The Truly Passive Greenhouse movie Kickstarter (July 2020)

Kyle, I really hope you get to come out for the PDC! That would be excellent!

Jennifer Richardson wrote:Kyle, I really hope you get to come out for the PDC! That would be excellent!

I'll (most likely) be there if I win or not.  The teachers are top notch this year!

To go to the kickstarter


        click here

paul wheaton wrote:
I think that digging a normal well on the lab will cost about $20k.  But it's possible that they dig down and then ...  "nothing yet - should I keep going?"    So I think it is wise to not start unless we have $50k ready to go.  

Have you tried using a dowser to make sure that when you dig, you are digging in a good spot? I have had amazing and surprising (to me) success using dowsing methods.

Annie Collins wrote:Have you tried using a dowser

Many.  Hence, all the holes.

I am a bit dissapointed that the 50$ backers don’t get any stretch goals...

Will you be making multiple greenhouses with different setup NiX that you are 500+% gunden?

Annie Collins wrote: Have you tried using a dowser...?

I, too, have been amazed at seeing dowsing work many times. I had an older relative (long dead now) who found water for people, but these were shallow, hand dug wells, maybe 10-30’ deep. He claimed the stick had to be Willow, because they are drawn to water. I also once watched a guy with a shovel find a buried water line. This was an area about 150’ long. He slid the shovel along the ground, and walked the length of the area in each direction. He made a mark both times, and between the marks that were about 2’ apart, they dug and found the pipe. He was from a different state, had never been there before that day, so no pre-existing knowledge as far as we were aware. He was a plumber, and I talked with him for awhile. He told me since childhood he could ‘feel’ water, and it had led him to a career in plumbing. He had discovered the shovel method by accident, but said it worked better than dowsing rods for him.
As a skeptic who puts her trust in fact and science, I have a hard time deciding how legitimate dowsing is, but have seen too much to totally dismiss it. I do know a well drilling company who keeps a dowser on retainer, much like an attorney would be, and they swear by his skills.
Maybe Wheaton labs has super deep water? Or Paul hasn’t found a ‘legitimate’ dowser? Finding water is an expensive game. Our well is 330’ deep, at a cost of $40 a ft. And whoever buys the property someday may not be able to get a mortgage, as it only flows at 2 gpm, and most banks want minimum 3-5.
I think the driller asking “keep going or new spot?” creates more apprehension than the dealer asking if you want another card! It’s certainly higher stakes than any poker game I’ve ever played.

$81,041

Only 37 hours to go!

paul wheaton wrote:


I think that digging a normal well on the lab will cost about $20k.  But it's possible that they dig down and then ...  "nothing yet - should I keep going?"    So I think it is wise to not start unless we have $50k ready to go.  


So if the kickstarter hits $100k, after all the expenses (kickstarter, kickbacks, the project, the stretch goals, etc.) that will leave us with about $50k.

So we wanna hit $100k.   So we can get a proper well at wheaton labs.

Hey, Paul; have you ever asked the County what the normal water table in the county is?  This might not help, because different places do things differently, but I was able to ask this question of my local county, because they have "monitoring wells" in a few places in the county and average the water table depth to a number above sea level.  It won't tell you how deep it is in your particular area, but might give you an idea of how feasible a well even is on the Lab.  Alternatively, you could find out where the nearest working well is, and ask the owner how deep S/he had to drill to get water.

Creighton Samuels wrote: what the normal water table in the county is?  

I think I am reading into this that you are in flat country.

I feel like I learned a ton of new stuff in this kickstarter.  

I used to take notes and put it in my kickstarter book - but I suspect that the book will never be finished.  So I think it is time to drop that project.

In related news, Backwoods Home Magazine sent an email out to their 80,000 people and told them about this kickstarter.   I'm looking forward to developing a relationship with them.

$82,081!

Paul Wheaton wrote:I think I am reading into this that you are in flat country.

The water table is a function of topography, geology and climate. Often the water table follows the contour of the land. So it may well be same depth whether flat or hilly terrain. A local geologist may be the person to talk to along with local well drillers. Guessing you know all this and have already explored those avenues, but if not...

$83,046!

2000 backers!

$84,262!

$84,522!!

Less than $500 until we meet the next stretch goal!!!

We have three producers (so far!):



  We have one "Executive Producer":  


                      Tater Todd



  We have two "Associate Producers":  


                      Greg Martin

                      Karl "John Wayne" Krutch




Nobody has yet taken the only "Extreme Executive Producer with Bacon, Cheese and Sparkles."  ??

just two dollars away from the next stretch goal ....

$85,108!

Alright, I upped my pledge to the $100 level. Damn my pitiful currency value against the American dollar. Hurk. Lol.

But the idea that the permies team in the USA would be able to fund a proper well system for their land if they reach the $100,000 USD amount is a REALLY good one, I think, and is worth my upped backing. I hope the big six-figure is reached and you guys can really get stuck in to all these awesome projects! And get a proper well! Water is life

Sionainn Cailís wrote:Alright, I upped my pledge to the $100 level. Damn my pitiful currency value against the American dollar. Hurk. Lol.

But the idea that the permies team in the USA would be able to fund a proper well system for their land if they reach the $100,000 USD amount is a REALLY good one, I think, and is worth my upped backing. I hope the big six-figure is reached and you guys can really get stuck in to all these awesome projects! And get a proper well! Water is life

Pins and needles!

$86,013!

Less than 24 hours left!!!

$87,123!

$87,644!!

We're getting so close to that $100,000 stretch goal!!!

$88,005!

I just realized the next stretch goal is for the SKIP event



SKIP stands for "SKills to Inherit Property" and it encompases the PEP badges. I love how many skills one can learn through it (I mean, just look in my signature, I've learned a LOT through SKIP!). I think this is totally an event worth attending, especially for those that really want homesteading/permaculture skills, but don't know where to start learning.

I'd always wanted to be able to build stuff, but never had the know-how, but doing the round-wood badges taught me so much, and I was able to make a trellis to grow kiwi's over my kids play pit. SKIP is seriously empowering!

This is exciting. I hope you make it to 100k and beyond.

$89,079!

paul wheaton wrote:

Creighton Samuels wrote: what the normal water table in the county is?  

I think I am reading into this that you are in flat country.

Well, flatter than Montana.  So sure.  Also, I'm only 12 miles from the Ohio River; and thus the water table has a low limit here that probably wouldn't apply to Wheaton Labs; unless you're a lot closer to the Clark Fork River than I think you are.

12 hours left!!!
$ 89,439!!!
Now it's really, truly, the FINAL COUNTDOWN!!

$90,313!

A reminder on how to raise your backer level:

   - click "manage your pledge"

   - click "change your pledge"

   - scroll down to select your new backer level

   - click on "continue" and then "confirm"


This is a two minute video of Jennifer doing this:

If we hit $100,000, the stretch goal is



The plan is that we will then have four well casings going 19 feet below the trench.    

There has been some discussion about how big to make the destratification pipe.   I was going with 1 inch pipe.  Some people felt that was too small.   So if we hit $100,000, the idea is that we will have four of these "heaters" instead of 2.   And the destratification pipes would then be:

  - 1 inch
  - 1.5 inch
  - 2 inch
  - no pipe (control)