Mart Hale

Aquaponic system working great now.    Cleaning the river rock from dirt, and putting in larger drains has made worlds of difference.      With the wicking rope system I am using the space far better now.

Mart Hale wrote:Idea....

I love the root maker pots, they just work....

What if...     we were to design a plastic or silicon  mold with a 3d printer for making root prunning pots made out of clay?

We could take the standard designs that work,   and make samples out of clay, fire them and then we would have plastic free pots.

I would also like to find a replacement for nylon wicking, but I believe small steps are in order.    First make some small clay fired root maker pots then test them....

Another idea...   what if we could make plastic that would not give off micro plastic...      what if they could be coated  with coating that seals in the micro plastics?

Any how  I really like the clay mold idea for that matter cement also would work I believe....    But must test..

Something like this ->  

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DatZ0Fbp9No


Only with the root prunning design.

Idea....

I love the root maker pots, they just work....

What if...     we were to design a plastic or silicon  mold with a 3d printer for making root prunning pots made out of clay?

We could take the standard designs that work,   and make samples out of clay, fire them and then we would have plastic free pots.

I would also like to find a replacement for nylon wicking, but I believe small steps are in order.    First make some small clay fired root maker pots then test them....

Another idea...   what if we could make plastic that would not give off micro plastic...      what if they could be coated  with coating that seals in the micro plastics?

Any how  I really like the clay mold idea for that matter cement also would work I believe....    But must test..

Kevin Olson wrote:Here's a skidding pan demo (though he calls it a "scoot", and a "scoot" - at least in my acquaintance - is similar to a "go-devil" or to a one-bob sleigh without a swiveling bunk on the bolster):

Not too far from a stone boat.

Bonus: he uses a "needle" to fish the chain under the log he's skidding, as I'd mentioned above.

Skidding cones are similar, but are in-the-round, i.e. a full cone, instead of half of the end of a sausage link, as seen here.

Kevin

On our farm one of the most useful things we had was a car hood turned upside down.     We pulled that with horses and tractors looks much like this.

Wooo hoo first okra of the year.     I love to eat okra raw and this one was pick just at the right time before it become fibrous.

This year I decided to ferment ½ gal jar of cabbage, and the rest I have chopped up and have in the dehydrator. The snails were getting too many for me to fend off, I decided to cut the losses and save what I have, I have more coming, but I have never dehydrated cabbage before, and I thought you know that would probably make a good soup in time to come.

Harvest is not great, but each year it does seem to get larger

How do I deal with sick seedlings...

I grow extra with multiple plantings...       planting at different times, so I have backup plants for when the plants I made don't make it for whatever reason.

I also have improved the soil the seeds go into by making my own compost mix.

One of the reasons I stack food on the shelf is that there are gonna be years the food just does not work out for you, and being ready for that I find a wise move.

https://www.skool.com/the-survival-gardener/sun-protect-label


I just came up with this idea.    More effort to read the label, but    it is protected from the sun so it will not fade like standard labels.

This is an okra that I grew in only clay pebbles with the wicking rope in a solo cup.       I have found when i do this the root becomes most integrated with the rope,   I simply leave the rope with the plant and put it in the aquaponics like this.     Method does take more rope, but not having soil is a bonus, I can retrieve the rope later.

One of the issues I had with the Root maker setup is I could not keep the right amount of water to to plant, as the soil would wash away.        Now that I have added the wicking rope, I am getting excellent root development and the plants look great.    As can be seen below because of the air pruning there are several roots coming in multiple directions with this pot.     This is a winner for me.