Under Construction

Lots of stuff going on around the farm. The first load of lumber arrived Monday afternoon from Lowes. Lowes had the best bid out of the three building supply places that I put the bid out to. I ended up acting as the general contractor on this project, which I’ve done on two previous houses. For anyone with good organizational skills and basic lumber knowledge, it really is the best way to go to get the cheapest price on a project. Since the greenhouse and barn share a wall and there is some complexity to the greenhouse blueprints, contractors were hesitant to give me a bid on the project or it was so high that it put it out of reach for us. By us assuming the cost for materials, it takes that fear of the unknown out of it for them. All they do is give us a price to build it. The builder will usually be willing to work up a material list for you to work from. If you do a project like this, even the most well thought out material list will miss something. Always factor in 10-15% as a contingency for missed items.

Lowes has several different credit card programs that they promote but the one that was the best for us was their commercial business account. Instead of the delivery fees being $55 each time, with this program they are only $20. And you accumulate points, from American Express and from Lowes for every dollar that you spend with them, which can be used to purchase gift cards and other neat things.  If your material list is going to be more than $2500 in cost, make sure you run it through their QSP program, which is their in-store bid program. You’ll get a discount off of everything you order. On our first load (for the barn) we ended up getting a discount of 10.9% off the total cost. On the greenhouse materials, it ended up being over 13% (and this was a smaller order). You just never know how it will come out. If you don’t have a minimum order of $2500, you’ll still get 5%, just by using the Lowes credit card and you get the points. You won’t get 5% and the QSP discount…one or the other.

We got 37 free pallets off of Craig’s List recently and have been turning them into useful items around the farm. I built a compost bin with some of them and we took 13 of them and turned them into picket fence sections.  Last weekend we had some of the grand-kids come up for a painting party so they could each put their own artistic touch on one section of fence. We’ve got enough sections so that each of our kids and grand-kids will get to do a section of fence. I’ve got the area all leveled up and ready for them, once everyone gets theirs painted. Here are some of the masterpieces so far. As Linda and I work around the farm, we’ll get to see these up and it will bring a smile to our faces. It makes each of the kids and grand-kids part of the farm. I’ll post pictures of the other 7 once they get done.

 

I am finalizing work on the store for our web site. Sweely Lane Sweets are delicious honey and maple syrup products that are produced all naturally, without any additives or preservatives. Produced the way that mother nature intended it…..the web site will be up very soon. I’m just finishing up a few things on the site and it will show up as a “store” tab on the top of our web site. Will be up just in time for holiday goft giving. Give the gift of nutrition…..buy some maple syrup or honey for your family and friends.

On Monday work will begin on the pole barn. Hoping For great weather so we can get things under cover and have the work progress quickly. Will post more as things start to take shape.

 

LiveJournal Tags: Lowe's,American Express,construction,Craig's List,fence,pole barn,commercial,business,maple syrup,honey,website,New View Farm

 

Busy Month

It’s amazing what can happen in just a month’s time. Last month, things were moving really slowly and we were trying to get all of our utilities hooked up so we could park our RV on-site to be close to mom to help her with daily chores. All of that got done and we spent our first night on the farm on Sunday September 21. It did take a little longer to get the electric hooked up and not without issue.
We spent the week of Sept. 29th in Tennessee, at aquaponics training. We had about 17 other folks there from all over the country and a young man from Moldova, in eastern Europe. His name was Simion and he flew to the US (after many hours on buses, etc to get to an airport). Moldova is an independent state, landlocked between Romania and Ukraine. Simion is too young to rent a car in the US so we gave him a ride to and from class each day. It was a great way to learn more about him and his country. He is studying IT back home but wants to start growing food aquaponically when he returns home.
Talk about busy brains during the week of training ? We had such an inspiring group of classmates, all with neat projects in mind for growing food aquaponically for their respective communities. Aquaponic food systems are so efficient and would help wherever there is a need for conserving water, growing nutritious food without the use of harmful chemicals and growing lots of food in a small footprint. For anyone who currently buys organic food, at the grocery store, you’ve heard the rumors that many so called “organic” farms actually do use pesticides and herbicides on their farms. Since it’s hard for certifying agencies to police day to day practices, sadly there are some farms who don’t follow true organic measures and the consumer pays the price. With aquaponics, our fish are the “canary in the coal mine”. If harmful chemicals are used, the fish die. It’s as simple as that ! Since we grow food in a closed loop system, where the fish provide all the essential nutrients that the vegetables need, anything that would be sprayed on the plants gets back to the fish. They need clean water to live in and harmful pesticides will kill them. Clean water = healthy, nutritious food.
We learned about different construction methods for greenhouses, depending on the climate where the vegetables will be grown. Since our climate here can get brutally cold we’re still working on what style will work best for us. We want to be able to grow year round in order to provide fresh, local vegetables when everything is getting shipped in from thousands of miles away. We’ll keep you posted on construction as it gets underway.
Construction will begin on the storage barn/packing center in two weeks and we’re super excited. Lots of planning going on at this point. Our web site is up and much more will be added to it in the very near future. www.newviewfarm.com  We’ll be getting  items in the “store” for on-line purchasing. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Lots of ways to stay connected to what we’re doing. Happy to have you along for ride….

Slow Progress

It seems that nothing moves as fast as I’d like it to. It has been so frustrating working with contractors around here. They are not prompt in getting back to you with quotes or to return phone calls. It’s not the way I’m accustomed to doing business. A customer shouldn’t have to hound a contractor to see when he’s going to show up to work. Our excavator hasn’t put in more than one full day on the job, per week, since he started over a month ago. Now that we have to have everything done by this weekend, I thought that we had lit a fire under him but he only worked a couple hours this morning and is now gone again. Ugh !!! We need to have all of the utilities hooked up by Saturday so we can get our motorhome on-site and hooked up. That way we’ll be close to mom to help her out and check on her.   He got the water hooked up but now we need the sewer and electric done.
Right after I put the last post on the blog, my mom wound up in the hospital for almost a week. Her gallbladder got terribly infected and her heart was in A-Fib so she had a tough time of it in the hospital. She’s been home now for about 10 days and I’ve been staying with her to change the dressing on her surgical area and flushing the drain that they have sewn into her side near her gallbladder. Lots of doctor’s appointments to take her to so it keeps me hopping. Two weeks from today we have our aquaponics training to go to in Elora, Tennessee. My brothers and sister will check in on mom while I’m gone. If anyone is interested in learning more about aquaponics, it’s 5 days of hands-on training in system design, the business side of things and pretty much everything you need to know to get started. For a training site closest to you, go to http://friendlyaquaponics.com.
We’ve got some exciting marketing stuff going on ! I spoke with the local grower’s market about putting together a survey to see what people would like to see offered in our area. I asked if I could attend some of the market days to hand them out and get feedback. They said that if I put a survey together and would be willing to share the data with them; that they would e-mail the survey out to their mailing list of folks. How cool is that !  So I used Survey Monkey to create the survey and it will tabulate the results as they come in. A unique identifier is created for every survey and the results are linked back to the person who created the survey.  A great way to get a professional looking survey and tabulated results to boot.
While researching the mechanical components needed for our aquaponics system (air pumps and water pumps), I came across some neat info on the internet concerning water aeration using alternative energy. There are wind mills on the market (for under $2000) that are used to aerate ponds which help to eliminate or reduce the amount of algae in the water. Using super efficient designs, they can generate 3 – 4.5 cfm with even very light winds. These are generally used to aerate ponds that are 10-30’ deep so I think there would be a great application for use in troughs that are only a foot deep. Plus they have a controller module that senses when the turbine is not turning so your regular air pump would kick in to make sure the plants and fish have oxygen. How cool is that ?! Something to check out further…for sure.
Hoping to have more pictures of our progress and another update soon. 

Who can you turn to for help?

We’ve been wanting to get over and talk to the government farm folks to see what assistance they can provide to us, since we are new farmers. For many new farmers, funding is one of the key concerns along with knowledge on how to do many of the different things that you want to do with your farm. With the new Farm Bill, funding programs have been set up for new farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers (women) and other classifications of farmers. With govt. loan programs, there are lots of hoops to jump through and annual reporting. Grant money is great because it doesn’t have to be repaid but it will come with certain guidelines in order to qualify.

Having the expertise of a farm expert can be a great help to a new farmer.  Are there plants that would be toxic to the specific kinds of animals that you want to have or is the soil conducive for the types of crops that you want to plant ? These are the types of questions that can be answered with the help of your ag extension agent or conservation agent.

I know, from talking to other aquaponic growers and from my internship last year, that there are high tunnel grants available to help growers extend their season. We are hoping to get a price from our contractor that makes it possible to start construction in October for the storage barn and greenhouse. In talking to the FSA/USDA rep, he said the first step is to get our info into the system. He would then come out to the farm and assist with the location on where a high tunnel should go. The timeline for these types of grants is a deadline of October 1 to get all paperwork submitted, with funding given in March or April. Since we hope to build in October, we wouldn’t qualify for this round of grants. The high tunnel grants require that some of the planting be done in the ground (if you recall with aquaponics the growing would take place in a trough). Ben Godfrey, in Texas, who does aquaponics and got a high tunnel grant, set aside about 1/2 of his area to do in-ground growing and set the rest up with normal aquaponic troughs. For three years he will need to continue with this set-up and then he can convert the ground space to aquaponics. In the meantime, he is using the aquaponic water on the plants he is growing in the ground. If the quote on our barn/greenhouse comes in too high then we will go back to our agent and apply for the grant and push off construction till the spring. The $5-8000 that we’d get from the grant would help us get it all done.

We didn’t have a whole lot of time to talk to Ciro (the agent) when we met with him but we did find out that he understands and supports permaculture (wahoo!) and is trained in holistic land management. He had the permaculture design manual on his bookshelf that the design course we took, was based on. We gave him a copy of our long range permaculture plan for the farm and he will put that in our file. Sadly we found out that Ciro is retiring next year but he wants to give us as much assistance as he can while he is still working there.

Mom’s land has been part of the CREP program for the past eight years and has two more years to go before the contract expires. Since this is a conservation program, involving the use of fall grasses on the land, there isn’t much that you can do to the land while its’ under contract. Building will impact the contract to the extent that once we have the footprint staked out, we’ll have to have the agency come out and determine how much of the contracted land is impacted. They will GPS the staked out area against the contracted space of eight acres and then we will need to re-pay all the money, for the space we will build on, that was paid to us for the last eight years + penalty + interest. For instance….If we take 1 acre out of the contract, it will amount to around $1000 that we’ll need to pay them. I knew this when I developed our budget and built it into the loan amount. I’m not sure if we’ll have any issue at all because of how small our building footprint is and most of the work is outside the contract area.

The exciting thing that Ciro said we’d do next is to develop a conservation plan. He will come out in late October and we’ll walk the land and talk about our plans for it and he will make suggestions. If there is funding available for certain aspects of it, he’ll let us know that. Once he draws up the conservation plan and puts it in our file, it will be there for the person that comes to take his place, after he retires. They can carry out what he started and assist us with each phase of the plan. That can be anything from laying out pastures and fencing to irrigation needs for the property. It’s exciting to get that groundwork laid and to work with a conservation expert to give us advice with our permaculture goals in mind.

Randy, our excavator got a little more work done this week. He’s starting to get the footprint laid out so he can stake the footprint for the greenhouse and barn . You can see the right side stakes and the left rear corner stake. The angle of the building is to align the greenhouse for southern exposure. We should get a final quote, from a local Amish builder, this coming week and know what we’re doing. He just moved to the area so he is not booked yet with work, which works to our advantage. Keeping our fingers crossed for a good quote !

LiveJournal Tags: USDA,FSA,Farm Bill,aquaponics,high tunnel grant,greenhouse,CREP,conservation,permaculture,holistic land management,socially disdvantaged farmers

Home Coming…

We had our closing yesterday afternoon so once again we are officially Pennsylvania land owners. The land passed from mother to daughter and spouse so on goes the tradition of growing things. We have a long range plan for the farm, all in accordance with the core tenets of Permaculture, so we hope to have the first phase done by the time snow flies. The first phase involves getting the barn and greenhouse built.

We broke ground last week for the barn/greenhouse site. The well-insulated barn will house hook-ups for our motorhome so we can park our rig in there. The greenhouse will share a wall with the barn, which will provide a passive means of heating the barn in the winter. I guess I should clarify what I mean by “barn” since I know this could be misinterpreted. It will be built, using pole barn style of construction, with insulation in it so that the RV won’t freeze up. More like a storage barn, not a hay or animal barn. At least for now….

The greenhouse is a Friendly Aquaponics Chinese-style greenhouse and the plants will be grown in deep water rafts. The rafts are sheets of expanded polystyrene (food grade) and by cutting holes in the sheets, you can insert a 2” net pot. Depending on what you are planting, the densities can be anywhere from 55 holes per 4’ x 8’ sheet or less. The seeds are started in a coconut coir (shaved coconut fiber) and vermiculite blend, in a seed tray; then after about 2 weeks of growth, each individual plant is moved into a 2” net pot, at which time the growth of the plants explodes. We have visited several aquaponic farms, who are using the Friendly Aquaponics systems and they have all reported that the vegetables grow in about 1/2 the time that it would take in soil. Since each plant has nutrient-rich water saturating their roots constantly, in a warm growing environment, it makes for the perfect place to get accelerated growth.

 Each plant develops a massive root system, that extends down through the slits in the net pot.

One of the big differences in this greenhouse, from typical greenhouses is that it’s not a massive energy hog. No supplemental systems, fueled by oil or gas. The big thing to keep in mind, with an aquaponics system is that it’s not about the air temperature in the greenhouse. It’s all about keeping the water temperature in an acceptable range, based on the type of fish you are using in your system.  Since water is a form of thermal mass, it helps to maintain the temperatures in your greenhouse. For those living in extreme summer or winter climates, systems have been created using geothermal cooling or solar heating to maintain the temps in a system. As a result of this engineering, this system is very efficient to operate and is way more efficient than the old-style greenhouses.

Here is the Friendly greenhouse, on a cold morning in Tennessee. It was 24 degrees outside, but inside the air temp was 74 degrees and the water temperature (in the troughs) was 72 degrees. That’s the power of thermal mass !

Some of you might be wondering why a flood and drain style of system isn’t used. In a flood and drain system, you plant into a gravel bed or volcanic type of rock. The water is on a timed cycle and comes into and out of the system (that’s why it’s called flood and drain). There are several problems with these types of systems. One is that the roots get entangled in the rocks and is a real mess to clean out and in the case of a produce item that grows underground, you have to be really careful digging them out of the gravel without damaging them. Another issue is that every time the water “drains” from the bed,  you lose the thermal mass affect and cold air rushes in to chill the stones. With chilled stones, now comes the “flood” cycle and your water cools down. It doesn’t allow for a consistent temperature of your water, which all has to return to where the fish are housed. If the fish aren’t happy, you need to make them happy. No fish poop…. no growth of your vegetables. That’s why flood and drain systems aren’t the way to go. Lots of stuff to worry about. I don’t know about you but I like systems that are well thought out and don’t give me a lot of headaches to run. That’s why I chose the Friendly Aquaponics style of system. Maximum output….minimum input.

For those newbie farmers out there, wondering how to acquire the tools and things you might need on your farm, watch out for local auctions. We bid on and won a bunch of things that will be really useful to us on the farm. The site to check out is Proxi-Bid. Without leaving the comfort of your home, you can check out local items for sale that might have come about due to someone passing away (estate auction) or other types of sales. We purchased a portable generator for $80 that is like brand new, a chipper/shredder for $150 (again like new and would normally sell for $750) a Toyota Rav 4 and a bunch of other items. Each auction will have a preview time when you can go and look over all the items and see what you want to bid on. You can even buy real estate using Proxi-bid ! It’s a great resource to keep your eye on if you’re in the market for something.

After several days and several inches of rain, I hope that things dry out enough, by the first of the week, that the excavator can get started again. We are anxious to get things underway. Stay tuned…..lots more to come.

LiveJournal Tags: Proxi-bid,aquaponics,tools,farmer,Friendly Aquaponics,flood and drain,coconut coir,vermiculite,Chinese-style greenhouse,solar greenhouse,expanded polystyrene

Permaculture

While doing an organic gardening internship last year, I became interested in permaculture. For those of you not familiar with what permaculture is, here is how Wikipedia describes it:

Permaculture is a branch of ecological design, ecological engineering, environmental design, construction and Integrated Water Resources Management that develops sustainable architecture, regenerative and self-maintained habitat and agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems. The term permaculture (as a systematic method) was first coined by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1978. The word permaculture originally referred to "permanent agriculture"  but was expanded to stand also for "permanent culture," as it was seen that social aspects were integral to a truly sustainable system as inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka's natural farming philosophy.

"Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single product system." - Bill Mollison

I read as many books as I could find on the subject and found it to be fascinating in its’ simplicity of following nature’s patterns but at times complex in its’ application to the land. The core values of permaculture are:

 

Care for the earth: Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply. This is the first principle, because without a healthy earth, humans cannot flourish.

Care for the people: Provision for people to access those resources necessary for their existence.

Return of surplus: Reinvesting surpluses back into the system to provide for the first two ethics. This includes returning waste back into the system to recycle into usefulness.

Once I returned from my internship, I wanted to know more about permaculture practices and be able to incorporate them into our land. Coincidentally, I stumbled on an e-mail about the Permaculture Design Institute’s annual on-line permaculture design course. I signed up and over the course of three months, we did the weekly on-line lessons. At the end of the course, in order to get a certification in permaculture design, you have to design a project using the principles learned. We put together a plan for our farm, designed in stages over a ten year period, and submitted it. In July I got an e-mail that our project had “passed” and our certificate was in the mail to us. It is a very intense learning experience but if you have an interest in permaculture and taking your land to a state of fertility like it’s never seen, then I encourage you to read more about permaculture and perhaps take a PDC.

The first aspect of permaculture that we’re incorporating into our farm is the use of swales and non-compacted mounds. The usual train of thought, when thinking of water drainage, on one’s land, is to get it to exit by use of ditches, etc. With permaculture, you want to use every drop of water before it exits the property. You want the soakage so that your water table is regenerated and your soil is moist and resistant to drought. By using a swale on contour (“ditch” that is level across the lay of the land with a flat bottom in the swale), you capture the water run-off and soak it into the non-compacted mound next to it. This slow soakage allows trees, vegetables, etc. that are planted on the mound to receive a continual source of hydration and provides optimum growth potential. Using a non-compacted mound, the roots of whatever is planted is able to grow a deep root system and anchor itself into the mound.

The location, where our aquaponic greenhouse will sit, is directly over an existing drainage ditch. With the excavating of the site, drainage will need to be moved to the topside of the area to move water away from the buildings. We made an A frame level and then used it to mark where the swale will go, at the base of the hillside. By using the A frame level, the water in the swale will be at level and not want to run off the hillside. Rainfall will fill the swale and then soak, within 2-3 days (at most) into the mound. Once the dirt has formed the mound, we will seed it with a “nitrogen fixer” seed, specifically New Zealand white clover. This clover will put nitrogen into the soil and make a fertile planting area for whatever comes next. The hair-like root system of the clover will hold the dirt, on the mound, and keep it from eroding away in future rain storms or blow away from wind erosion. Since it is a perennial plant, it will come back year after year with a 6-8” tall plant and flowers that the bees love. We’ll use the old hay, laying in the field, to lightly mulch the seed once we’ve sown it. The neat thing about swales is that you can direct this water, using spillways.  Remember that it’s about winding the water through every possible use and resource before it exits the land. Water is far too precious to let it go….make use of it !

Today the excavator moved his bulldozer onto the site so it shouldn’t be long before work begins. Excited to get started….

LiveJournal Tags: Permacultre Design Institute,permaculture,farming,internship,earthworks,swale,mound,New Zealand white clover,excavation,A-frame level,aquaponic greenhouse

Rosie….

Here’s the newest member of New View Farm. Four wheel drive and a tow package so if we need to get a trailer of some sort, she’s all wired up to handle the plug and has the hitch receptacle. It was essential that we have a four wheel drive truck because of the snow that’s possible here in Pennsylvania. We drove her home from NJ yesterday and she’s a beauty. She’s ready to haul some compost or building supplies. With under 100,000 miles, she has lots of life left in her and is ready to go to work. Now to get the contractors fired up and ready to build.

Last night I talked to a contactor who is bidding on the greenhouse construction and he has promised me that he’ll have his price to me by the weekend. Today’s Friday so you know what that means…..better be really soon. Stay tuned…more on construction details in my next post.

LiveJournal Tags: Chevy Silverado,farm,construction,aquaponics,greenhouse,New View Farm,truck