Feed the community

"So, what am I doing now?" you might be sighing while asking yourself..

Do you know the "Food Is Free" idea, movement, philosophy.. whatever you want to call it. That is what I am doing now.

Food Is Free

OK, that heading just took about 10 minutes, so please enjoy it for a while.

Now that you have done that, so what is Food Is Free? It is the idea of planting/growing/making/harvesting food, a lot of food, more food than YOU need and sharing the overflow. Trading with others with similar mind sets, and just giving food to people who need/want it. This is open to abuse, clearly, however it is based more on a honor system. The system of love, peace, happiness and all the other good feelings that you get when life is going well.

I know a lot of the people in my local area do something very similar, they have beautiful local gardens and are happy to swap/trade/give away things that they don't need, when they have too much food or want something else, they will take carrots from one person in exchange for lettuce, eggs, garlic, whatever, you get the idea. So this project is just like that, but bigger.

This is going to be a charity. I will be experimenting with a lot of different growing styles, foods, types, etc, and trying to get the best, the most, the biggest, healthiest of them all. I want to cover this 5 acres and make it an huge eatable forest. I know this can be done, however people do it on a small budget of only $15,000 (cough! ONLY), I don't have that, so I will be trying to do all of this on a budget of about $1.87, hand-me-downs, freebies, charity, etc. anything I can get I will try to use. I will be seeking the cheapest parts (but trying not to sacrifice too much quality), cheap delivery, cheap labor (if needed, and I know I have had offers from WWOOFers (www.wwoof.net) for this already!).

I have started a new Face Book page (www.facebook.com/FTCMurphysCreek) to start to raise awareness of what I am trying to do, why, when, where, all that good stuff.
It is titled "Feed The Community - Murphys Creek", Murphys Creek being the area (of South East Queensland, Australia), however I am hoping that it will spread. I have titled it this way for a reason, I am hoping that more people will start to do this kind of thing and just call is "Feed The Community - your town", and keep the movement going! :)



This relies a LOT on charity, the good will of people just sharing THIS page, the Face Book page, donating, giving, caring, the ad-sense from this blog, whatever. So far this "New Life" blog that I have started has had such good feed back. So many loving, caring people out there that are so happy to share love with (most of the time) just a stranger like me. So thank you to all of you. I am hoping to piggy-back from this (limited) success so far and launch the new idea.

I will be attempting to launch this on Kick-starter in hopes to raise money to start it off. What money do I need? Well, since the ground that I am on is very hard (clay) and has had a LOT of damage done by the old owners (burring rubbish (including plastics and metals)) I have decided to start the project off with an aquaponics system. This is not like the aquaponics system that I tried (this link), but one that is a lot bigger, a larger scale one. While I was making the previous one I was thinking about all the problems with the design, future problems, and how I could best use it, and that is when this project came to mind. I figured that I could only really do what I wanted to do by scaling up a lot, and that the food production would be a lot more than I needed. The idea of just using it to barter was the first idea, but I do like to give to people that need it, to help others, so instead of just being selfish and hoarding all my lovely organically grown veggies, I will share them with my local community.

So far the chickens are on board! Thanks ladies!

So what do I need right now? Well, not just money (in fact no money right now at all!), I am looking for parts to MAKE the aquaponics system, this includes water catchment (such as drums, barrels, tubs, sinks, baths, etc..) pipes (PVC, rural, irrigation, hoses, etc..) shade cloth, metal poles/star pickets, wooden stakes, pumps, pretty much anything. These don't have to be new at all. BUT! The one thing I really REALLY need first up, is design help. I need someone who might know a bit about aquaponics to offer some time (even just on the net) to helping me design this thing. I don't want to get a pump that is too big/small, I don't want to mess the water flow up and ruin everything.

If anyone wants to volunteer help, please let me know (email is fine, remove the ()  in the address) and we can start to chat about what I want, and what I need.

Until I get a design that will work, I will not launch the kick-starter campaign yet, otherwise I don't know how much money I might need. The money will go towards the buying of the pump, pipes, tanks, clay-pellet things, seedlings, etc..

Well, I best get off this and back into the real life, or nothing will actually get done! :)

Until next time, I hope you all have a great night/day/week/month/year/... and smile at the things that make you happy, ignore the negativity!

Aquaponics/Hydroponics, it's a start!

My new Aquaponics system

So, it is time, I have decided to stop killing innocent plants in the ground and see if I can broaden my horizons by killing them in a aquaponic setup instead!

Like I have said of most of my other posts, I am NOT a builder, a mechanic, a water engineer, or anything of the sorts, I have no idea what I am doing. A lot of what I am trying is just guess work, and a lot of thinking time goes into it all. Some (most) of what I try fails, but then I learn why it fails, and we all get to move on :)

So, the new idea, using the main dam/pond where the ducks and geese (yabbies, turtles, whatever-else) like to play as the main water source, I will pump the water through tubes (PVC pipes) which will hold seedlings (and then plants), the plants will eat up all the goodness from the dam water, then it will go back into the dam. I think that it will do two really good things, 1- feed the new veggies with great water and allow them to constantly get water (should stop them from getting attacked by the sun), 2- keep the water moving the the dam which should help all the things inside there stay healthy, happy and alive.

So, the first thing that I need to do is create a frame. The frame is going to just hold a PVC pipe (which I have a whole stack of random sizes and lengths). Using all the spare wood I have around the place, I measure and cut the wood in half. I want this to be high enough that I will not keep bending down and hurt my back.

Once I have cut two bit of wood all about the same length, it is time to actually work out what I am going to try to hold. This is a 90 mm diameter PVC pipe, and it has been luckily selected as the first attempt at making a plant bed as part of the aquaponic system! I know, it is an honour (I will note here that the diameter of the pipe DOES matter, it has to be wider than the diameter of the pots you want to put in it, that will come into it all later on). I have stood the pipe up and using two of the bits of wood, braced the pipe (this is to ensure that the top of the X will be wide enough to hold the pipe), while there I nailed the wood together. I will note that I nailed the wood twice on this side, that is to stop it from collapsing, then I turned it over and nailed it once through the middle on the other side. Like I said, I have no idea what I am actually doing, but I try to think that if I was a piece of wood, what would I do to mess up the life of the person trying to use me!

So, doing that again on the other side, then I end up with two large X's that will hold the pipe. I need this to be on a slope, this is because I want to push water from one end and then make it run down the pipe and out the other end.  However I live on a slope, so not a GREAT concern :) I do have a different concern though, I think that the structure below could/would/WILL collapse, there is nothing holding the X upright, so, I will add two braces, one on either side going the length of the frame.

There is a problem with adding those supports, it means that it is no longer two big X's, it is now one larger monstrosity which will be harder to move around, but more importantly it will be a fixed length, so if I wanted to change the pipe for some reason to a longer or shorter one, the frame might not be good enough :( I don't know any other way of stopping it from falling over though, so this will do for now.

You can also see in the photo two of the three site supervisors I had there. Just so you all know that it was done by the books! :) So here it is, with the supporting bars to stop it from falling. I made them on an angel and opposite angels because I think that if they were flat or the same angel on both sides it would not stop the problem 100%. Time will tell :)

At this point I tested the pipe layout to see if my idea will actually work (no point in finishing a project that could never work), so I tested it out, I have uploaded the short movie to my YouTube account, in the movie you can see that water does go to the other side of the pipe, even though it also flows back through the side I poured it in on. That is ok, that is just because there is nothing stopping it, so I will do that now. I don't have end caps for this pipe, and I am not going to go out and buy them just yet (I will if it all works well), but I do have some other joins for pipes that will work.

Nothing too special, but I had a 90 degree end (left) and a 15 degree bend (right) for 90 mm diameter pipe, so they SHOULD work for now, for what I want to do. I would like to have the end caps, or at least two 90 degree bends, but I work with what I have.

With the first bend on, the 15 degree one, this is on the 'inlet' side. It matters. This should just stop the water from rolling back, the 90 degree one will stop the water that is flowing towards it (so it needs to be bigger), ultimately they should/will both have caps, caps that screw on and stop all the water flow.
So in this picture you can see that I drilled a hole in the top of the pipe, that is where the water will pour into. This is not a random hole, I found a 13 mm connector (the black irrigation piping stuff) laying around, and I am using that to connect it to the water barrel (that will come).

This is the connector that I have put in the hole. You can see that it just comes through the pipe, however it doesn't really matter how far, as long as it is in the PVC pipe. I think that it would be a smart idea to ensure that it is also above the water line (where ever you want the water in the pipe to fill to) so it splashes as it comes down, surely this will help keep the water from going stagnant?
The whole thing will be sealed, so light shouldn't get in there, so bacteria shouldn't grow.

This is the other end, it is a little different than the inlet end, this is because I need/want the water to drain at about 1/2 way. My theory is that the pipe will fill to about 1/2 way, then start to flow through the black outlet (which will be connected to another pipe slightly downhill again, etc..).
So, does it work? I uploaded this video as well to my YouTube account so you can see, but the short of it is, yes, it works :) It leaks from the 90 degree bend, but that is ok, it is just a test. If it was the finished product it would a cap that was glued or screwed on.

This is a better look at the connection to the water barrel, you can see the 13 mm connector in the pipe, connecting the small plastic tube up to the water tap. This is elevated on a old fridge to give it height (just so I don't need a pump or anything yet), and the pipe is sloping downhill to allow the water to run through the pipe and out the other end.

Now, time to add holes for plants! :) The whole point of doing this.

This is how we make the holes, using my trusty drill with a hole saw attachment. You can get these from any hardware store (common tool), and to the left of the drill is the pot that I am planning on using. It is taller than the pipe, but not as wide. I have made sure that the hole saw (they come in different sizes) just fits about 1/2 down the pot, which I measured against the pipe to make sure water will just sit on the bottom of it.

Line up about the middle of the pipe, starting at one and and make your hole. Be careful not to push the drill through the pipe and make a hole on the other side, that will cause it to leak, we don't want that.

You can see the results of the drill, it makes holes. I have decided to make the edge of the holes about 15 cm apart. I don't know if that is too big or small, but I was just thinking about the kinds of foods I will be growing, and you need to make sure that there is a enough room to stretch :) If it turns out that they are too cramped, this will just be for seedlings or things like leeks that grow straight up and not bushy :)

Keep drilling holes the whole way along (depending on how many pots you have, how much pipe, etc..). Then put the pots in the holes.

I have left one near the middle empty for now, I just want to watch the water flowing past (fault finding really). The pots are not glued in, just held there nice and tight due to the size of the holes I drilled.
I tested it again (so many tests) and I have uploaded it again on my YouTube channel, so did it work? No... :( Why not? well, as you can see in the video the last pot had the right amount of water, then working all the way back up it got less and less. Why? I should have see THAT coming, the pipe is on an angle, which means that the water will pool at the end (which is ok), but then drain out, not allowing water to pool throughout the pipe at that height. So, how do I fix it?

Change the angle that the pipe is on. This is my guess :) So I changed the level of the pipe by putting wood under the outlet side (to raise it up) until it was just not level. If you don't know how to read a level, the bubble in the middle part (green) should be sitting smack in the middle (between the lines), mine is not, the bubble is to the slight right of the middle, and that is where I want it (at the start the bubble was all the way over to the right, indicating that the slope was severe).

Now that I have flattened it out a bit more, does it work? I uploaded again (YouTube is going to hate me soon enough!) and it works a lot better!

This was a test to see if this idea will work, it looks like it will :) I will get the 'stuff' I need to put in the pots, clay pellets is what is recommended, and try to find a pump that will move the water. For now I am going to leave it just this size, if this works well, I will expand it.

What is going in here? The seeds that are on the way from Fair Dinkum Seeds! I can't wait!!

** Really important things to note so far;

• Diameter of the pipe has to be bigger (wider) than the diameter of the pot you want to put in it.
• When drilling the hole in the pipe, be careful not to puncture the other side of the pipe.
• Ensure that the angle your pipes are on it not too severe or the water will flow out far to fast.

Mushrooms... sure, why not

This page is just some of the mushrooms that I have found around my place (in the last week), there are others that I have posted up here (in Crazy beautiful garden) but there is so much life around the 5 acres, it is hard to ignore. None of these were planted by me, and I have no idea if I can/should eat them (I know the chickens, ducks and geese give some of them a go )

I just wanted to illustrate that there are so many nice things around us, so many things that are so small, things that we step on, step over or just ignore. You can see the size of some of these little guys (by judging the leaves and grass near them)

This one was growing out of some hay that I am going to be using for mulching or garden edges.

I love this one, it just smashes out of the ground, leaving a crater around it, moves the grass that was growing above it. Amazing what nature can do when it wants something to happen.

This one, I am unsure if it is growing from under the leaf and pushing it up, or the leaf has fallen onto the mushroom, either way it is so beautiful. Amazing the intricate details in such small things.

There are so many shapes, sizes and colors that mushrooms can be. You don't think about it when you go to the shops and buy a bag to cook with, but there are so many others out there. It is easy to see how writers get inspiration to make "fairy gardens" and things like that, some are like seats, some (like this one) are like little umbrellas.

Some are not as beautiful in the traditional sense, but still there is beauty in the creation of this little guy, and whatever task he is trying to achieve.

And finally (for now) this. You can see the top of this one is unlike any of the others (although they are all unique) the top is not solid. Amazing. It is more like several sections put together (like a clover), either this is an abnormality in this mushroom, it is going through a life cycle step that causes this, or a chicken found it and wanted to just taste little parts. I don't know. I could ask the great and powerful Google, however as long as this little guy (and all the others) are happy, then I am happy to have them. My only concern is if the animals get sick from eating them, hopefully they are not that silly.. we will see..

If you like mushrooms then I hope that you like what I have been finding around my place :) I do love capturing things like this kind of life, and being able to show people all around the world, however there is so much that a camera can't catch, so much that you just have to see for yourself.

Well, I will leave you on that note, I hope that your day is great, full of sunshine and happiness :)

Shelter for the worms....

I have worms... intentionally

This is not a weight loss technique, I have worms to make dirt for the gardens. A friend who is right into worms was talking to me awhile ago, and she loves her worms, she uses the dirt (casings) from the worm farms to grow seedlings. It is fantastic. The dirt is like nothing I have even felt before, it looks rich and vibrant in color, it is soft and fluffy, great to work with. Best of all, it is pretty much free to make it, and simple. Throw in food (off cuts of veggies and scraps) along with newspapers, cardboard, anything like that and the worms will eat it up and 'poop' out nice fresh organic healthy dirt :) Can't ask for more than that! Also water them occasionally, they need to drink too :)


Well, there are a few things that I know about growing worms so far, the main one is that they like eating scraps and living in dark moist areas. So, I want to make my little worms as happy as possible, and grow and give me lots of nice yummy (not to me) dirt. Since my friend gave me worms (they were in a small polystyrene box (modified to suit worms), I have upgraded them to a fridge. I know, that doesn't sound very 'homely' however the fridge is just the container. It is laying on its back with no lid on it, with drainage holes under it. On top of the fridge (where the door was) is an old wooden Venetian door to allow some air flow and water/light to come in, but not too much light, and most of all to NOT allow my chickens to have a fiesta in there! :)

From all the other posts you should have worked out that all the animals live together, this does meant that I have problems, a lot of problems at times. One of which involves chickens, ducks and geese trying to eat/destroy everything that I make, including (and especially) the worm farm! So making a lid was essential for the survival of the worms and my new dirt.
Apparently worms will keep reproducing to fit their environment, so having a larger container like this means that I should have more dirt :) I am not in a rush for the dirt, however I have this method and 3 different styles of composts working, so soon I will have so much nice dirt I will not know what to do with it all :)

So what are you looking at there? That tin shed is the chicken coop (where they get locked in a night time (chickens, ducks and geese), walking in front of that camera (always after attention) is one of the two Muscovy ducks, and directly behind her at two fridges laying down (one on the right is covered in shade cloth to stop the light). Right now only one of the fridges is being used as a worm farm, the other was going to be future expansion (until about 3 hours ago), but I will talk about what that is later.
This setup is not the best if you are a worm, kind of neglected there :( so you will have not happy worms, we want happy worms. With people, when we are depressed we eat more, but with animals it is the opposite (shows that we are not all that smart eh?), so I want worms that are so happy with life that they will eat through concrete (worms will not actually eat through concrete).

So what am I going to do to make my worms happy? I will build them a new house :) Of course.

So, using that shade cloth that I already have (was reclaimed from someone who was downsizing!) I had to go out and purchase a few little things.

The drill and gloves I already had, but just showing you what I was using :) I had to buy the 2x D-shackles and the 2x Eye bots, you will see why in a minute.

So, before I continue I have to mention again, I have no idea what I am doing, I just own a drill and gloves and have a lot of spare wood. Please, if you are going to try this at home, don't tell your wife I told you to do it! Be careful.

So, attached to the side of the chicken coop is this now, I drilled a hole just big enough for the eye bolt to go through, however the pack only contains 2 washers and nuts, and I wanted one on each side of the tin (to stop it from slipping), so I dug through my large pile of washers and nuts that I have reclaimed throughout the years, and found two that fit, and this is the final product :) There is a problem with this design, the problem is that same every time you use recycled materials. The shade cloth is a little wider than the shed, I will fix that later (and it will make it tighter) but for now it will work nicely.

So the idea from here is to attach once side of the shade cloth (this shade cloth has the pre-attached shackles on the corners) and the other side, well, that is the problem, there is nothing there. So I have(/had) two options, make a full frame (like the NOCC) or just the posts needed to hold up the shade cloth, I went for the second choice, not because it seemed easier, but because I like to try new things and see what happens.

So, I have to make a supporting frame for the other side. Like I mentioned before, I am not a builder or anything like that, so I sat down for a minute and just thought about what I needed, and what could go wrong. I know that I need wood that will be vertical for the shade cloth to attach to, however that will just fall over, so I should support it. So, I braced it in the front and across the two poles.

This is what I kind of ended up with.

So the piece along the top connects to the other vertical piece, and the blue part you can see stops it from collapsing, I also had to stack the wood under it to match the height (If you don't get it, ask, I have more photos and information :) )
Also to stop it from falling forwards (towards the chicken coop) I added supports.

Kind of hard to make out, but the large blue bits are going to stop the whole thing from falling forward (I hope!!)

After a large struggle (I was by myself) I got the frame up and the shade cloth attached, so far it has not fallen down! :) And it is working the way I wanted it to! Yeah for recycling!! :)

This is what it looks like now (compared to the first shot) so not much changed, well, not for the worse that is for sure. Now there is protection from the sun for the worms, and I can work in there potting plants and what-not while under the shade :)

I will note, that while doing this myself there were so many problems that I faced, including how to erect a frame yourself (I run out of hands), so clamps where used a lot in this, it fell down once at the start (before the clamps) and was a little dodgy before it all got finished. The only thing left to change now is the position of the furthermost point on the chicken coop, it is too close and causes the shade cloth to 'sag' near the coop, not a great concern, something I will deal with as time goes on :)
Here is a picture of the clamps (as the sun was coming up)

Yes, the tree was caught in the cross fire, but recovered nicely. Don't stress.

So there you have it, hopefully I will have happy worms that give me lots of nice dirt now :)
If you would like more information about what I did, please ask. I have lots more photos and information that I have not put up here. Let me know if you need anything :)

Well, I must go, I have much more to do, and more to come in the posts soon!
I hope that you all have a great day, filled with smiles and happy worms!!

Your soul, your aura...

On my way home this morning I was thinking about this blog, about something that I wanted to "share". When I say share, most of the time I really mean "vent", but either way :) I was thinking about what I would title this, and originally I was thinking "Customer Service is dead", however that was only the first part about my rant, and only focusing on the bad/negative. I try not to do that, to focus on just bad things around me. I find it easier/better/more helpful to try to focus on the good things, and brush off the bad, I know what you are thinking; Easier said than done! Well, trust me, most days it is a challenge.

 So, what is my problem today? Well, here goes;

 Customer Service is a dying art!
An art?
Yes, I believe that it is an art to deal with people correctly. When I speak about customer service though, I am not only speaking about a high-class 'Matradee', or a valet, I am speaking about everyone who wants to / has to deal with people every day. Sometimes I think that some people forget what industry they are in, if you work some place that provides a service to a customer, then without the customers you would be out of a job, so be nice!

What I think people need to know / remember (yup, it's still a rant!)

• The Approach

They way you approach someone (not even a customer, just anyone) should say a lot about you (in fact it does), so make it a good approach.
You do only get one of these, people say that it is the first thing that comes out of your mouth that matters, well, that is not the first thing people judge you on.

• A Strong Approach

If you want to tell people that you mean business, and that business is personal to you, think about that as you walk up to them. Stand tall, be proud and confident, this WILL reflect on whatever it is that you are trying to do. If you walk up slouched over, kicking a rock, spitting or in some form of daze, then unless the first words out of your mouth is an insightful look into the theory of relativity, then just keep walking. The person you are approaching has just put you in a category that might not suit your desired outcome. If however you wanted to look like a shady dealer, a pushover or a joke, then please, continue.

Most of us have had this experience, when you think that you are in control of a sales situation (as a customer) then you walk away after having purchased excessive  items that you had no intent to buy (including Zombie insurance, apocalypse insurance, etc..) and half way home you think "wait... what just happened, how did I just get walked all over?" Well, it is because the sales person was stronger than you. When we talk about someone being stronger, it is not all about physical appearance, mind you, approaching someone who is a foot taller and three times wider (muscle) is always intimidating, however you can 'smell' fear, don't let it emanate from you. Go into all situations with a goal in mind, whatever it might be, but ensure that you are flexible (just don't tell them at the start that you are).


OK, I know, I am rambling again and going entirely off topic. The topic was "Your soul, your aura..." so, I will get back to this lesson on how to get what YOU want in life, and how to be strong.

A look can change someones life.



When you walk past someone on the street, what do you do? I have noticed more and more that when I am walking around in a public place (which I don't like to do to start of with!) people have a blank expression and stare in front of them for miles, down at the ground, or at their phone (while attempting to walk in a straight line), I like to acknowledge people, maybe it was the way I was brought up? Who knows, but it is polite to acknowledge people, even just with a smile.
Why do I say that a look can change someones life? I can't count the amount of times that I have been served by a customer service representative in a store, and they have had a sour look on their face. A look of hatred for their job, their life, for you, who knows, but that look that people can tell a mile away that you are not happy. Fake it. If you are in customer service, service the customers, disregard whatever is making you look like that, and focus on the fact that this next person needs your help, they have come here for you, for you to help them fulfill their requirements.
However, so many times I have smiled at the surly looking attendant and they have lit up. A quick smile and you can see their whole life change, whatever was wrong, whatever was on their mind, melts away with a simple smile, a simple "Hello", what is it to you? Nothing, it costs you nothing, takes a fraction of a second to do, and for them, shows that their is someone out there that is smiling when they look at you.

It is also so true when you look the other way. When you are served by someone and the first thing that they do is smile at you. You are so much happier, you enjoy their company, even if it is only for 15 seconds in the drive through window. How many times have you left a drive through thinking "wow, what is her problem?", but if she (or he) had just smiled while handing you your overpriced preserve filled lunch, then you would leave thinking "wow, she was nice, lets come back here" yet she said nothing, just a smile.

Maybe I should release a self-help book for Customer Service representatives in the field? In my eyes, this is common sense stuff, but too often people fail at the simple things.

Well, enough of my insanity for now, I hope that your day is filled with smiles, even if it just from strangers on the street, enjoy life :)
I really don't like to have such a negative post, so here is a picture of some flowers from around my yard :)