Betrayed by De®vaes Family

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

I’m not going to spend a lot of time writing on this subject, because all the points have already been made and I’m not a very good writer.  I was sad to hear that Jules Dervaes trademarked common names, namely ‘urban homestead’ and ‘urban homesteading’.  Why am I upset?  Because this family represented themselves as something they are very much, not.  They stood for going against big corporate life and living the wholesome life you want on your own terms, in spite of the big city surrounding you.  They stood against the ideals of companies like Monsanto patenting lifeforms.  Their pathetic behavior after the fact of is more evidence of their true underlying character.  Now I’ll go back through my blog and update every post I’ve ever made praising this family and state they are hypocritical sellouts, embracing the very things they claim to detest.

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Aquaponics Growbed Drain

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

This little gizmo serves as two drains in one.  The first drain is an adjustable ‘slow’ drain.  It will need to slowly drain about 75 gallons of water over a 30 minute period.  The second drain is an overflow, and has to be big enough to take away all the water my pump can throw at it.  I didn’t bother to try to calculate the flows and hole sizes and pipe sizes, all trial and error for me!  I wound up making a huge mess of my work area after I used the saw, drill, and grinder on these little parts.  I started with a 1-1/2″ PVC to 1″ female NPT adapter, attached to a 1″ close nipple.  I ground down the OD of the fitting so the 1-1/2″ coupler fits on it loosely, and can be easily turned.  The turning action is how I’ll adjust the size of the ‘slow’ drain.  If the holes are all lined up, I’ll have (2) 1/4″ holes.  I can twist the coupler to make the holes smaller.  The large 4″ pipe fits over the whole drain to provide air space to prevent roots from growing into the drain and clogging it up.

1-1/2" PVC to 1" NPT adapter w/ 1" close nipple

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Aquaponics Growbed Frame

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

Here are some pictures of the growbed frame I built for my aquaponics system.  I changed the dimensions on the fly because I wanted to minimize the number of cuts I had to do.  The bed is bigger than I had originally planned, and too big for the 5′ x 10′ pond liner that I ordered.  (3″ too big).  These pictures represent it still unfinished.  It is missing a 2×4 along the bottom and bolts on all the supports.  I’m not sure the external 2×4 supports are actually needed, but I wanted to make sure it doesn’t bust apart with 1000 pounds of water in it.  Lumber list and size information are below the pictures.

legs: 48" wide, 38" tall, 2x6 at 24" height

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Inside dimensions: 93″x 38″ x 13″

24.54 sq-ft, 26.58 cu-ft, 199 gallons.  Filled to 10″ depth, 20.45 cu-ft, 153 gallons

Height is 38″.

Legs: (4 )

  • treated 2×4-48″
  • (2) 2×4-38″ (angle cut on one end)
  • 2×6-48″

Tie support – bottom of legs

  • 2×4-96″

Bottom:

  • (11) 2×4-96″

Long Sides (2):

  • 2×8-96″
  • 2×6-96″

Short Sides (2):

  • 2×8-38″
  • 2×6-38″
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Protected: Budget Defense Shotgun

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

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Crazy Kiddo

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

Just look:

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Aquaponics Project – Design

Posted on February 6, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

I’ve been talking about hydroponics and aquaponics for years now.  (and now that I understand the biology a little more, I’m not even considering hydroponics anymore)  I think it is time I finally implement my first solution.  I’ll use this post to document what I want and where I’m going to get it from.   (so it will change over time)

Style:  Flood and Drain beds w/ gravel.  Cold-water fish.  Electric pump.

Tank:  plastic stock tank.  110 gallon TSC SKU Number: 2229862

aquarium air pump w/ bubbler stone to oxygenate water all the time

submersible pond pump (eventually to be replaced with marine air conditioner pump), operated on an electrical cycle timer.

Grow Beds:  made from 2by lumber, lined with pond plastic, filled with stone gravel (13mm) that doesn’t change pH.  (crevices are desirable)  Height: waist level.  No auto-siphon is needed since I’m using a pump on a timer.  Growbed Size: 4′ x 5′ x 12″  Red wiggler earthworms will be placed in the grow bed to further digest solid fish waste into plant nutrient.  Sloped slightly.  Min depth= 12 inches

water test kit – ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, oxygen, pH, temperature

Resources: Continue reading →

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Android Phone

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

I finally decided I’d had my clunky old windows phone (with no data service) long enough. I decided to ditch AT&T and move to Virgin Mobile. I don’t like the way AT&T structures their data plans, and they are generally overpriced, over-restrictive, and nickel-and-dime happy on everything. Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint network, which is CDMA instead of GSM. I don’t have a contract, lowered my monthly bill, and added 2 unlimited data plans and 2 unlimited text messaging plans. It is hard to say no to a deal that good. I’m not sure how I like the network yet, as I’ve only used it in our house, and it is at least as good as AT&T was here in the house.
We bought the LG Optimus V phones (Optimus One P500/VM670) for a reasonable price. I was not going to pay over $200 for a phone! According to wikipedia:

The LG VM670 was released as the LG Optimus V for Virgin Mobile on February 1, 2011.[2] This variant ships with a version of Android 2.2 that is the closest to “stock” of all Optimus One variants. Mobile hotspot functionality is missing from the phone’s settings pages; however, it can be enabled by the user at any time.[3] The phone is very similar to the Optimus S.

“Closest to stock” is a very good thing when you are talking about open source software. The carriers dink around with things and make them slower and limit their functionality. Without ‘rooting’ the phone, I was able to configure it as a VoIP/SIP client and Wi-Fi router (hotspot) using only free apps from their app store.

The phone is made to integrate with google services like mail, calender, chat, voice, picassa, maps, and reader.  I couldn’t be more happy with how easy it was to setup and how well it works.  (I use and love all the google stuff)  Even my complicated google calender with multiple different calenders in different colors shows up correctly without me having to do anything except give it my google username and password.  The market place (app store) is amazing.  It is maintained and controlled like the Ubuntu repository with the added benefit of lots and lots of capitalist trying to make a buck by adding in their contributions.  It is crazy how much stuff is out there, waiting to be installed with a button press.  (I’m listening to the Collin county sheriff, fire, and EMS through a scanner app right now)

Looks like a standard wi-fi hotspot to my laptop

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Continue reading →

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Instant Poll: Help The Gallimore Family Decide

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

I want to plant strawberry plants in the front beds.  My reasoning is that we have never have used the beds, the cedar bark looks OK, but it is dead and boring.  I could have a living mulch that gives me free food.  Strawberries are low-maintenance, look good, and will come back each year.  Amber thinks it will look funny and attract pests.  Help us decide what to do by voting here.  Also, leave a comment if you have more to add!

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Water Infrastructure Upgraded

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

I managed to get the rest of the trench dug, 130′ of pipe and wire, a manual valve, a solenoid valve, and 2 hose bibs installed.  I did a pressure test and found no leaks.  Only thing I have to finish is putting back the dirt.  I’ve got a lot of rocks that I want to sort out so it will take me an hour or so to get that done.

I laid a lot of pipe

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Trench for the Future

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Brian Gallimore

All of last year, I carried 5 gallon buckets of water out to the end of the driveway where my asparagus is growing. I’m going high-tech and plumbing water right out to the bed this year. I’ll put a hose bib and a water valve for a new drip water zone. I’m also going to put a new hose bib on the northwest corner of the house. This will finally give me water outlets everywhere I need them, without having to use 125′ of hose. My aquaponics setup is going to be located on the north side of the house too, so I’ll need a source of water nearby for that too. I’m about halfway done with the trench. Digging is not my strong point, I’m a bit on the slow side.

The "Helper"

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