Bryson the Sardine Eater

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

Surprisingly, the boy likes sardines.  Here is photographic proof.

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Know The System

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

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Brian C’s Aquaponic System

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

I toured an aquaponics system today that was pretty cool.  Here are the stats:

  • 300 gallon fish tank + 100 gallon sump tank + 55 gallon fry tank
  • 30 pounds of fish (mostly talipia)
  • preps tap water w/ vitamin C (ascorbic acid) (500mg per 50 gallons of tap water)
  • adds 1 tbs of chelated iron per month
  • has to add 15 gallons of water per day
  • uses Gyneral Dynamics ‘pH down’ product (phosphoric acid) to adjust pH level
  • maintains a pH of 6.8 to 7.0
  • home made growbeds are 10″ deep and filled with expanded shale
  • commercial growbeds are filled with hydroton
  • added red wiggler worms to grow beds
  • removes pump filter sponges
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[Show slideshow]

Brian C also had some very thoughtful comments about things he would do to make the system better:

  • use larger auto-siphon valves (the current 3/4″ valves don’t keep up with incoming water flow, so the siphon is never broken)
  • use deeper grow beds (12″)
  • pipe from fish tanks into grow beds so that nutrients don’t settle in sump (currently flows from fish tank to sump, then to grow beds)
  • better to use one pump instead of 3
  • add power backup system
  • build greenhouse around system
  • add multiple water entrances to growbed to prevent solids buildup

More notes:   Continue reading →

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Vermicompost Sifter Project

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

Here is a quick little project to help sort out worm poop from bedding material.

cut 4 boards to 11 inches

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I emptied out about 1/6th of the left side of my worm bin and sifted out the good stuff from the bedding with this.  It worked well.  I might add two more boards so the device will not move in either direction off of the bucket.  The grand total cost of this project was zero.  I used scraps I had laying around!  There was cost in staples and glue, but I already had those materials on hand too.

I’m changing up my worm-poop-harvesting theory.  I used to do it the laziest possible way, which was just keep adding more wet newspaper until there was no room left, the entire worm bin was worm poop, then I’d start feeding the worms on the other side of the bin, which would encourage the worms to move next door, and I’d then start harvesting the poop by scooping it out.  There are some problems with this though:  who wants to live in a mountain of their own poop, there was always chunks of bedding left over, and the poop would sit idle for a long time, probably losing much of its nutrient value and life.  Now, I’m going to start harvesting when I notice a significant build up of poop, so the product will be fresher, and maybe the worms will live a better life.

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The Secrecy Feedback Loop

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

If you are a US Citizen, I urge you and plea with you to read “The Secret Sharer – Is Thomas Drake an enemy of the state?“. It is a little long, but explains something very clearly that I think we all need to be aware of: the recent history of warrantless wiretaps of Americans, including the storage of all email.  Not just the fact that it is happening, but what the reasons are, and our government’s actions and attitude of doing these things.  The interesting this is that the system was designed to protect our privacy, but the privacy components were removed along the way.  The story is also about the governments treatment of ‘whistle blowers’ that were trying to make things right (not infringe of American’s rights) and also to prevent the waste of billions of dollars due to bad management practices.  This article was recommended by Dan Carlin’s podcast, The Secrecy Feedback Loop, where he discusses the article at length.  (also worth a listen)  I’ll hold off on sharing my thoughts about this subject for now;  I’ll just say I’m very worried about the times we are living right now.  Please drop me a comment and let me know what your thoughts or feelings are after you read it.  (and please do take the time to read this one)

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U.N. Agreement Should Have All Gun Owners Up In Arms

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

U.N. Agreement Should Have All Gun Owners Up In Arms – Larry Bell – The Bell Tells for You – Forbes

law-abiding citizens in America used guns in self-defense 2.5 million times during 1993 (about 6,850 times per day), and actually shot and killed 2 1/2 times as many criminals as police did (1,527 to 606). Those civilian self-defense shootings resulted in less than 1/5th as many incidents as police where an innocent person was mistakenly identified as a criminal (2% versus 11%)

In Canada and Britain, both with tough gun-control laws, nearly half of all burglaries occur when residents are present. But in the U.S. where many households are armed, only about 13% happen when someone is home.


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How Bad Do Things Have To Get Before You Do Something?

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

via YouTube – How Bad Do Things Have To Get Before You Do Something?.

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Garden Update: June 6, 2011

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

The main purpose of this post is to offer photographic proof that I’m not a 100% tomato growing failure.  I have a pretty good harvest of tomatoes, and I might get a few more weeks of growing season before the afterburners kick up the heat to broil.  Even some of the goofy hanging tomato plants are producing fruit.  For the first time, a sunflower in my garden has a bloom.  They usually get eaten pretty early on.  This past weekend, I harvested a load of green beans, some potatoes, and a few peppers.  I planted about 20 orka plants too, and I hope they make it.  (they were also all eaten when young and tender)

Tomato Harvest

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The Patriot Act and Bipartisanship

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

The Patriot Act and bipartisanship – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com

So when they were out of power, the Democrats reviled the Patriot Act and constantly complained about fear-mongering tactics and exploitation of the Terrorist threat being used to stifle civil liberties and privacy concerns.  Now that they’re in power and a Democratic administration is arguing for extension of the Patriot Act, they use fear-mongering tactics and exploitation of the Terrorist threat to stifle civil liberties and privacy concerns

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YouTube – Grocery Store Wars (2005)

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

 

via YouTube – Grocery Store Wars (2005).

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