Sunday, January 30, 2011

What a Wonderful Weekend!!!

The weather this weekend has been gorgeous!  Approx. 60-64 degrees both days!  I've missed it so much!  I spent the entire weekend outside.  Finished digging the hole for the fish vat, leveled out the ground for the final placement of the greenhouse, (more on that later,) and cut all the PVC pipes for the bell siphons.


 I hadn't put the greenhouse in its permanent location because I was really hoping for some pea gravel as a base.  I don't want to pay $3.68/bag for it, so, instead I decided to use some recycled white bricks that we picked up years ago and are sitting doing absolutely nothing.   My husband suggested I level off the ground as much as possible and then let it sit for a few days.  We are supposed to get some rain Tuesday and Wednesday.  He said after the rain let it dry and level it out again.  I guess it will help compact the loose soil so my bricks will sit just right.

I think the most frustrating part of the weekend was working on the bell siphons.  Such a simple concept took a bit of trial and error.  All the videos I watched on how to make them seemed so simple.  Once I figured it out, though, it really was.  Everyone said that the "stand pipe" determines the height of the water that the siphon begins.  After experimenting with this, I only partially agree.  It seems to me that the height of the "bell" portion also helps dictate the start of the siphon.  Perhaps the amount of "gap" between the top of each?  I really don't know....all I do know is that when I finally got it to work I yelled, "YES!" and did a little happy dance. My poor dog looked at me like I was crazy!
In the end, I am so pleased with the amount of work I got done.  I was hoping to get further, but I didn't realize how much time digging and leveling would be.  I have found muscles that have been lost for awhile, will probably clog up the shower with all the dirt on me, and I know I will have happy veggie dreams tonight!

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