The tanks and pump I used can be bought online and delivered right to your door. My set up was a bit hybrid so I needed help installing the piping but if you just want to hook up 1 tank it’s easy to just open the spigot at the bottom and get water. A gravity fed irrigation system is possible with this set up.
The walk in cooler features a gadget called a “Coolbot” it controls a window air conditioner that now can drop to 32 degrees. We built an insulated closet, 6′x8′, covered the walls with “reefer board” making it easy to keep clean and installed a window air conditioner in the wall with the Coolbot controling the unit to cool the space, temperatures range from 32-60 degrees. So far it’s working great, it cools down quickly and stays at a very steady temperature. One problem is when you open the door too much of the cold air pours out, I’m searching for a solution. The first electrical bill was a surprise, I expected something close to $100 but it was around $35 for the month of August! Up maybe only $10. I’ll keep track of the usuage and report back.
2010 finds an addition to the rainwater harvesting system, we’ve added another 550 gallon tank to help with the expansion of our growing area. The new tank is on the north side of the barn, it’s connected to the other tank located there and then feeds into the pump inside the barn. There are 2 inline filters and as we did last year the water is treated in the tanks for algae, then again in the sinks to bring it to potablity. I haven’t mentioned the product we are using, it’s called StorOx and is produced by Bio Safe Systems. It’s peracitic acid and approved by OMRI for organic use. One does have to use caution when pouring from the container, appropriate gloves and eye protection in a well vetilated area but not too much of a problem and it’s much preferable to using chlorine. Will have another water test done this year to make sure all is working properly but since the water changes with wet weather the main reason for doing this is to make sure the test strips used everytime I fill up the sinks are accurate and the water is free of pathogens.
The walk in cooler has found a new use since we aren’t cooling produce in it right now. It’s doubling as a place to keep my emerging seedlings warm. I put up a 3 tiered wooden storage unit and hooked up shop lights with fluorescent tubes (just the regular 40 watt type you would use in your garage) then put down the seedling heating mats. Watch out because it can get too warm, my highest temp was over 120! I started doing this years ago in my laundry room and can produce around 1500 seedlings with just this small set up, somehwere around 600 tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings which take more time to grow and the rest basil, cucumbers, zucchini etc. It’s great to have something that serves multiple purposes, conserves resources and money! Some of the pictures included are from this year but also from about 4 years ago when my deck in Portland was full of seedlings waiting to go out to the gardeners being mentored at Growing Gardens.
