Test Wall

This is our first Test wall for the Green house.
It took about 40 dirt bags to make this. It is a very sturdy wall. I kicked it a couple of times and even ran into it and it did not tip. This wall is also built without the barbed wire binding in between the bags. I feel like it will be much more sturdy once the other walls are up and we have our barbed wire binding in between the bags.
I will post the video of me attempted to knock the wall over soon!

3 Ring Circus

So overall this project has turned into a huge obstacle course. Our underground green house is not going to be underground anymore. We found out that there is a large possibility for there to be water problems if we dig there. However if we double stack the dirt bags we think we can maintain around the same amount of heat on the inside. I also went and filled 20 more dirt bags with the assistance of a tomato cage bag holder. I cut some tomato cages so I can prop the bags on them. It does not save much time but it does save your back when filling dirt bags. The problem is I used all the extra dirt that was at the green house. I have been at a standstill for about a week. We asked around campus to see where we could get some dirt to fill out dirt bags and found out that there are some HUGE piles of dirt on campus that nobody is going to use. Today I was trained by the university to drive one of their vehicles. I am going to try to get access to one of their pickup trucks Wednesday so I can take a few loads of dirt from campus to the greenhouse. However turns out you have to turn in the paper work to rent out the truck at least a week in advance. Caitlin Cooper came to visit campus today and let me borrow her S-10 pickup for a few hours. I was able to take about three loads of dirt to the green house. This should hold me over until I can rent a truck.

Pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52274582@N05/?saved=1

Plant Check Up: Week 3

All the buckets are still looking healthy. They used a bit more water this week than last, but not enough to affect watering time. Last week each bucket took on average 1.5 cup fulls of water (not exactly sure of the ounces, but I am using a plastic that I fill to a certain line), this week they took on average 2.5 cup fulls.

The singular buckets I planted last week don't look any healthier than the global buckets, in fact they look a bit worse. I added 2 cups of water to each of those. I am going to be giving each bucket the average amount of water that goes into the global buckets.

I may have planted the seeds too close. The plants still look good now, but I am afraid as they mature some will die.

An experiment I conducted on an indoor hydroponic system may prove helpful in the greenhouse mission. In the hydroponic system I planted tomatoes to see if they would produce fruit. At first they would develope flowers, but they would not pollinate and would just fall off. Using a fan and an electric toothbrush I successfully pollinated the tomatoes. The fan is blowing constantly on the plants and once a day I place the electric toothbrush on the stems of the flowers. I believe that pollination would prove a problem inside an earthen greenhouse as well. The method I used is not only successfully, but extremely easy and takes less than 10 minutes a day. If we decided to plant produce that flowers, I do not think that pollination would be a very large obstacle to overcome.

We Got The Plants!

Today I watered the buckets for the second time. They do not need very much water at all; most two cups or less.

After two weeks every bucket has sprouts. I replanted two spinach buckets because a few of the seeds in those buckets didnt sprout.

Today I also planted two single 5-gallon buckets. They are two weeks behind the others. I am going to give them the same amount of water as I give the global buckets and compare the growth.

How we formed

The Dirtbag Brigade was in essence the brain child of Dr. Brian Thomas, a professor of sociology at Saginaw valley state university. The idea derived from a trip that Dr. Thomas had taken to China. He was able to observe massive underground green houses. These green houses generally went about 6 to 8 feet into the ground and only built about 3 to 4 feet above ground. They work by keeping the heat from the ground in and using the ground itself as insulation. The only thing that really comes over the top of the green house is a sheet of plastic.

Caitlin Cooper who is Social work major, sociology minor was talking to Dr. Thomas one day about a hydroponics system that is located in one of the residence halls of our university. While they were talking Dr. Thomas was able to discuss the underground Green house idea with Caitlin. Caitlin told Alyssa Tarrant about the idea and they started writing a grant.

I was hired as worker/designer/ volunteer coordinator / journalist for the green house as a summer job to gain more professional experience in project organization. So far I am really enjoying what I am doing. People get so caught up in the technology of today that sometimes they just don’t realize that the simplest things can provide the most help to people.

On Tuesday Alyssa, Dr. Thomas and I got together with the Ed Meisel who is the director of the current green houses at Saginaw Valley State University. He gave us a tour of his facilities as well as showed us where the tools were so we could get to work. We were also able to pick a plot for our underground green house. We chose our spot because we were told that most other spots tended to have water trouble. We tried to pick a spot that was not in the way of other projects but had easy access to things such as electricity and a water reserve.

The next day Alyssa and I came back to get some work done. Alyssa worked on the global buckets and I started filling dirt bags for one of the walls of the green house. I want to staple the bags shut with a staple gun but I do not have access to one at this point. I simply just built a wall by butting the open ends of the bags together. You are also supposed to place barbed wire in-between rows in order to keep the bags from moving. Even without the barbed wire I was able to stand on top of the wall. I ended up filling 20 bags to make a wall about three feet high in about two hours. I can’t wait to see how sturdy the wall is once we seal the bags and use the barbed wire!

Global Bucket Planting Mission: Complete....finally

A global bucket is comprised of two 5 gallon buckets, about a two foot long piece of thin PVC piping, and a plastic cup. In one bucket, a center hole is made to fit the plastic cup. Another hole is placed near the edge of the bucket to fit the PVC pipe. Smaller holes (using roughly a 3/8 bit) are spread around the remainder of the bucket. I made 16 smaller holes which made for 18 total holes. Then place the 'holed' bucket inside of the untouched one. The PVC pipe is placed in its hole and can be held to the side of the bucket with a zip tie. Cut slits in the plastic cup (about 5-6 slits) and place it in its spot. Holding the bucket up to light, a line between the two buckets will become visible. Drill about four holes right under that line, these will act as flow holes for excess water. Finally wet the soil and pack it into the top ('holed) bucket. Once you have filled it to the top, some kind of weed deterrent can be placed over the top, such as a trash bag. Cut holes in the bag and plant the seeds. Fill the bottom bucket with water via the PVC pipe until water comes from the flow holes.

After 9 hours, 20 global buckets now grace the SVSU greenhouse lawn. Building and planting the buckets took longer than expected, probably because I was not figuring in the time it would take to find tools, ready the soil, and move heavy buckets and bags of dirt. It took 4 hours and 10 minutes to construct all 20 buckets. Construction included drilling the holes, cutting the PVC pipe, and putting all the pieces together. I spent 4 hours and 50 minutes planting all 20 buckets, 10 of which contain basil and 10 more which contain spinach.

I used Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix for the soil. Before putting the soil in the buckets, I saturated it with water so it could be packed more tightly, focusing on packing the soil especially tight in the cup on the bottom of the top bucket. Having this area packed tight will help the water wick up into the above bucket.

After filling the buckets with dirt, I placed a trashbag over the top to prevent weeds. I then cut three holes in the buckets intended for basil and two for the spinach buckets. Four basil seeds were place in each hole, totallying twelve seeds in each bucket. I placed two spinach seeds in each of the spinach bucket holes, totallying four seeds in each bucket.

When purchasing the seeds, a man (also buying seed) told me that he has had little luck with seeds this year. He said he had tried various brands, but all lacked satisfactory germination. I purchased Burpee seeds (the same brand as the man), but if the seeds fail to produce, it may be because of poor seeds and not poor planters.

While planting the buckets I also wondered if plants would grow as successfully if I used only a single buckets and monitored the water intake. I think that planting in this way would prove even easier and would definitely be cheaper.