In March of this year, I published an update of progress on our Ecological System. This is a new update identifying accomplishments from this summer.
Roof
The old roof deck had outlived its usefulness due to improper construction, heavy weathering, and wear and tear over the years. I removed the entire deck, and built a new frame with more detail spent on the construction. Also, fiberglass bats of insulation were added to help keep interior temperatures closer to comfort range. The deck’s overall width was extended from just over 6′ to a final width of 8′. Extending the decking width facilitated a stronger framework to attach the panels, as well as more roof space for functional use.
Solar Panels
By orienting the panels with their longest edge on the vertical, I was able to fit 8 panels on each side of the bus (instead of the original 5), requiring only 4 (of the total 20) to be mounted on the roof decking itself. Instead of wiring for the panels resting on the roof deck, it was run beneath the decking through the framework, with the connections positioned through the exterior side wall, to make connections accessible from the outside.
Generator
A 1800/2300 w inverter generator had been added to the MASH a year ago, but had not been used in several months. As such, it was serviced, and is now back in service. We are currently experiencing underperformance from the panels, and as a result, are being judicious in our power usage. It is occasionally necessary to run the generator to supplement our power production until we are able to resume full Panel production capacity.
Cooling
Our mini-split was serviced and recharged at the beginning of the summer, and has been performing very well to reduce the temperature of the sleeping area to a tolerable 85 deg from our highs of 118. As mentioned above, I use care when running the AC unit, so as to limit its use during battery-hours, by ensuring it’s use during periods where our power production is at least 1.8 kw or above. Though a few nights, I did engage the unit for a short period to bring the temperature down enough to be able to sleep comfortably.
In May, a portable evaporative cooler was installed in the farm room, as temperatures were consistently above 105 deg. The evap was able to bring the temps down to 85-90 deg even on days when Phoenix reached 118 deg. The roof hatch is kept open a small amount to facilitate air exchange.
Pond
The fishpond was rebuilt after the catastrophe of last fall. The floor of the pond was raised to facilitate under-storage. A “honeymoon hotel” tube, artificial plants and a collection of various size tubing in the bottom to provide hiding places for young fingerlings.
The pond was filled and restocked with 20 tilapia fingerlings. When summer arrived, and the temperature rose quickly, the tilapia population rose from breeding. At last count, there are now approximately 60 tilapia in the pond. The discovery of new fingerlings in May was a happy surprise, and I believe attributable to 1) the rapid temperature spike in the pond, and 2) the fingerling hide-a-ways. Additionally, a jet-type circulator was installed to both keep the water moving, and to facilitate aeration via breaking the surface of the water.
Marsh
Last fall a marsh was added to the Farm. The marsh was cleaned, rebuilt, and planted with an assortment of plant seeds. Currently, a small crop of rice is growing alongside some water spinach. For most of the summer I had the pond water flowing through the marsh, facilitating the collection of fish solids, before the nutrient water continued on to the garden. Additionally, several species of small fish were added, as well as ghost shrimp, and a few small frogs.
The solids catch aspect has worked far better than I ever expected, reducing the accumulation of solids in the media of the garden, and improving the overall water flow, and return to the pond.
The Garden
The garden was rebuilt, the media was washed and returned, and I have begun replanting. I no longer purchase starts from a store, rather I am starting all plants from seeds in a seed tray, then transplanting to the media bed when ready. Additionally, I was able to a) provide separate controls for the two lights over the media bed facilitating greater power moderation, and b) installed lift cables for the lights to facilitate raising/lowering them over the new seedlings as they are placed in the bed. Already, I have noticed a marked improvement in the few plants so far, as I have seen no further bolting, or spindly developments so far. Corn planted beside bush beans are both growing well (corn at 2.5 ft, and bush beans are flowering!). Additionally carrots, brussels sprouts are developing leaf systems of “normal” size!
Quail
The quail produce an average of 1 egg per day per hen, and we can identify fertilized eggs fairly easily. Due to environmental issues, we have not yet been able to hatch any new quail so far. As a result of my failure to anticipate those environmental issues, only one hen remains of the 6-bird brood from the fall. I have placed an order for a new brood for this fall.
The lessons learned from the fall are far reaching. Allowing the quail wastes to fall into a tray and dry out, permits harvesting their wastes, and adding that material to the toilet. The BSFL devour the quail wastes (with a small amount of pond water added to moisten) as quickly as they do everything else.
Wastes
Meal Worms were cultivated for two months, and now have been abandoned. The worms were intended to provide a niche in waste processing. However for efficient production of worms, they require a very specific food source that ultimately must be purchased (oat bran).
Urinehas been separated from solids since the toilet was installed in the MASH. Up until recently, urine was collected and discharged down the nearby sewer. I have recently been able to complete an iteration of my solar distiller producing distilled water. The next step is to incorporate a mix-collector drawing urine, mixing it with pond water, and pumping it to the distiller.
Gray Water is currently pumped each week into the marsh, where it mixes with the pond water, is filtered by the sand and bog plants, and ultimately becomes part of the water cycle.
The Toilet has gone through several iterations, transitioning from composting to consuming toilet trial, and back to composting functionality. We have learned that several studies have shown that the larvae provide a pathogen reduction vector. Additionally, on further study a relationship has been found whereby the compost/frass generated by the larvae is apparently a delicacy enjoyed by red wigglers (earthworms).
Early in the research, I learned that a single human could not provide sufficient waste material to support even a small colony of BSFL. This is true, even accounting for the food/garden wastes. However, the incorporation of the quail, and their waste has provided the additional material to meet the needs of the colony residing in the toilet, and this summer we saw our first cycle of larvae-fly-eggs-larvae.
The Worm Bin process has been redefined to take the output frass from the BSFL, and transfer it to the worm bin. There, the worms will consume the frass/compost converting it into nutrient rich soil. The bin survived long enough to actually develop eggs/young in the bin, however the rapid arrival of summer and 118 degree temps, precipitated the loss of the colony.
Feed Stock for the fish and quail is generated from the BSFL, Worms, Algae, and other plants. Additionally, I have learned that by taking bones, and entrails from the fish and quail during harvesting as well as eggshells, we can return calcium and other needed nutrients back into the system. During the summer, we found the quail devoured live larvae, and worms provided in their dust-bath. This confirmed the veracity of the overall feed cycle.
Moving Forward
As we move into fall, I hope to be able to reestablish the Quail, BSFL, Worm, plus add Azolla, moringa, and marsh colonies in order to further develop the Feed Stock recipes. With the colonies developing ongoing breeding populations, I can begin to synchronize the harvesting of Fish, Quail, BSFL, and Worms, Algae, Duckweed, Azolla, and Moringa to close the nutrient loops.
As summer AC power requirements diminish, I can fill the 2nd half of the garden and engage the 2nd lighting panel. With the improvements in the plants development, I hope to begin managing 2 crops on alternating plantings. This will work towards realizing a 4-season/4-crop cycle affording continuous food production during the year.