Insomniatic Throw Up

According to my spell check, insomniatic isnt a word. Thats ok...Im sure you can all figure it has something to do with insomnia.

Well thats exactly how I feel right now...wide awake when Id normally be asleep. Its not too late though, but still. There are three major things bothering me right now and they may surprise you.

1) Jobs.

Now this doesnt seem like a surprise to anyone that knows me...likely. Well truth be told. Where I live, I am at the mercy of what mom brings home. However, what she brings home is typically leftovers. Every blue moon, I get fresh food at home. Great...but comes with a catch. Whats that you say? I will be expected to eat whatever for at least two - three days. Another thing my mom bullshits with is dinner. "Oh I ate. Dont know why you didnt," she would say. "You ate at grandmas," Id say back with a glare. "Why didnt you come over?" "Because I had class/you forgot me at home/I didnt know they were having dinner!" Times like these lead to dinner-less nights which often get me into trouble...especially when I sneak in a secret stash of desserts mom has.

So I really want a job so I can eat fresh food at least three times a week. That would be nice.

On top of that, mom runs the power bill and doesnt manage money well in my eyes. Id like to move out. When she decided to splurge on company parties, fixing a car that had "Im NOT WORTH IT" written all over it, my sister that blows money on even dumber things...but doesnt pay the power bill so we have a poorly insulated freezing cold house during a storm....well that was a sure fire way to get me to NOT want to stay.

Im still waiting for that $130 she owes me. $100 of it was stolen.

2) Pets

Call me paranoid but Im having a huge freak out about the death of pets. Three died within two months....not something Im thrilled about. Six rats...I will likely be trying to rehome them if I move out on my own. However there is a high chance that if Im on my own for sure, they will stay. In 2nd place on the worry list is Tux. Since I didnt file taxes or have proof that my mom is a California State worker struggling, I asked my dear friend Ashley to have Tux done and Id pay her for it. This means he will be in her name and I have to have the license transferred over. No big deal...but Id really like to take home "my" cat. And in 1st place is my beloved Spyro who turns 10 March 28th. I have already had a dog die and I felt like he died in a crappy way and wasnt treated to my standards. Id like for Spyro to not go out the same way. Call me shitty but Id rather have him euthanized than to die in his sleep. I just dont do well with dead bodies. However this means Spyro must be in the best of care till his body just cannot function anymore. It wont happen if he continues to live at my grandparents house. As far as the dead body thing...well as much as I love all of my pets, theyre just harder to let go when you have had them for this long.

3) Marriage

Bet you didnt see this one coming. Adam told me he didnt want to get married...ever. Well ok whatever. But I do. I sat back and thought to myself...I wonder why he doesnt want to get married. Is he scared? Then I asked myself why do I want to get married? Am I scared? I cant believe I am going to admit it...but maybe I am scared. The problem isnt Adam...its me. Maybe Im afraid of him leaving or maybe Im just insecure. Whatever it is, I have realized that it is my problem...not his. I admit it. I want to get married because of my personal insecurities. I think it is a big lump that could later affect our relationship. First step, admitting. Next, fixing. Will work on that later.

So now I feel much better with all of this stuff off my head/chest. Still not tired but thats probably because of too much Dr. Pepper. Since you got this far...here is trivia.

In 1972, Dr Pepper sued the Coca-Cola company for trademark infringement based on a soft drink marketed by Coca-Cola called "Peppo." The soft drink was later renamed Mr Pibb.

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Nubian goats Ontario Canada ◍ Meet Nabob and Mocha our coffee coloured goats ◍

Pet Nubian goats

Nubian goats

Grass fed goats

Goats in Canada permaculture

This is mocha, hes a wild one. He loves eating/licking things hes not suppose to ( pressure treated wood, chicken coops, clothes on the line ), But he also enjoys the good stuff like watermelon, cantaloupe and oats. His favourite game involves head-butting anyones hand, but of the two, hes the baby of the bunch, always needs a companion and CANT be alone.

Anglo-Nubian Goat

This is Nabob, He is gentler then mocha and he use to be inseparable, but has recently been gaining courage, bravely trotting off around the property. Hes much pickier the Mocha and doesnt like fruit, just his oats, grass and maybe a few trees. 

Nabob the Nubian goat

Nubian goats cutting grass

Anyone know what kind of tree this is?

Nubian goats in Ontario, Canada.

My new tent, theres nothing like sleeping under the stars, even if its just in your backyard, the grounding force speaks for itself.

Tenting in eastern Ontario

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CHALLENGES CHALLENGES

Going Beyond....

I was wondering over the last couple of days if any of you may be interested in thinking beyond the envelope, beyond Aquaponics. Not necessarily doing, but just reading, absorbing or challenging your thoughts. So Im going to include anything that might be of interest that I consider a possible offshoot from A/P. If you are interested and wish to delve a bit deeper, please let me know and Ill endeavor to include further information in that area.

One such example is Cloning. The process of taking a section of a plant and making it possible to identically reproduce this plant as many times as you need to. Now to give you a taste or two.

I do hope you realise that as we are in Aquaponics, we are bound to the basics of Hydroponics and we are very fortunate as we have untold experiences from Hp to aid us because what ever problem we may have in relation to plant growth etc. They have probably had the same many times over.

Likewise the fish we keep and grow have all of the problems that any other fish have and at times more so because of the particularly crowded environment we may have them in at various periods of their growth. So both aquaculture and even your local aquarium dealer and be a source of important advice under certain circumstances...

Rant Over, Back to the notes...

....and there will soon be an organic garden and an aquaponic freshwater system for farming tilapia; that is, for raising the fish symbiotically with plants.

It is the mission of Santa Cruz Aquaponics to produce the healthiest, most flavorful and nutritious fresh Tilapia and Watercress available on the Northern California market.

Rene LaMarche of Port Orchard is growing tomatoes and other produce using a technique called aquaponics, which combines aquaculture and hydroponics. (MEEGAN M. REID | KITSAP SUN)

 it seemed a little like they just kept throwing things up, and yet somehow it works.  this one is a triple-decker aquaponics system.  the bottom layer is a tank with 8000 tilapia swimming about.  in order to aerate and filter the water it gets pumped up to the top layer where the tomatoes are growing.

NOW, A Small scale aquaponic system in Barbados

Long before the term "aquaponics" was coined in the 1970s the Aztec Indians raised plants on rafts on the surface of a lake in approximately 1,000 A.D. 

The one that gets biggest the fastest needs put in another tank. Quickly. Atila only has 19 friends left. They are all his friends, because he ate his enemies... 

I hope you all enjoyed that one...Well thats another one done....

Be Back Soon

Ozzie

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Mutli Phase Humboldt MCU Garden Project

As yesterdays Humboldt Laser Harp post indicated, the microcontroller (MCU) music group project is well under way. So now Im thinking about how to get the second group project started in the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group, one involving gardening.

MCU and sensors for potted plant

Several people whove been at Humboldt Makers Group meetings or the MCU group meetings have said theyre interested in MCUs and gardening. And it seems like lots of other people in Humboldt County might have an interest in ways to improve gardening. There are lots of organic gardeners in the area, and agriculture has been part of the Humboldt economy for much of the areas history. So Ive decided to outline a multi-phase approach to a collaborative project focused on MCU gardening. And a significant part of this collaborative project will be identifying and reaching out to Humboldt people who are involved in gardening or agriculture and might be interested in sharing their knowledge and / or participating in this project.

MCU and hydroponics

Two long term goals I have for the MCU gardening is to be involved with a successful hydroponics system and a successful aquaponics system. There are lots of websites and projects on the Internet that tell a person how to do hydroponics or aquaponics, but Im an engineer, and I like to understand what Im doing. Plus I dont have a lot of money to spend on these projects. So my preferred approach to MCU gardening is to start out small, and get more complex after I understand the technology and green thumb art involved with each part of the MCU garden project.

Below are proposed MCU garden project phases. If we get the right people involved with the project and if we can secure funding of some type for the project, we can move very quickly through the phases or work on more than one phase at a time. So if you know people whod like to participate in this project or know of money that can be used for purchasing electronic components and supplies for this, please contact me at arcatabob (at) gmail {dott} com. These are the proposed phases for the Humboldt MCU Garden group project:

MCU and aquaponics (from dzbc.org.cn)

1. Grow one plant indoor in soil.
2. Grow four to eight plants indoor in soil.
3. Grow four types of plants outdoor in soil.
4. Grow one tray of plants indoors in hydroponic system.
5. Grow three types of plants indoors in hydroponic system.
6. Grow one type of plant in aquaponics system.
7. Grow three types of plants in aquaponics system.

Phase 1 of the Humboldt MCU Garden project is simple and low cost and will help us learn the basic principles of MCU gardening. Phases 2 through 7 can easily be redefined as we get more people involved in the project and we learn more about what we dont know about MCU gardening.

The first draft design of the Humboldt MCU Garden project includes:

1. One type of plant.

   

   LEDs and lettuce

1. Lettuce is my first choice, partly because of whats being done with optimized lettuce mcu gardening in Japan and other places (see my blog post "LED Lettuce, The HydroTower And LED Humboldt Hydroponics.") We might be able to find useful data about optimum growing conditions for lettuce (light wavelengths, relative humidity, nutrients, temperature, etc.).
2. If other people who want to participate in the Humboldt MCU Garden project prefer to grow something other than lettuce and have information about good growing conditions for that plant, Im willing to switch from lettuce.
2. Growing container.
1. The type of growing container probably wont be too critical for Phase 1. Mainly something large enough to hold the soil and drainage system that will provide good growing conditions for the plant.
2. A five gallon plastic bucket is one option, especially if we can find a free one.
3. We need to figure out where the container with the plant and MCU Garden system will be kept. It seems like Phase 1 should mostly be indoors because that means we dont need to have a rain-proof system. But having a Phase 1 container thats easily movable would be nice so we can roll or carry the container outside on nice days.
3. Growing condition sensors
1. Light sensor -- very important so we get good photosynthesis (and good respiration?).

   

   One type of light sensor (from Adafruit)

2. Soil moisture sensor -- very important because too dry means dead plant and too wet means dead plant.
3. Temperature sensor -- important for growth, especially during Humboldt winters. Temperature will be less critical for plants like lettuce, but very critical for plants like tomatoes.
4. Relative humidity sensor (RH) -- RH wont be critical for lettuce growth in Phase 1, but it will be critical as the projects future phases try to minimize water usage and as we try to grow RH-sensitive plants like redwood trees.
4. LEDs for indoor gardening
1. RGB LEDs will let us adjust the light if we want
2. Red and Blue LEDs appear to be used for optimum lettuce growth.
3. Research and / or people who know plant growth lighting and LEDs are required.
5. MCU to gather and record sensor data
1. Which MCU we use for the Humboldt MCU Garden project depends partly on who wants to be involved with the project.
1. If we can get a sponsor for the Humboldt MCU Garden project, such as an MCU manufacturer or distributor, Ill use whichever MCU they manufacture or distribute!
2. If no MCU manufacturer or distributor sponsor can be recruited, the MCU will be determined by whoever takes the lead on programming for the project.
1. If Ed takes the lead, well probably use a Texas Instruments MCU.
2. If Josiah takes the lead, or if Im filling that role, it will likely be an Arduino or Arduino-compatible.
3. If someone other than Josiah, Ed or me volunteers to lead the garden-variety programming for this project, that person can choose the MCU type.
6. Type of soil
1. Determining what type of soil to use will require research or a project member who has good experience with growing plants indoors in containers.
2. The type of soil will likely affect other gardening aspects such as what nutrients we need to add and the soil moisture measurement.
7. Fertilizer and trace nutrients to add
1. Fertilizer and trace nutrients is another topic that will require research or a project member experienced in the art.
2. Might want to evaluate whether pH or some other batch or continuous sensor (pH? nutrient analysis?) should be used to track nutrient levels.
8. Data gathering and analysis
1. There are no specific requirements for data gathering and analysis for Phase 1 since its such a simple system. However, part of the purpose of Phase 1 is to learn how to effectively monitor growing conditions, so it makes sense to establish good gardening data practices (GGDP) for those growing conditions and different types of sensors.
   
2. As part of my goal to get Humboldt people more involved in the Internet of Things (IoT), it would be good to use services like open data bases and IFTTT (If This Then That).
3. One gardening data goal is to use that data to automatically track, alarm and interpret the data generated by the sensors. It would be nice to generate online graphs and have alarms sent out by IFTTT when growing conditions reach or approach setpoints where action needs to be taken.

The above outline give you an idea of what I think Phase 1 of the Humboldt MCU Garden group project should look like. Next steps for me to get this project rolling are (1) talk to and try to recruit a couple people whove expressed an interest in MCU gardening, (2) promote the project to other people in the Humboldt Makers and MCU group and try to recruit some of them, (3) develop a one-page MCU project proposal that I can use to pitch to potential sponsors, and (4) continue to do research for Phase 1 topics like sensors, nutrients and soil types.

If you are interested in this project or know someone who might be, please email me at arcatabob (at) gmail {dott} com or come to an MCU group meeting or Humboldt Makers meeting in the near future.

**********

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Chitin ☜ the all natural pesticide disease correction in plants ●●●●☺

We have been very interested in chitin as of recently, weve always used worm castings in our grows, even hydroponics,  but never knew of its amazing qualities in bug prevention and disease correction, we just thought it was our special touch, lol, how naive the human brain can be.
But just recently thanks to john from growing your greens.com
( http://www.youtube.com/user/growingyourgreens )
gave a wonderful talk about the benefits of chitin and where you can get it. This got me to researching and found its one of the most abundant sources of natural polymers, has healing benefits, treats disease on trees, and repels insects just to name a few. I found an article online with an extensive list of ideas on how to use it, create it, and where to pick some up. HERE YA GO
http://idigmygarden.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51481

and if your into worm composting this is a great site to help you along with making teas and such.
http://www.organicrosecare.org/articles/worm_castings.php

We were also lucky to have stopped by the local hydroponics expo recently
( homegrown Hydroponics expo)
Not only are we very excited over there snap together piping but, they had a product there that was fertilizer from insects, this seems like a great idea, we will doing a controlled experiment very soon with this product, Will keep ppl updated on the progress and results.

Masked Hunter nymph, 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masked_hunter

all if a sudden Im seeing bugs Ive never seen in Canada before, 

what in the world is that????? a bug covered in dust? 

YUP!! Meet the masked hunter nymph, for some reason he thought my studio/office was a good place to roam. wish I could have got a better shot for ya but he was a quick little bugger.

Bug covered in dust

masked hunter covered in dust

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DIY Aquaponics System in English!

?????DIY???????????????????????????4/21?????????????????????!! ???????????????????????????????????????DIY??(??5/26)?

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My OWN ethical group

I met a guy on Myspace many years ago that was a diehard PETA member and vegan. What made us great friends is that we had some of the same ideals (calling vegetarians that ate fish or poultry hypocrites and so on.) I supported his cause till he started saying really really stupid things. He told me that hed never eat eggs because of the potential it had to be a life. Depending on what ethical animal group you are in, you will either hear that or the truth.

Chicken eggs are similar to a human period.

That is what my mom told me. Of course I saw nothing wrong with this at all. So what? It is just a waste product then. The more into nature I got, the more I realized that these eggs (unless specified as fertilized) lost their potential as soon as they exited the body...like a period. Nothing can make them more than what they are now. You cannot fertilize a chicken egg out of the body just like you cannot fertilize a human egg outside of the body.

Then this guy started posting about how everything from leather to wool was cruel. At this time, I had heard about a lady that used old hair from her dogs coat to make her own coat. This was theoretically a fur coat...just with waste material. I decided to ask him if this kind of fur coat was bad. He said yes because it encourages the death of animals simply for pelts and the same goes for faux fur.

...

Then I decided to ask a question that would determine if I thought he was truly crazy or not...I asked him how he felt about people eating placenta. This of course has no potential to be a life ever but is meat and a waste product (of course after the delivery of life.) He said meat is still meat and he is against eating ALL meat because it causes pain or is a potential life. I had broken his logic clearly. A placenta comes about because someone is going through with life (the life is still coming into existence) and it is a part that was never alive or dead...but just falls out (AKA waste.) He tried to convince me that nobody ate that part anyway. Yes indeed they do and it is very common in certain parts of the world. A good answer would have simply been "because it looks/is nasty" or "because I just dont like meat."

When I was looking for info to better the environment to help protect animals, PETA wasnt there (although they have some vegan recipes to help me with better health in general.) I turned to Care2 which is very similar but it is mostly petitions, not an actual group which one can really be affiliated with. Id like to start my own group...Care2s little sister but PETA and HSUSs cousin (btw HSUS and PETA do the same thing...just HSUS has a teeny more shelter help...with a lot of stress on teeny.) I want to form a group where protests arent harsh but we learn to respect one another...vegan or omnivore. There are some things that I have only learned by taking nutrition classes...that otherwise proved difficult to find such as the fact that organic grass fed beef has a better omega 3 to omega 6 ratio making it extremely better for you.

I want to form a group were vegans arent bombarded with abuse pictures and told how nasty meat is. They are vegan...they know this. However I want a site with truths (PETA supports vegetarianism for all animals including cats. Felines by nature are designated carnivores and a vegetarian diet easily leads to death. Dogs are, in short, carnivores but can be vegetarian if given a crap ton of supplements but if youre going to do that, might as well just feed em rice with these supplements. A healthy lifestyle can be achieved with no pills or extra powders. Im not against being vegan or vegetarian but for the love of God dont force it on anyone else including your furkin!)

The world sucks when youre an omnivore. Most of your info is limited. With my group, Id like to protest against meat sources, not meat (Tyson chicken, for example.)

By the way...how can we Coexist as a world if we cant even coexist as a nation? Just saying....

But...Im just a dreamer I guess. Maybe someday.

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