we were pleased to find this double shower tent that should serve the purpose by hanging our collapsible dehydrating racks from the roof and injecting the solar can heater air at the bottom of the tent. we're mid process on bottling 2 batches of blackberry wine and a gallon of elderberry. h's producing a low budget infomercial for a friends product. it was suppose to be finished by now be we got snowed in. mouse over the image for caption - click to make it huge So what do you do all winter? Well, Plan & Buy, basically. Numerous projects are in various stages of completion from "thinking about it" to researching options, buying the stuff and some projects actually get executed as weather permits. so here's a little run down on the projects and purchases. garden planning our now proven method of terracing hillsides with log walls cardboard, compost and fill dirt (instead of digging into the hillside) is being expanded this year in both the creek gardens and the upper hillside with an additional 9 log terraces. we are also installing a 20x36ft greenhouse in order to get a jump on spring and to expand our garden space and growing season. Based on this years winter thriving kale and brussels sprouts; we will definitely be able to grow some food year round in a structure this size. we estimate that these additional growing spaces will almost double our food production in the 2015 season. we are in process of mapping out the new terracing beds and collecting enough dirt, cardboard & fallen logs to fill them. we have taken inventory or our seed stock and have begun considering what to grow for the next season & what seeds need to be ordered. we now have 3 restaurants that are interested in produce from us and it's up to us how much we focus on that angle while keeping our long term goals for the garden in mind. trying to harvest 60 heads of lettuce a week is a lot of work for little money and will take up all our space; so, we're trying to find a balance. there are 2 farmers markets we hope to frequent this summer. we are also studying herbal medicine to find the right mix of natural, local medicine plants to foster, harvest and learn to use. what we know we gonna grow market quantities of basil, cilantro, baby spinach, kale, lettuce, chamomile, roma tomato more than befor cucumber, garlic chive, hot pepper varieties, milk thistle, parcell, stevia, eggplant returning perennials 2 pear trees, nectarine, 2 peach, 2 apple, lavender, rosemary, strawberry, strawberry spinach, ground nut, valerian, asparagus, sage, oregano, milk thistle, parcell, garlic chive, blueberry, raspberry, black raspberry, nasturtium, a mixed bag of mint, hyssop others TBD construction planning the photo below is the outline of a 20x36 foot greenhouse with the ability to also shelter the bus next to it. the more narrow outline to the right side of the photo is the space for the bus. by connecting the greenhouse on the south side it can heat & cool the bus and supply us with needed additional live/work space to grow. there are several other projects in the Contemplation / Feasibility phase; as they become more tangible we'll provide updates. 1 smaller thing that is happening.... the solar soda can powered food dehydrator started 2 summers ago is slated for completion this spring. however, for now most outdoor activities are on hold. H busted a rib pruning trees a week or so ago and still can not fully engage physical movement much. so we shop for the tools that should make the next growing season better while eat on our canned and dried spoils of the last growing season. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
report back from the purchasing dept. items that have been X or are being purchased ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ X organic pond cleaning treatment X water filters Greenhouse Construction 390 ft 2 inch schedule 40 pvc 4 - T's 6 - 5 ways 14 - 4 ways 8 - caps 2 - 3 ways X 8 - couplers 26 10ft rebar a buncha snap clamps 40x60 greenhouse plastic X Plastic Mulch for Tomatoes (twice the yield and triple the poundage) Seeds/Plants Needed grapes, kale, lettuce, chocolate peppers, poblano, roma's, X milk thistle, onion, saffron, skulcap BusGrades ~ ELECTRIC ~ 1000w pure sine Inverter 2-12v Sealed AGM Deep Cycle Battery X 12v DC charger for wifi 12v DC Fan X 12v DC terminal & PowerStrip X Solar "Device" Charger battery pack X back up wifi 3g w/extra batteries ~ OTHER ~ X veg oil tank heater propane stove / oven rope lights bubble wrap ~~~~~~~ Alt Phase 2 ~~~~~~~ fencing ~ wire ~ posts / insulators ~ charger ? (we'd like to use a battery and a small solar panel that we already own, don't know how to hook that up yet) woodstove 12v DC fridge chickens chicken tractor bees / hives fish One of the main reason most people eat low quality food is convenience. Another reason is that many Big Ag Companies spend a lot of money on lobbyists to make it as difficult as possible to know what you're really eating and Farmer Markets rarely have have ads on TV. So we found some convenient tools for those of you with smart phones that can make eating healthy less of a hassle. These are the websites for some really cool FREE Apps. If you're not reading this on a mobile device, you'll need to search for their apps from your device. The Center for Food Safety offers the Guide to Avoiding Genetically Engineered Food app. Since labeling of of Genetically Modified food is not required in most places; this is not something that you'll find on the packaging (if you can read the packaging). After you've found the 1 bag of chips at the grocery store that doesn't contain genetically engineered anything then you can look up that item on the What's In My Food app. This app will tell you all the pesticides used in the growing of your store bought food. If the 2 apps above have you feeling hopeless you'll be appy to know that there are some fresh organic produce options near you and these apps will make finding them much more convenient than sniffing the breeze. FarmStand is a app that will direct you to the dearest farmers market wherever you are in the world. This would be great when your traveling I suppose; because when your home you'd only need to use it once. The Locavore app is much the same as FarmStand but it also helps you find out what food is in season, offers local seasonal recipes and includes Pick It Yourself farms and road side stands. Howdy Friends
This is just a little note about why you won't be finding us on the facebook. While we have embraced the self sustainable niche network Earthineer to take advantage of it's Global/Local barter market; Alt Life is opting out of the "old" social media platforms of Facebook / Twitter and is setting up shop on the Tsū network because Tsū's fresh approach combines the functionality of facebook, twitter and even PayPal. But what's most excites us is that Tsū actually respects your rights. Tsū is the 1st social media platform to allow the users to Keep The Rights To Their Content and Likeness. Tsū is also the 1st social media platform to pay it's users 90% of the ad revenue generated by the platform. There's more information here: https://www.tsu.co People are now beginning the next great social media migration. Tsū launched Oct. 14th and is already the 2nd most engaging social media site according to the internet ranking service Alexa.com Here's the Tsū FAQs: http://www.tsu.co/faq Tsū is Completely Free But You Do Need an Invitation to Join Our Profile Link is The Invitation You Need https://www.tsu.co/AltLife We Hope to See You There Tsūon |
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December 2015
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