So I was thinking and trust me I do a lot of thinking. What would be a good way to heat a greenhouse in the winter time without the need for massive amounts of electricity or any electricity at all?
One thought I had was piping heated water underneath the greenhouse that went to a remote boiler unit that was powered by wood or paper blocks (thinking paper blocks since it is a great way to use the junk mail paper that everybody gets) to heat the boiler pipes. The other idea is through solar array. I'm kind of leaning toward the first one because then I could put a really nice copper design to go with it and make it really Steampunkish. I would still need a little bit of solar to power the pumps and the fans but I could limit that to a 12 volt parralel wiring system. The design of course has already been tested on geothermal mass heaters for pumping heated liquid to heat a space so I do not see a problem with doing a similar system for the greenhouse. The only problem is going to filling the British Thermal Unit requirement for the space in general so I may have to break it up into levels. First level being a inbed system and the second level being a force draft system. Now the easy way to figure this out is to think about conditioning the space. For every 452' of space you will need 1 ton of air to condition said space. Here is the kicker. The 452' is for a standard insulated run of the mill house and the greenhouse is not your run of the mill house with only an air gap to provide insulation from the elements. So I will have to reresearch my college books on the algorithm used to figure out insulation of a glass structure. During the days of sun when it is winter there really will be little need for the heat since the UV rays will do most of the heating but overcast days will need to be accounted for. In all I can't wait to show you the drawing on this one because once it is done being Steampunk'd out it will not only look impressive but everything will be fully functional. All Steampunk ideas that will be on this blog except for a couple decor ideas will be fully functional and you will be able to do yourself if you would like. Well until the next time. Thanks again for reading.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Always Setbacks To a Passion
Well what can we say? When you get a plan together and have all of your ducks lined out in a row something always has to come up. In our case it happened to be work. Nothing wrong with work, I feel everybody should put in a good at least 12 hour day with some sort of manual labor into it.
So with the plan on hold for right now until I get back from the rig I have decided to condense down some of the post with two to three subjects into each one. I have already stated the approximation of what plants we plan to grow but have not been able to show you the findings on it. That unforturnate piece of paper happens to be at the house. So with the next post we will start out by showing you what we use on a daily basis and what we use for special occasions.
The second part of the post will consist of designs for the chicken coop and the workshop which will be a vital part of many of the fabrications that will be in later posts. The workshop of coarse is going through some major changes to deal with the influx of materials (mainly lumber I have cut myself) and the space needed to do some of the designs. Before any designs are to be built I will show draftings of each with the necessary supply list that is needed for each one. Since I mainly do hand drawn drafts these will be in place through velum paper and mechanical pencil. Some of the designs you will see will be pretty complex but those will mainly involve the copper and bronze designs that I will use to incorporate the Steampunk theme of the homestead.
As with any post I will show very thorough pictures that may have cookies attached with it like java or jpg images so be sure that you are fine with these before you proceed past this post. I am not really sure how they classify what is a cookie and what is not since I am not very familiar with how they classify these on a government level but all images will be taken by the camera on this computer and I have not desided on whether or not I am going to shoot any video for this blog. I hope yall will join me when I come home for good and we can get the ball rolling on transforming the land into a wonderful world of Steampunk and Self-Sustaining lifestyle choices. Thank you guys again for reading this post and I look forward to showing you some new stuff in the future. Until then I will just be working out in the middle of nowhere drilling for fuel.
So with the plan on hold for right now until I get back from the rig I have decided to condense down some of the post with two to three subjects into each one. I have already stated the approximation of what plants we plan to grow but have not been able to show you the findings on it. That unforturnate piece of paper happens to be at the house. So with the next post we will start out by showing you what we use on a daily basis and what we use for special occasions.
The second part of the post will consist of designs for the chicken coop and the workshop which will be a vital part of many of the fabrications that will be in later posts. The workshop of coarse is going through some major changes to deal with the influx of materials (mainly lumber I have cut myself) and the space needed to do some of the designs. Before any designs are to be built I will show draftings of each with the necessary supply list that is needed for each one. Since I mainly do hand drawn drafts these will be in place through velum paper and mechanical pencil. Some of the designs you will see will be pretty complex but those will mainly involve the copper and bronze designs that I will use to incorporate the Steampunk theme of the homestead.
As with any post I will show very thorough pictures that may have cookies attached with it like java or jpg images so be sure that you are fine with these before you proceed past this post. I am not really sure how they classify what is a cookie and what is not since I am not very familiar with how they classify these on a government level but all images will be taken by the camera on this computer and I have not desided on whether or not I am going to shoot any video for this blog. I hope yall will join me when I come home for good and we can get the ball rolling on transforming the land into a wonderful world of Steampunk and Self-Sustaining lifestyle choices. Thank you guys again for reading this post and I look forward to showing you some new stuff in the future. Until then I will just be working out in the middle of nowhere drilling for fuel.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Tomorrow We Begin
As you can tell by the title of this post it is now time. Tomorrow I should be headed home from the rig but the work is just beginning. In order to go to a more frugal self-sustaining lifestyle you must first go with a plan of some sorts. I have already listed a plan on what needs to be done with our land and some various ones on the household, now we get into the nitty gritty as Nacho Libre once said.
So for what I see it. The first plan is budgeting hard. Don't spend money on services that you really don't need. I mean do you really need a $250 Satellite TV bill? Do you really need the top of the line organic food from your grocery stores when you can grow it yourself? I imagine there is probably a study going around by many top executives of the mainstream society trying to determine the gullability of todays youth to see just how far they can stretch their dollar into ones mind for spending money on things that they really don't need. This where we learn to be wiser and save instead of spending. Use some of the money for other gains that are not momentary and stray away from the instant gratification into something that takes awhile to be satified. Something at which you can look back on in years to come and say "You know while everyone else was spending the money on new power tools I built this with my own strength and determination"
Now your probably saying "No power tools!" and thinking man this blog is going to last forever. I can garantee you that this blog will not be an overnight here is some pictures of when I am finished. This will probably go into the years but if you follow me through the weeks and months, failures and triumphs, you will see where I am eventually coming from. Nothing good comes out of a quick fix and by what I have learned most of the time it ends up back coming to bite you in the ass later.
For now we are just going to stick with a simple plan revolving around stuff that we actually need. The list is pretty simple also. What do you need to be more self-sufficient that you use everyday that you really don't have to buy? Food of course! Lets start by calculating how much produce we actually buy that can be grown ourselves in a greenhouse year around or in a planting bed most of the year and the excess dried for winter months. How many onions, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, garlic does one go through in a week and calculate it by 52 to give an accurate estimate of what needs to be grown. Herbs are one of the most expensive things you can buy besides certain protein and that needs to be taken account of. This one is a little bit more difficult because we are measuring in fractions and having to take that on a dried amount. Fresh herbs generally call for more since their oil is not concentrated on a dehydrated level. Case in point you will see a lot of estimate calculations based solely just on the herbs and produce itself because it is such a vital role in this coarse of action. Once all final estimates are in then we have to figure out where and how we are going to properly grow the produce to where we get maximum yeild without artificial stimulants and growth hormones. We are going to save all that for a later post when we go into to lab work testing out different concentrations of natural fertilizers and creating the fertilizers.
So for what I see it. The first plan is budgeting hard. Don't spend money on services that you really don't need. I mean do you really need a $250 Satellite TV bill? Do you really need the top of the line organic food from your grocery stores when you can grow it yourself? I imagine there is probably a study going around by many top executives of the mainstream society trying to determine the gullability of todays youth to see just how far they can stretch their dollar into ones mind for spending money on things that they really don't need. This where we learn to be wiser and save instead of spending. Use some of the money for other gains that are not momentary and stray away from the instant gratification into something that takes awhile to be satified. Something at which you can look back on in years to come and say "You know while everyone else was spending the money on new power tools I built this with my own strength and determination"
Now your probably saying "No power tools!" and thinking man this blog is going to last forever. I can garantee you that this blog will not be an overnight here is some pictures of when I am finished. This will probably go into the years but if you follow me through the weeks and months, failures and triumphs, you will see where I am eventually coming from. Nothing good comes out of a quick fix and by what I have learned most of the time it ends up back coming to bite you in the ass later.
For now we are just going to stick with a simple plan revolving around stuff that we actually need. The list is pretty simple also. What do you need to be more self-sufficient that you use everyday that you really don't have to buy? Food of course! Lets start by calculating how much produce we actually buy that can be grown ourselves in a greenhouse year around or in a planting bed most of the year and the excess dried for winter months. How many onions, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, garlic does one go through in a week and calculate it by 52 to give an accurate estimate of what needs to be grown. Herbs are one of the most expensive things you can buy besides certain protein and that needs to be taken account of. This one is a little bit more difficult because we are measuring in fractions and having to take that on a dried amount. Fresh herbs generally call for more since their oil is not concentrated on a dehydrated level. Case in point you will see a lot of estimate calculations based solely just on the herbs and produce itself because it is such a vital role in this coarse of action. Once all final estimates are in then we have to figure out where and how we are going to properly grow the produce to where we get maximum yeild without artificial stimulants and growth hormones. We are going to save all that for a later post when we go into to lab work testing out different concentrations of natural fertilizers and creating the fertilizers.
Friday, January 8, 2016
Idle Time
Well its about 2:30 in the morning right now and I am unable to sleep. It always amazes me how much your brain can think of something when it has nothing better to do than to contemplate the contraptions hiding inside of your mind. I mentioned on my last post that I was into the Steampunk genre and it hit me about 3:30 yesterday morning that out of all of the research I have done never once have I seen a homestead or self-sufficient home designed on the Steampunk format. Now my mind is racing with design ideas on how to incorporate all aspects of Steampunk into the design. Clockwork chicken coops, steam electrogenerators and various other designs are plaguing my thoughts but sleep should come pretty quick after it all dies down.
The idea would be an awesome undertaking but would take years for all of the engineering and prep work to be done. I guess when i get home Ill have to take out my portable drafting table and canvas paper and put it to ink. I couldn't help but notice this morning as I awoke that people are starting to read this blog and I am happy because of that. Though I may seem unknown to you I am a lot like you if you dream of the steam arts. Knowing that somedays your mind will not let you rest and the design must be perfect like the end of a novel. All that matters is the ending. You can design and design again but as long as it is not perfect your work is never complete.
You will have to forgive me if I seem to rambling on like a mad scientist or Howard Hughes working on his next aviation. This project is something I have dreamed about for years and since you have devoted your time to reading this I want you to know exactly where I am coming from even if it is a ramble of thoughts.
The idea would be an awesome undertaking but would take years for all of the engineering and prep work to be done. I guess when i get home Ill have to take out my portable drafting table and canvas paper and put it to ink. I couldn't help but notice this morning as I awoke that people are starting to read this blog and I am happy because of that. Though I may seem unknown to you I am a lot like you if you dream of the steam arts. Knowing that somedays your mind will not let you rest and the design must be perfect like the end of a novel. All that matters is the ending. You can design and design again but as long as it is not perfect your work is never complete.
You will have to forgive me if I seem to rambling on like a mad scientist or Howard Hughes working on his next aviation. This project is something I have dreamed about for years and since you have devoted your time to reading this I want you to know exactly where I am coming from even if it is a ramble of thoughts.
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Looking Into Research Old Ways
As I sit here at my workstation at the rig I consider myself quite accomplished today. Though I am still about a little over a week from heading home I found myself doing some research on old ways. Now you may look at the ones I have chosen to research and think "Why on earth did you research that era?" Well to tell you the truth I have a love for the Steampunk genre of reading. Since it mainly takes place in the Victorian and Edwardian era I decided to start there. See what they ate, how they conducted their lives and what their mannerisms was like.
Needless to say they are far from ours. Manners basically ruled the social classes and one could go up in rank simply by showing some sense of propriety in ones self. Looking into the household aspect of it I was able to find one book that basically summed it up in what would be called encyclopedic proportions. Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management was title and a book it is. Sprawling at nearly 2,000 pages this book has everything one would need to know about the age in household perspective. The references to cooking nearly take up the whole book and I can't wait to get my hands on a hardcover copy.
With so many pages on cooking recipes it is pretty easy to see where we need to start out on the farm when it comes to produce and to what quantity to plant. What animals to raise we have already discussed that and have decided on chickens, goats and maybe a couple ducks for the holidays. Oh I do love a good roast duck during Christmas.
For now since it is the cold season and I cannot plant anything at this time I am going to focus on more research for the upcoming planting season and what modifications I need to make to the house. Though I have a feeling we will be needing a lot of trash (barely used items throughout the year) taken out.
Needless to say they are far from ours. Manners basically ruled the social classes and one could go up in rank simply by showing some sense of propriety in ones self. Looking into the household aspect of it I was able to find one book that basically summed it up in what would be called encyclopedic proportions. Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management was title and a book it is. Sprawling at nearly 2,000 pages this book has everything one would need to know about the age in household perspective. The references to cooking nearly take up the whole book and I can't wait to get my hands on a hardcover copy.
With so many pages on cooking recipes it is pretty easy to see where we need to start out on the farm when it comes to produce and to what quantity to plant. What animals to raise we have already discussed that and have decided on chickens, goats and maybe a couple ducks for the holidays. Oh I do love a good roast duck during Christmas.
For now since it is the cold season and I cannot plant anything at this time I am going to focus on more research for the upcoming planting season and what modifications I need to make to the house. Though I have a feeling we will be needing a lot of trash (barely used items throughout the year) taken out.
Friday, January 1, 2016
Reasoning for A Simpler Life
You have probably just got done reading the title of this blog and are wondering to yourself has this guy lost his mind or is he up to something that could be useful in your life. Either way that you look at this blog this is basically just a personal journey to find a more meaningful life away from the hustle and bustle of today's got to have this now and have to have it in the quickest way possible. Now I am not saying that technology is a bad thing lets face it the world basically in given terms revolves around it. Who has the fastest computer, cell phone, internet and fastest growing bank account.
I first had the idea for making a simpler less technological life for myself when my wife and I went to Thayne, Wyoming for our honeymoon last year. Life as we seen it was a little bit different there. Shops opened up around 10:30 in the morning compared to where we live in Texas at 8:00. Everybody had a smile on their face and many times we heard the same saying over and over again. "We do things a little bit different here." It stuck with me all the way up till about the holidays when I finally said "Enough!" Working weeks on end away from home, days without sleep working alone on a rig while my partner was at another rig setting that up. I had basically had enough when the year end payroll check came in and the year to date income was only $28,000. $28,000 for a whole year are you kidding me!
New Years night came along and everybody I know was making their New Years resolutions. "I want to be a better man. I want to make more money next year. I want to find someone to live the rest of my life with." We've all heard them and we have all tried to stick by them but this year at 12:00 I told myself I want to do what I want to do. Not to hard to stick with that is it. Well I guess we will see in the post throughout the year of how this goes.
I guess you could say the main reasoning behind all of this is dependence. We are so dependent on technology and money now and days to live it has almost come to nothing. Their is no personal space for anyone now and days. You've all seen the social media sites I am sure where everyone is in somebodies business and the he said she said is so close that it is almost unbareable. The first step I can see to start out with is to make a plan for less dependence on the outside world. Not to become a hobbit or hermit but just a simpler meaningful life. Below I have listed the steps at which I plan to take in the following months to insure that if anything goes right I will at least have a plan of action to look forward to.
I first had the idea for making a simpler less technological life for myself when my wife and I went to Thayne, Wyoming for our honeymoon last year. Life as we seen it was a little bit different there. Shops opened up around 10:30 in the morning compared to where we live in Texas at 8:00. Everybody had a smile on their face and many times we heard the same saying over and over again. "We do things a little bit different here." It stuck with me all the way up till about the holidays when I finally said "Enough!" Working weeks on end away from home, days without sleep working alone on a rig while my partner was at another rig setting that up. I had basically had enough when the year end payroll check came in and the year to date income was only $28,000. $28,000 for a whole year are you kidding me!
New Years night came along and everybody I know was making their New Years resolutions. "I want to be a better man. I want to make more money next year. I want to find someone to live the rest of my life with." We've all heard them and we have all tried to stick by them but this year at 12:00 I told myself I want to do what I want to do. Not to hard to stick with that is it. Well I guess we will see in the post throughout the year of how this goes.
I guess you could say the main reasoning behind all of this is dependence. We are so dependent on technology and money now and days to live it has almost come to nothing. Their is no personal space for anyone now and days. You've all seen the social media sites I am sure where everyone is in somebodies business and the he said she said is so close that it is almost unbareable. The first step I can see to start out with is to make a plan for less dependence on the outside world. Not to become a hobbit or hermit but just a simpler meaningful life. Below I have listed the steps at which I plan to take in the following months to insure that if anything goes right I will at least have a plan of action to look forward to.
Simple Plan
- Get rid of everything that you don't use at least twice a year.
- List common vegetables that you use on a daily basis for growing.
- Start hunting again
- Start fishing again
- Turn off or ignor all social media sites
- Look into ways of building your own energy sources
- Enjoy what you have around you (Not the T.V.)
- Find ways to generate income on the land
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