LOL Dyson, i think i remember what sleeping is..... been along time ago... no rest for the wicked ooooooops i mean weary hahaaaa
retired, living self sufficently in Alabama (Part 2)
been bumpin 100 deg here for the last 2 days, suspose to again today then maybe some cooling off (hahaa) 20% chance of rain .. rain an heat makes steam ..... we might end up justa big ole steamed salad hahaaa
Unseasonable hot here too. Hope we get some rain tomorrow. It's getting pretty dry.
Yeah we need some rain here also, creek is gettin kinda low, still has lots of water in it but the flow is slowing down some.
Nope we get the rain first! Haven't had any since February and the tanks are empty and stuff is dying. It didn't help that yesterday was a record high for June: 105 and WIND.
It must be miserable there about now. What is winter like out your way?
ok Porkpal gets the first rain .. was only 99 here ... then send it this way .. LOL
Our winters are quite mild - as a rule - no snow of any consequence. The past two years, however we have had a couple of weeks of really cold days that froze all our pipes etc. The weather is just nutz recently! The weather service is predicting thunderstorms again today. Yesterday they were right - it thundered!
maybe you'll get that well needed rain.. X ya fingers an keep hope'n
My sister in Dallas got a long heavy downpour. We haven't had any in a few weeks. Could really use some on my raspberries. I carried a bucket of water to each one but that hill is too much work for me.
yeah i've been tote'n water from the creek to water all my plants in my gardens .. nice walk up a 45 deg hillside ..
Freedom_sailer... If you posted it, I've forgotten. Whats the GPM of your water supply? I'm wondering whether using the overflow from my spring (it's in a culvert pipe) is worth considering.
We just got a very brief shower. Hope it's not done yet.
freedom--I am sure you are familiar with the hydrolic ram pump if you ever get tired of toting water up that hill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egzyn_Mgr_8&feature=related
http://www.lifewater.org/resources/rws4/rws4d5.htm
This is an update of the ram pump installed on a small creek to feed two slow sand filters. It now has a 3" drive pipe with much greater output. I hoped to get some performance data from it but the weather hasn't cooperated.
The water falls only 21" but pumps 30 feet up in the air with a decent flow rate. It was designed to be simple to build, inexpensive, efficient, and long-lasting. The low profile helps it avoid damage in the stream during storms, and it can pump underwater 24/7 without problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLHrNwdMNDM
Our shower was over. :( We really need the rain. DH was across the mountain feeding and he said it must have rained over an inch on the other side of the mountain.
Interesting stuff, Vortreker. Thanks.
We had about 42 seconds' worth of the brief shower that Cajun got yesterday. I've been watering my garden from the spring (with conventional pumping) rather than the city water from the house. The veggies love the spring water that has no chlorine!
Darius,
you can make an amp or so with just 2-3 gpm ... 5 gallons pm your looking at 2-4 amps ..mine usualy runs 5+ but durin a rain or lots of water flow .. its more like 10+ with a output of 8+ amps. so really it dont take alot of waterflow to produce good useable power.
VORTREKER,
Yeah ive used and built a number of ram pumps up to a 4 in. my fall here isnt very much and i'd have to put it about 100 yards upstream. hahaa i cant handle the pop pop pop of it, hahaa too much noise in my quiet little place. but they are awsome you get 1 gallon per every 10 that goes through it but hey free is free no doubt... and i have thought about puttin one below my dam an use it only to fill a tank to hold the water to use later an keep it shut off when the tank has water in it. very peacefull an quiet here i wanna keep it that way .. sound of the wind an water over the dam an waterwheel is enough noise .. also the linear flow ones that can run underwater is alot quieter ...thats what i was thinking about building up stream where the noise would be dampend down some. is that your pump in the vid ? if so ive watched it many times hahaaa first one ive seen that was linear flow ...
Thanks, f_s, guess I need to get a bucket and see if I can measure flow. There's some drop in the pipe from the spring overflow down to the creek, but it isn't much.
Darius,
yeah excellent way of measure'n the flow rate. you'd be surprised on how much it actualy is. but every lil bit of power you make .. is that much u dont have to buy.
How is that ram pump working?
anyone more rain than they need send it to Alabama, LOL
Give it a BIG push so it makes it all the way down to south Texas.
Cajun--I do not totally understand the physics of the ram pump--perhaps freedom will explain it.
LOL dont pin that on me, ive made em .. a know how they work but how to explain it .. kinda beyond my vocalubary. hahaaa
so check out this link it shows how to build one an how it works ..
http://www.clemson.edu/irrig/equip/ram4.htm
Thanks for the link. I couldn't tell ny looking at it.
Did you get rain Freedom? We had a nice hard rain followed by long steady rain yesterday?
I will be happy to get my rain barrels set back up= one day soon.
CricketsGarden,
Yes finaly got a good rain, almost a inch in my guage an my gardens are soakin it up, it also filled up all my rain barrels an buckets. so im sittin good now for awhile, just hope its not that long till the next one.
Don't you catch rain water for drinking? Must be scarey when your tank gets low.
Cajun,
i sure do, my gutters are plumbed into a 350 gallon containment tank, with a 12 volt on demand rv water pump, an yes i get kinda worried when it gets low i learn to conserve water or do without an i dont like doin without.
Freedom, all your projects are so interesting. I just love it! I haven't read it all but will evenually.
Great work!
LOL yeah there's quite a bit of reading, i was amazed it has gone as far as it has. and Thank You.
We got rain this morning while we were in church.
kewl Cajun,
im hope'n we will get some more here soon. i got plants to transplant out
What you putting out?
i still have over 2000 tobacco plants to transplant, some are ready now, some in another week .. an some more in bout 3 weeks, then a late pea crop an maybe some more beans an such, i keep planting an growin stuff till frost kills it back .. hahaa get all i can each year, my gardens are just small spots so i have to keep something in the ground as much as possible.
I know what you mean about small plots. I do that myself with the SFG and the containers and bags. Doesn't end until snow shuts us down. I am just learning what works best here but it is fun. I am drying some sugar snap peas for seed to plant in fall. They are really delish. I am going to fill other spots in with them as it clears off. My maters have not bloomed yet. First 2 squash dropped off as little fellas. Got some more coming on. Cukes are starting to make. Corn is about to tassle. Beans are slow. Peppers are starting to bloom but everything just seems to be coming along so slow.
Rained here for about 5 hours. We needed it. Giving rain for the rest of the week. It will help if it is all slow and steady like today was.
Good luck with your planting. Do you have all those 2000 plants in seperate cups?
hahaa nope, i plant em by type in 55 gallon barrels cut into lenghtwise .. lots easier n fast that way
How many different types and what are the differences in them?
i have Yellow Burley, Virginia Bright Leaf, Havana #608, Cuban, Turkish Black Sea Samsun, Aztec Rustica, and regular Rustica.
Yellow Burley is kinda strong tobacco
Virginia Bright Leaf is very smooth and mild
Havana is a cigar tobacco
Cuban is a cigar tobacco
Turkish is a orentail tobacco very smooth
Aztec Rustica is among the strongest tobacco with up to 20 times the nicotine of any common tobacco
the Regular Rustica is Wild Indian Tobacco which is almost as strong as the Aztec Rustica
but when u blend them all togather you can vary each kind to make a tobacco that taste like you want it to with all the nic kick you want. also for chewing tobacco ..