DIY Duck & Goose & Dog Pond Filter system

Spouse writes:

The eight geese and two dogs foul up the goose pond in about 4.5 days during the summer. The pond filter we have used for the last few years was a pressurized number that used an external pump. The old pond pump worked under horrible conditions. It had to pump goose poo "soup" continuously. It was stepped on when the dogs jumped in to cool off in said soup. The geese chewed on the power cord while making aforementioned soup... you get the idea. We have gone through a lot of pumps. The current incarnation is more of a pump in a cage. We have a regular 500 gallon per hour pump in this box (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Total-Pond-Mechanical-and-Biological-Filter-Kit-MF13010/202278958). It is connected to a 15 foot length of lead free 5/8 lawn hose connected with a ½ inch adapter. The old pond filter was just too small to take  - err – "soup" and make it spring fresh.

<insert boring design explanation of latest pond filter operation>
I wanted a large three stage filter. The first stage is mechanical filtration at the pump to make sure that the submerged pump runs without incident. The second stage is a a clarifier so that any particulate that makes it past the mechanical stage settles out before the third stage. The third stage is the biological stage. Bacteria - living in some sort of media - consume and filter out the remaining wastes still in the water. For the media, I am using three bags of lava rock.
<end boring design explanation of filter operation>

The resulting filter is part gigantic aquarium filter, part pond filter, and only slightly overbuilt (I hope). I used the filter described here (http://www.runnerduck.com/pf1.htm) as the basis for the new filter with just a few modifications. I switched to 55 gallon drums. I added an extra tank for a clarifier. And swapped out the filter pads for 3 bags of lava rock to host the aquarium bacteria that were going to convert the soup to clean water.

Here is a is the end result...

[the completed project]

Water is pumped from the pond through the light green hose into the clarifier.(the barrel farthest from the pond. The water enters the clarifier from the top which allows the particulate to fall to the bottom and the water flows out the side and into the media tank.. The water is piped to the bottom of the media tank under a plastic screen which is elevated 4 inches off the bottom. View from the top before the lava rock went in. The plastic screen rests on s stand made out of PVC as detailed on the runnerduck page link above.

[media tank BEFORE lava rock was added]

Here it is with the media barrel loaded with lava rock.

First thing I found out was use real bulkhead fittings like these: http://www.homedepot.com/p/1-1-4-in-EPDM-Washer-Bulkhead-MPT-x-FPT-Union-PL-1846-1-1-4-inch-Bulkhead-Union/203258816
Trying to make your own out of pipe pieces scavenged from the plumbing aisle only results in leaks, cursing, and a floor show for the geese who inevitably arrive to supervise.

Second: size the outlet bigger. But maybe not this big:

[the outlet. the filter screen below in the pond was temporary]

That is a ½ inch inlet being drained by a 3 inch outlet. Sort'a of like a grapefruit launcher loaded with raisins. I did have a one inch outlet but that barely kept up. I doubled the size of the bulkhead fitting to 2 inches but all I could find on short notice is the three inch pipe with an adapter.

Here is the inside of the media barrel with water running through it.

The pump has been running for 4 days and the water is just as clear as when we filled it up after cleaning it the last time. The water clouded up for a few hours after I added aquarium filter bacteria but otherwise it has been clear. The animals are certainly using it. The chickens play with the bubbles produced by the outlet stream. One of the dogs, Bandit, has been in it every day as have the geese so the filter appears to be working. We will still have to clean the foam filter on the pump box but that takes a fraction of the time compared to doing a full dump* and scrub. We still need to figure out a way to clean the bottom of accumulated leaves, feathers and whatever else the geese pull into swim with them. But so far the new filter system has been successful.

*d.a. writes: the aforementioned "dump" is actually pumped out to each of the fruit trees. It takes awhile to do so, but we don't waste water here in South Central Texas, y'all.

Chest Freezer: Defrosting & Organizing Tips

Step 1: Take out the bodies, and hide them. Okay, okay, just kidding, it only LOOKS like our freezer could hide bodies. This post is for folks who are new to chest freezers and bulk frozen food storage - learn from my mistakes, and save yourself some cash.

You may be wondering why a stand-alone chest freezer (or older freezers) develop ice, where frost-free freezers do not. Self-defrosting freezers allow themselves to "warm up" a little to melt/dry out any beginning ice crystals or humidity, then quickly go back to a deeper freeze. The trade-off for the convenience of less work is faster "freezer burn", where your meats, vegetables and other goods get that dried out look, develop ice crystals and a funky taste if you keep items in the frost-free freezer for too long. You can get freezer burn in a regular freezer as well, but it usually takes longer to happen. No matter which you have, be sure to wrap/package your goods well to ensure longest freezer life possible.

Although we've a couple of good-sized portable ice chests, there's not enough room to store all our frozen goods when defrosting our chest freezer. Speed is of the essence. Some invaluable tools to make quick work:

1. Don't wait until the entire freezer is wall to wall ice. Seriously. 
2. Nylon pan scraper
3. Plastic-edged dust pan
4. Bucket

The stiff nylon pan scraper - there are all sorts, but this style's my favorite - is cheap, sturdy, has multiple uses, and won't scratch or puncture your freezer. Come on, you KNOW you've wanted to take a knife and hack the ice, right? Big no-no. This scraper will negate the need for melting the ice with a blow dryer or a pan of hot water, and will get the ice out faster. Find the edge of the ice, place the scraper edge against the wall and on an angle to the ice, and use short-sharp-quick scrapes to knock the ice off - done right, the ice will break off in chunks. Be sure to wear gloves to guard against possible scraped knuckles. Sometimes the ice won't come completely off the freezer wall, but as long as the frost hasn't melted into a solid ice block, the scraper will wear down the frost in a few short strokes.

Once all the ice is scraped down the sides, use a plastic edged dustpan (again, to safeguard against scratches or knicks) to scoop up the ice. Put ice in bucket, and dump where convenient *. That's it. If the freezer has been open long enough where a bit of condensation has developed on the inner walls or the floor, wipe with a dishrag. Easy peasy.

When the scraping is done, try to come up with some sort of organizing system when it's time to put things back. Perhaps one bin for pork, another for beef, one for produce, etc. That will make it easier to find what you need.

While you're at it, you may as well inventory what you have while you're putting things back. Write down what you have, and the amounts. Unless you have impeccable handwriting skills, you'll probably want to transfer the information to a spreadsheet of some sort. There are plenty of different inventory sheets available on the 'Net to choose from, or use your own software or even hand letter. Be sure to leave extra space for adding new items, or new quantities.  Put the finished inventory sheet in a conspicuous place where everyone can see it, especially whoever does the most cooking.  I find putting the inventory sheet front & center on the  refrigerator door very helpful, so when I go to stare at the fridge contents, I am first confronted by the fact that yes, we DO have things to cook in the house. Gold stars if you can manage to mark down quantities as you use them.

Do you have any tips for cleaning or organizing your freezer contents? Please do share them in the comments, and together we can make life a little easier - at least, as far as freezer maintenance is concerned.

* Don't dump ice on plants, indoors or out: the freezing meltwater can damage roots and possibly kill the plant. 

Project Research: New Porch Curtains, aka Tidying the Ragamuffin Encampment

Summer hit fast this year. We quickly put together canopy shade structures for the animals, and blocked sun from the west with whatever pieces of shade cloth were available. The shade cloths used (for the sides of the canopies, and for our own porch curtains) were from a big-box hardware store, plentiful and within our budget. Unfortunately, it can be expensive to buy cheap - the shade cloth is disintegrating after only two years, and brushing up against a panel sheds onto one's clothes & ground like a tsunami of dandruff. Yeccch.

Now that I've off-site paid employment again, we have the funds to start tidying up our ragamuffin-looking property. First thing on my list: new porch curtains and shade panels.

After much online searching, found Arizona Sun Supply (nope, this is not an ad for their company, this is just my own research). They've been great about answering questions over the phone, and sending samples (hooray, free samples!). They recommended the Textilene 80 or 90, which provides 80%-90% sun blocking, but still let's one see through the fabric. Nice.

The fabric itself is fairly thick, and kinda looks like screen fabric, but fatter threading. We could use big metal or nylon drapery grommets, which would make the curtains easy to hang and move on the curtain rod. But with as heavy as the samples feel, I'm thinking we may want to consider creating vertical flat panels instead. For the animal's shade canopies, the panels could have a couple of grommets at top and sides, and attached to the metal leg & horizontal roof poles via ball bungees. But for the porch? Whatever we do, it will need to be both easily removable (to allow Winter sun) AND goose resistant. The geese like to hang out on the shady porch, but sometimes get bored and decide to chew on things:

With as windy as it gets, the screen panels will need at least seven points of attachment: three at top, two on far middle sides, and two on far bottom sides. Or maybe we'll just make a channel "sleeve" at the top of each panel, "threading" the drapery rod through it, then add grommets at sides and at two points on the very bottom, so we can swing a panel across/back when we want sun.

Time to order!

Homemade Goose Chew Toy & Video

People don't believe us when we talk about how the geese are avatars of destruction. Window screens, rubber car trim, canvas chairs, curtains: if you don't provide them something better, all will be left in tatters in their wake.

This chew toy is made from fabric strips, scraps of parrot toys that were previously destroyed by the geese, and discarded twine from hay bales. Watch as the goose attacks the twine like it owes her money:



Do you believe us now? ;-)

I Have a Dysfunctional Relationship with my Sewing Machine

Pic: brand name smudged to protect the guilty. 

Like a woman in a bad relationship, I have tried for far too long to make things work with my sewing machine. I bought it, what? Twenty years ago? I tried, goodness I tried. I thought it was me. The ongoing problems with thread tension - perhaps I was pulling too much? Not enough? Maybe the thread was cheap? Too thick? Was the thread spool paper grabbing the spindle? Oh, I cleaned that machine. Oiled all its parts. Every time I needed to use it, I'd check it out. Make sure it had the right needle for the fabric on hand. I'd carefully test-sew on fabric scraps to make sure the bugs were worked out before starting any project. Sometimes I could get an hour of sewing done before the thread tension would vomit all over. Other times, it'd take only five minutes for tension failure. 

I finally took it in for a professional tuneup last year. Perhaps there was some glitch that I, in my ignorance, had overlooked. Brought it home, started sewing, then kerplooey - tangled, broken thread, from either the bobbin, or from the top side. 

You'd think I'd learned my lesson. Nope. It took a few more months...

The bags I use to haul sorted recyclable goods to the Transfer Station have been falling apart. Took a look at one person's method of re-using feed bags, got inspired to do my own variation, and picked up some emptied bags that were returned to the local feed store. Scissored some leftover pant-legs from cutoff jeans for handles. Then started sewing.

This project brought me to tears. Four measly bags, nothing fancy, no lining, and yet: missed stitches. Broken and snarled thread. Even the heavy-duty needle, made for denim & woven fabric, broke. Then came that watershed moment where I snapped, when I finally realized...

"It's not me, it's YOU! Yes, YOU, you good for nothing piece of @#$!! sewing machine! I've had it! I've made excuses for you, stood by your side when others made fun, and yet you still let me down. You've taken advantage of my good nature for the last time."

"Don't try to sweet-talk me. Don't start batting your eyelashes. I've fallen for every trick you've played, and I AM FINISHED. I'm not even going to bother trying to sell you or give you away to a thrift store - I wouldn't want anyone else to suffer the misery you've put me through. At this moment, I  am mentally searching for the last place I left the sledge hammer. Tell you what, I'm a good sport - obvious from all that I've put up with over the years - I'll give you a five-minute head start to hit the road. Just know that if I ever catch up to you, they will never find your body."

UPDATE: My mother-in-law, who has decades of professional tailoring/sewing machine experience, says that inexpensive plastic sewing machines like mine have issues with parts overheating and shifting, which is most likely causing the tension problems. Wow, whodathunkit? 

Experimental Planting

It's looking like a hot mess, but I've dedicated one of our raised planting beds to a couple of experiments:

• Cut an organic, sprouting sweet potato in half and plunked both halves into the soil (sprouting side up).
• Planted two corn seedlings, two squash, and a couple of beans to see if a Three Sisters setup can survive our winds. I'll probably have to hand-pollinate the corn, since there's only two...
• Planted one Burgundy Okra, and 
• One Eggplant.

Pic: Babs the Goose says "Who, me, work?
Talk to the butt."

The sweet potatoes are planted towards the front of the 4x4 raised bed where they need the deeper soil space, the corn/squash/beans in the middle, and the okra and eggplant in the shallower back end. I'm hoping the shade from the corn will protect the eggplant & okra on our Summer afternoons, as I've found they tend to fry in the heat. All in one box, yep, and probably too tight of a planting for the size of the bed, according to Square Foot Gardening recommendations. Heck, one squash plant alone could take up the entire bed. On the other hand, the staff at the local nursery plant their exhibition 4x4 raised beds more densely than recommended, and with good results*. I also figure with all the compost we used to fill the bottom of that particular terraced bed, as well as the soil mix (with more compost) on the top level, there should be enough nutrition for all - just gotta keep up with the watering and judicious pruning.

I'm also continuing the experiment of planting by moon signs, and oddly enough, it's working well. Hey, if the lead horticulturist for a local famous garden park swears by it, who am I to knock success? One side benefit of moon-sign planting is that it helps organize my work days. On the days that aren't good for planting, work on other stuff. Good day for planting? Seed the pasture, transplant seedlings, etc. Keeps me from the falling into the dreaded "paralysis by analysis", as there's so many chores and projects from which to choose. "Life on the farm" ain't "kinda laid back" 'round these parts, no ma'am. And the geese refuse to pitch in. Rotten geese.


[*As a side note for my one-point-five readers who are interested in self-sufficiency before TSHTF, be it economical or other disaster, take this oft-repeated advice seriously: start experimenting with planting NOW, whether it's cool weather, warm weather, or mid-season. Why? So you can get your mistakes out of the way that much faster, and learn what truly works for your climate, soil, and way of living. Even if one thing works for your neighbor, you may find because of your specific microclimate (sun & direction exposure, winds shifting through seasons, etc.) that it won't work for you. Though I'm happy to be of service, please don't take my bad examples as gospel.]

Project: Raised Beds Experiment, 4x4

Getting any projects done around the property since January has been a tough slog, due to the torqued shoulder. For the raised beds that have been sitting, partially completed, for almost (over?) a year now, I employed a mind-hack almost guaranteed to kick things into gear: started a couple flats of tomato seedlings. In our area of Texas, you need to have your plants in the ground by the first of April, else it will be too late for the early Summer tomato season. And I wouldn't want all those lovely seedlings grown from seed and tended carefully in the house to go to waste, now would I? No, I would not. 

Pic: an empty reworked raised bed.

We had a couple of 8'x4' raised beds in the lower part of the property a few years ago, but the location wasn't ideal for tending. Too easy to forget or overlook, and a pain to haul down the hose for watering. Spouse & I finally dragged the emptied forms from the old spot up to a bare spot on the hillside next to the house. I grew container strawberries and potatoes in that same spot last year, and the location worked well. I also decided to cut the raised beds in half in order to remake them into 4'x4' containers, ala "Square Foot Gardening". The reason for cutting up perfectly good raised beds: ease of maintenance. You wouldn't think that walking the few extra feet to get around a bed would make much difference, but I'm already finding it does.

Pic: a soil-filled bed with tomato seedlings, and covered
with rotted hay for moisture retention. Green plastic
"chicken wire" attached to bed sides for protection
against chickens. Chickens are wily.

The painful part: reworking the beds to be level on the hillside, and having to angle-cut boards to follow the hillside contour. Not the easiest thing in the world. Spouse got the process started, and I finished two more forms on my own. The wood is 1'x8' cedar fencing planks, with 2"x2" support boards to support the corners.  The cedar fence planks may seem thin, but are much more affordable than smooth-milled regular cedar boards, and have worked well in our earlier beds. Another experiment: rather than using wood screws, we're using extra-long staples delivered via a pneumatic staple gun. The attachments feel really sturdy, but we'll see how the staples hold up over the season. No big deal if we have to go back & put in screws later.

Pic: log filler for bottom level of bed. 

Together we made a custom soil mix for the beds, again inspired by "Square Foot Gardening". I made our mix a little heavier than recommended in the book, due to temperature & moisture needs. We filled the lower part of the beds with logs & branches to take up space, then a combination of old potting soil and compost to fill the spaces between. The next level of soil was the mix: topsoil, vermiculite, peat moss, and more compost.

I've got two beds filled with seedlings already - one with paste tomatoes, and one with slicing tomatoes. More on the tomato varieties we're trying out in another post :-).

Fixed: Project: 2x4 Basics "Easy-Up Enclosure" - Greenhouse Version

When I last wrote about putting together this small greenhouse project in early December 2011, an important piece had busted in the process, leaving me flummoxed as to how to repair or salvage the project. Spouse to the rescue! While I was out running errands one day last week, he put on his thinking cap and fabricated a part to replace the busted piece. He used a scrap of flashing, duct tape, some screws, and mitred two of the 2"x2" boards to align with the roof peak board (I know there's got to be an official name for this part of a roof - I'll figure it out someday). He then planed down some of the other 2"x2"s so that he wouldn't bust any of the other pieces like I did. Smart. He put it all together, and it was waiting for me when I got home. *swoon* I think I'll keep him.

The metal part, with screws and duct-tape (duct-tape holds the universe together):

The actual greenhouse roof connectors. The plastic connecters allow you to use un-mitred boards, just put the square boards into the square plastic openings. There are screws underneath to hold 2x2's in place. Easy peasy (if the wood is sized properly. Hmph.)

 The side roof-to-wall connector:

Tough to see, but the bottom connector is down there. 

The greenhouse cover is zippered on both sides, and the material is fairly sturdy. I don't know what percentage of light it lets through, however, so when I start seeds I may install a full-spectrum bulb to ensure proper germination. If you're interested in putting together one of these structures, you can find the kit and the greenhouse cover online (nope, I don't get paid for this review or for the link). Do some shopping around, as price varies. Amazon still has the greenhouse cover at a discounted price, but no longer appears to carry the connector kit at this time. And remember to factor in that you'll need to purchase the lumber. I think it's a good deal for the size of the structure (8' high x 8' long x 6 1/2' wide), but you could probably find a smaller greenhouse that's sturdier for the same amount of money. I also like that this structure is moveable (Spouse and I carried it with relative ease), and we can re-use it for different purposes in the Summer. 

In another flash of brilliance, Spouse remembered that a dark barrel filled with water can act as a passive solar collector/heater (if it gets enough sunlight during the day). Picked up a used 55-gallon food-grade barrel at the local feed store, and filled it up. Bonus: this will also act as an emergency backup water supply. 

Next: moving all the over-wintering plants into the greenhouse. I can take down the rigged wood structure under which our plants currently reside, and put away the overnight tarp. Yay!!!

Project: Automatic Chicken Coop Door Opener (ongoing)

Spouse writes:

Getting up to “manage” the animals is a time-honored, if sleep-interrupting tradition. The usual time for this is the crack of dawn. Unfortunately our sleep habits make this too #$%^ early. The animals disagree but I firmly believe that if our animals had a snooze button they would be getting up at a civilized afternoon hour like the rest of us.

Letting the chickens out of the coop is the priority, since they fuss about knowing that the lazy geese and ducks are eating up nature's bounty that must have sprung up overnight while they were locked in their cell. In order to free them from their sleeping quarters (and allow me to stay in mine) I have tried several methods of automating the chicken coop door. The first was a process control system that was cool but expensive and rejected after an expensive part failed.

The cheaper alternative we used for several months was based on an inexpensive power screw driver and an outdoor timer. I modeled it on the one shown here. The screwdriver displayed is no longer available and I had to adapt it to the cheapest cordless screwdriver Harbor Freight had available. This solution worked well but would commit suicide unless we kept the area under the door free of debris. The chickens seem to sense this and deposited as much “debris” as possible. It would take a couple of hours to remove the burned-out relay and solder in another.

Finally I read about the drapery motor. Yup - d.a. re-decorated the coop with roman shades… uh no. There is a drapery motor that will run one way and then the other as power is applied. It is a little pricey but I was tired of inhaling solder fumes and it was worth a try. It worked great all summer, but when it got cold the rubber wheel that the rope travels on started to slip. I tried fixing it with a thinner, rougher twine. This worked for a few days until the twine got wrapped up in the roller and the motor fried itself. The replacement twine was too thin.

We ordered another motor. I changed the design to include some pulleys and a counterweight so the motor wasn’t doing all the hard work. The result is shown below. I have since added a sheet metal cover to keep the chickens from bombing the drapery motor with more “debris”.

Picture of mechanism:

Picture of timer.

Flash movie of the door in action: