Month: June 2014

season update – what grew, is growing, and still to come

This morning the sun ducked behind clouds and instead of retreating before the heat I took some pics of growing activity. At the top of the hill stands a solitary thistle. Thistle, a symbol of Scotland, brings back memories of vacations in the Highlands. And the pipes of the Black Watch swirling through our living room when my Dad, who fought in a Scottish regiment in WW2, would play our favorite record.  Not that it is universally admired - here is a quote from Botanical.com: In agriculture Read more [...]

2 gravity feed tanks with 9 valves

All my irrigation is from harvested rainwater collected from impermeable surfaces, stored in large tanks at the bottom of the hill and then pumped to 2 tanks at the top of the hill for gravity feeding to the orchard and crops.  Today I added my 9th valve to the pipe system for the 2 gravity feed tanks.  Are 9 valves used and are they necessary?  I have concluded - yes. Here is a 'photo of the 2 tanks: And here is a schematic of the pipe system: You can see the 9 numbered valves.  Read more [...]

replacing IBC tote valve

My rainwater harvesting system includes 5 IBC (intermediate bulk container) totes, each with a 1,000 litre (280 gal) capacity.  It was inevitable that the valve at the bottom of one would misfunction - in this case a crack developed at the handle shaft housing and water came out steadily. This meant I had to study up on how to replace a tote valve.  The valve is removed by turning anti clockwise the ridges on the metal coupler shown below. There are ibc valve spanner wrenches Read more [...]

young life abounds

In the past week I have seen many instances of young life.  I became aware that this was the season from a local news report about a 5 year old kid bitten by a young copperhead - he survived, the snake did not.  The ranger said that young venomous snakes are the most dangerous because they have not yet learned to get out of the way. The next day my companion, Trudy, barked furiously as I worked my 3 sister row (corn, bean & squash) and there was a blur of something large moving ungainly Read more [...]