whitebear's greenhouse saga back at it

after marking the tuber in a cross section at the end draw a line down the tuber so that you can follow it. then on the first line measure down 3 inches .

then every 6 inches

then turn the pipe to the next line and measure down 6 inches and make a mark then every 6 inches make a mark. then turn the pipe again and mark at 3inches and every 6 inches after that. then on the last line it is the 6 inch marks again.

Excited to see how this is done.

now at every mark, measure out 2 inches to the left or right of the line but once you measured on one side of the line that will be the side to stay on for all the rest of the marks

i can only do the marking and cutting today can't do the heating and bending because my neighbor has my heating gun and he will be gone for two weeks. going to see if i can find someone to barrow one from.

here is the 2 inch mark from the line

here you can see the lines and the marks laid out

and here are the cuts after i was done now to find a heat gun or a torch wish me luck.

hay meadowyck my dad has lung cancer and he had to be on oxygen for about 4 months luckily the V. A. was paying for the supplies, ok to get to what i was trying to tell you.lol he brought me a gift the other day "in the pic " its the tubes for the oxygen. he said the hospital just throws them away, so i am going to use them for lifting the water like they do in the window gardens and thanks again for that like i joined their site

Would it make any sense to compress the area above the lip while pushing the "lip" out to get the planned opening? A prybar could probably handle both tasks at the same time, and in less time?

hay sorry guys just read my last post didn't mean to make light of lung cancer. but my dad is doing better and off the oxygen. they said it isn't curable but it is treatable. its some form of lymphoma. his motto and mine is there's nothing to worry about till there's something to worry about. i can sleep and worry when i'm dead. we would rather have as many good day as we can till they turn bad.
whitebear

hay rockgardner sound like something to try i'll give here a go when i get my hands on some heat

hay rockgardner i think that would help hold the peat moss or vermiculite in also. by closing the opening some

I think Rockgardner has a great idea....above the cut pushed in a little to help hold soil back, below the cut pulled out a little to plant in.

Whitebear, I don't think any of us thought you were making light of your Dad's condition. Glad he's doing better.

nope I totally understand about your dads cancer. My mom had it and our view was the same as yours.... when it did get bad she was more than ready and because she was I was willing to let go. It is very hard but knowing her wishes made it easier I think. We enjoyed the heck out of the good days so that it would carry us through the not so good days.

Great recycling on the air tubes. I join the web link as well. I love that if you are cooped up in an apt then here is a way to not only bring the outside in, but to add to your diet.

Janet

Whitebear... first, best wishes to your dad. My dad was diagnosed with cancer when he was 65, just months after he retired. The doctors gave him 6 months, and he lived until he was 92. What an inspiration he was to a very large extended family.

I stumbled onto this thread, because I thought it was greenhouse related. But when it got to the part about the tube, I thought to myself, what is this crazy thing? I nearly quit reading but since it concerned strawberries, my daughters favorite food, I had to give it a chance. Not only have I taken an interest in this "crazy thing", you've inspired me to do something similar myself. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Rockgardner, you will be glad you stumbled upon us. Whitebear has done some really cool things with his greenhouse.

I'm thinking some other things could be grown in these tubes. :)

This message was edited Mar 21, 2010 10:44 PM

thanks msrobin
hay you know me janet recycle reuse reanything just don't throw it away lol
hay rockgardner was going to be greenhouse related but hit a few snags along the way
i have two 20 by 60 greenhouses and one 16 by 20 greenhouse but when i had the fire it took the plastic and i haven't been able to afford to get them back up. hopping to this year with the farmers market profits to get it back on. i've been waiting for the administrator to move me but i don't know if they know what to do with me lol because i'm all over the board with what i talk about and do. but i think it will get back to the greenhouse part soon "fingers crossed"
and if you have any questions on greenhouse planting or anything just ask if i don't know the answer i have 5 or so friends that have greenhouses for a living and they will help me with anything. well i'll stop rambling and take a breath lol.
whitebear.

hay msrobin i'm making 2 for my dad and he is going to try to grow lettuce and i'm sure that you could grow herbs. if you got ambitious you could even figure out how to grow radishes or carrots. heck you could grow wave petunias and you wouldn't even see the tube.

I was thinking leaf lettuce and sugar snap peas.

that sound good making me hungry

whitebear, you and I should get along just wonderfully. I've been preaching your statement above for decades.

Sorry about your greenhouse catastrophy, I'll have to trace this thread back to get more details on what happened.

Been around greenhouses most of my life, though I unfortunately always had an itch to keep on moving at the same time. Sure is a conflict when you love to travel as much as you love to garden. But that's in my past now and I've actually been in my present home & half acre for over 9 years. Had some major financial problems and health issues for many of those years but everything has finally worked itself back to normal, so I'm finally moving forward again, and staying put. Couldn't have discovered DG soon enough though.

In my younger days I worked various jobs from greenhouse maintainance, to greenhouse construction, to assistant grower for a few different nursuries. I put up a small hobby greenhouse kit last year but want to go way beyond that. I'm hoping to build something on a much grander scale starting this spring or summer. I have to admit I haven't done anything like I'm planning, so yea, I will be seeking a lot of information and advice once I get started with it... Gerry

hay gerry glad everything is getting back to normal for you. and good luck with the plans
just make sure to take lots of photos and start a post then give use the link so we don't miss it. i know what you mean about the traveling part too i love to travel but luckily my finances have keep me in place. so i did the gardening thing but i usually go on 2 cruses
a year. but haven't for 2 years because of said finances. oh well hoping this year to go on at least one. lol
whitebear

Gerry

glad you found this thread.

It is a wonderful adventure into the unknown and experimenting stages.

Janet

thanks janet you make me blush
hay i finally got enough florescent bulbs so i can make my solar air heater so if i can't fine a heat source for my S-tubes i will start on that to pass the time till my friend gets back from California. would like to get enough to make enough heaters to go down the south side of the greenhouse for heat during the winter, and if the skunks don't kill another 200 chics i might get to heat with the lean-to on the north side of the greenhouse.
then i'll have a green greenhouse lol
whitebear

you are too funny, kindred souls have to stick together... my problem is I'm not mechanically inclined so I can't think up near the stuff you can....LOL

As a matter of fact when I took my tests for the military they came back and say stay as far away from anything electrical as possible cause I really did bad on that part of the test.... thank goodness the Marines didn't care that I did poor on that part....LOL

Janet

whitebear,
you gotta give me more info on this solar air heater device. Is this someting you've discussed here before? If so just lead me to the thread so you don't have to repeat it all.

Worked with solar water heater panels back in the early 80's when it was much more of an oddity then it is now. Had been wanting to do it for years but didn't have good sources of information until I stumbled across someone in California who showed me how. Must be simular technology. Combine that with some heat absorbing mass on the north side and it should really give the temps a boost at night.

LOL yeah the military wouldn't want me anywhere near their stuff i would be messing around with everything. seeing if i could get it to do better and grow something at the same time.like glue alfalfa sprouts on the tanks and hummers and water it when the sprouts grow you would be camouflaged and have sprouts for a adding in your meal for better nutrition.
whitebear

hay rockgardener i covered it a little bit in the post before this one i think but if not just keep following the posts backwards i will doing a tutorial on it as soon as i get going on it
whitebear

whitebear... I'll be looking forward to it.

rockgardner

now you've got my attention, I'm so wanting to have my little hoop greenhouse working during the winter but just can't afford gas heat to it, especially since DH got laid off last June...

Do you have a thread where you how to go about doing this? If so please post a link...thanks

If not, why not start one.... please......

hint, hint....

Janet

Janet... unfortunately, I know what being laid off is all about... it has following me around for years. But on the fortunate side, my DW has been very stable in her job.

Also, haven't done much in way of starting threads on these subjects cause I'm still fairly new to DG and want to see what's already been discussed, and also until I'm better known and feel more comfortable being a part of this "family"... I'm getting there though. Actually, I only joined DG for the purpose of trading seeds, lol.

As mentioned, I go way back with this solar stuff. Problem is, I haven't done much with it in almost 30 years. A combination of work and lifestyle has made my life like a gypsy. And for reasons I've also mentioned I haven't done much with it in my present home. But the concepts are TNT and had been in use for centuries, though abandoned by modern society when "cheap" oil was discovered. Solar technology was probably more popular in the early 1900's then it is today, there's just very little record of it. We're a society hooked on fossil fuels, and don't want to go through the withdrawal symptoms of letting it go. And let's not forget the power the fuel companies have over any government which may have considerations to change directions. You know, heat from the sun is free, you can't sell it. No... but it sure can create millions of jobs for the common people in the labor and building trades.

Sorry, got carried away there for a moment...

Hoop greenhouses are a little more difficult to apply some of the concepts of solar heating,(especially when the sun is not out). Whitebear or others may have better ideas then I could come up with. The most efficent use and cost of any type of solar technology is to design it into the structure before it's built, so it is integral with the stucture. It may increase the initial cost but ultimately it will pay for itself in savings over "traditional" fuel costs and continue to do so indefinitely with only routine maintenence. And you would be safeguarded from the steep jumps in fuel costs, because as I said, the "fuel" is, and will always be free.

The concept of a heat retaining mass is akin to a rechargeable battery, only it's recharged by the sun. Some simple cost efective concepts would be putting in a solid floor material, ie masonry. The north side wall is well suited because it serves a lesser purpose for light distrubution and may be better served if it was used for heat retention, especially when needed the most which happens to be when the sun is at a low angle and most able to provide direct absorbtion. Heat retaining mass could also be structured so they are moveable, or repurposed for cooling when that may be a need during the warmer months. I know I'm only talking concepts here, but the specifics are out there. Just takes some research, often just picking peoples brains or tossing ideas around and trying them out. Isn't that why we're here on DG?

hay rockgardner fill free to post any of you solar ideas on this post "i welcome it" or any other ideas, i really would like this to be a joint post of everyone.
everyone always says i know everything but i just fake it real well, and talk to people all the time to find out what i don't know. lol
whitebear

I love these threads where we can kick around ideas to come up with solutions to suit our own needs. I know I sometimes I get tunnel vision, but an idea here will get me headed in the right direction.

Yes I agree I love the give and take, the back and forth to hash out ideas, or to figure out something..

this is what makes this place great to come to.

Well since we live in northern Ohio the sun does shine much during the winter up here (another reason besides the snow for why I really don't like living here) so I'm thinking if I was to set some solar panels up they are going to be charging much.

I have some solar light on the fence posts and during the winter they are barely visible during the night due to the overcast skys....

Keep on sharing the ideas guys as I'm really enjoying this.

Janet

hay guys i might be off till Friday not sure yet. they just called and said my grandfather died and i don't know when the funeral is so i might be gone but i might not. w'ill see. but if i don't leave tonight i will see if i can get a drawing up of the solar heater and post it. by the way the mean old codger lived till he was 98 one more year than my granny. he might of been a mean old cuss but i loved him. he was as ruff as sandpaper. i'll probably turn out the same way.lol
whitebear

Whitebear,

so sorry to hear the news. Don't worry about getting anything up, unless that is your way to cope. Anyway, sending condolences to ya.

Janet

Thoughts and prayers for you and your family.

thanks janet we knew it was close so were ready for it, wasn't a surprise so not taking it hard, he had a good long life and farmed on the back of a tractor till he was 96 and we made him stop. always thought we would find him in the field dead. thats how i hope i go then they could just cover me up and place a stone and call it good.
as you can tell not to big on all that ceremonial stuff. but i think a viking funeral would be cool.
whitebear