The Adventures of Bigelow Brook Farm

Building a Rocket Mass Heater

2012-01-25T11:11:00.000-05:00

The rocket mass heater is up and running and it's quite the inferno! It will be quite interesting to add some enhancements to it in the future. I'm hoping to cover the entire unit and pump the heat under the floor to increase the thermal mass. And, make it so it can burn either wood or pellets!

Rocket Mass Heater preview

2012-01-14T20:24:00.000-05:00

Here's the teaser video for the rocket mass heater. More details to follow!

Starting the Rocket Mass Heater

2012-01-07T18:54:00.002-05:00

Today I finished building and fired up the rocket mass heater for the geodesic dome. Ironically, it's January and we're having record breaking warm temperatures in the 50's but I couldn't resist and started it up. I will do a full video about the construction in the future, but wanted to share a few pictures of it. This heater is a bit different than some you may see. I wanted to be sure there was enough drafting in the chimney so I doubled up the barrels.

The entire burn tunnel is buried under the floor. It took a little while to get the drafting to start. It didn't help that the internal chimney wasn't insulated yet (missing some parts for it), but once the system got warmed up, it turned into a raging inferno.

A picture without the flash shows how well the fuel is burning in the tunnel.

I ran out of sand so I wasn't able to completely bury the horizontal exhaust. It was quite hot to the touch, but as you moved down the pipe, I could hold my hand against the duct and it was slightly warm. It was quite funny to see the sand around the duct drying out so quickly. It will be interesting to study the temperatures along the system in the future!

Carrots in an aquaponic system

2012-01-02T09:25:00.003-05:00

Carrots are a great root crop that just about anyone can enjoy. Some people think you can't grow them in an aquaponic system. Here's proof that you can!

Adding the polycarbonate

2011-12-22T08:14:00.000-05:00

Here’s the latest in the dome greenhouse series showing the polycarbonate installation. It’s nice having it enclosed and not working out of the wind. It’s still cold, but the heating system is next on the list!

Transcript:

Welcome Back!

This video will show how the exterior of the dome is covered. The northern face of the dome has no polycarbonate and is covered in OSB and will eventually be shingled. Each of the triangle sections needs to have studs added to support the boards. Placing them can be tricky when it’s difficult to reach all the points.

Sometimes the best laid plans don’t always work…

Once all the studs are installed, it’s time to install the OSB. I found it was easier to set the sheathing by ripping the OSB into two foot strips instead of leaving them 4 feet wide. It also reduced the amount of scrap that was generated.

The shed roof and part of the dome are covered in water and ice shield. This will protect the building during the winter and will allow me to shingle the roof in warmer weather. The shielding has an adhesive backing which helps to hold it down to the OSB and a few roofing nails insures a gust of wind won’t peel it off.

The polycarbonate sheets are 6 by 24 feet long. I set up a couple of sacrificial sheets of OSB on the ground as a cutting area.

I decided to repurpose an old tape measure and cut it up so I could easily measure out the various leg lengths for the triangles. With a couple of clamps to hold the ends, it made it easy to triangulate all the points. I found it was easier to make my marks by just poking a nail through the material. Trying to mark the frozen poly with a frozen Sharpie was a futile effort.

The polycarbonate cuts very easily with a sharp circular saw. After I filmed this, I discovered it was even easier if I placed another scrap piece of polycarbonate under it so the blade didn’t have to also cut into the OSB.

Setting up a guide allows for a nice straight cut. After each piece is cut, the protective film can be removed and the sawdust in the flutes is blown out with compressed air.

Installing the panels was quite simple providing there was no wind. Before cutting each panel, I did measure each opening to insure the measurements matched the computer calculations. There were a couple of sections that were slightly off which was probably from slight errors in the hub construction or the strut measurements. But, for the most part they all went in as planned.

Each panel was cut so that the flutes are orientated to allow for condensation to drain out.

Once I got down to the ground level, it was even easier to install each section. All the panels are held in place with stainless steel screws that have a neoprene-backed washer. The screws pierce right through the polycarbonate and the washer creates a watertight seal against it.

All the joints will be taped in the spring since the waterproof tape needs to be applied when it’s over 60 degrees. During this filming it was 20 out. You may have noticed that I’m wearing insulated boots, long-johns, a sweatshirt, insulated hoodie sweatshirt, scarf, winter coat, winter hat under the hoodie, and insulated gloves!

All the panels intersect nicely over the hubs. The original plan of rabbiting each stud so that the panels wouldn’t interfere with the bolts worked out well. Also adding the bevel to the studs made a large flat surface for the panel to rest against.

The panels along the base are cut extra-long so that they will hang over the knee wall. This will help to shed water and prevent it from getting into the dome through the knee wall. The overlapping pieces are simply cut off with a razor knife.

The northern face of the dome that isn’t covered by the shed was also studded and covered with OSB. Unfortunately, my HD camera was broken so I wasn’t able to film this part, but this is what the final construction looked like.

When I laid out the building, I oriented it so it faced due-south. It now acts like a huge sundial and it’s very easy to tell when it’s time for lunch!

That’s it for now. Next up may be the heating system. It’s getting difficult to work in the freezing temperatures! Don’t forget to join our Facebook page!

This phenomenon is called “needle ice” and it occurs when the soil temperature is above freezing and the air goes below freezing. The water in the soil is drawn out by the cold air and quickly freezes, building these long strands of ice. They’re also fun to crush!

geodesic dome at night

2011-12-19T19:02:00.001-05:00

One of the nice things about having the dome enclosed is that I can work in there at night without freezing in the wind! Still no heat, but we're getting closer!

Dome Teaser video #9

2011-12-11T18:48:00.001-05:00

Here's the next teaser video on the dome project. All is going well. I'm still scrambling to get the building enclosed before winter set in. It's getting challenging working in this weather...everything is frozen in the morning, then barely thaws during the day, making it wet and slippery.

Geodesic Dome Greenhouse - ASSEMBLING THE DOME!

2011-11-27T20:39:00.001-05:00

The structure is up! Making great progress!

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello Everyone!

Once again you’re treated to an extra-long video about building the dome!

The structure went up in a day! I started off the morning by laying out all the pieces around the perimeter knee-wall and bolting everything

together. This helped to create a firm base to build on.

A fellow aquaponic grower and dome lover, Steve, volunteered to help erect the dome. This was one job where having an extra set of hands was

extremely helpful. We found it was easiest to connect two legs together with a hub, and then set them into the base unit. When the bolts were placed

in the hubs, each section was able to stand on its own without any supports. Once we figured out a system, the entire assembly process was relatively

smooth.

A couple of the bolts would get stuck going through the struts, but a little persuasion would get them in. Once each triangle section was installed,

we would connect each one with a horizontal strut. This simple action made the side wall rigid enough to support my weight of leaning against it.

It took a little bit of thought on how to assemble to the second level, but we decided the best way to assemble it was the same way as the first tier:

Steve would support the assembly from the ladder and I would align it with the hub and run the bolt through it.

The horizontal strut was a bit trickier but I was able to lean a ladder against the dome and hold it into place.

The third tier went together just as smoothly. The dome was self-supporting and there was no problem leaning against the structure to assemble the

struts.

By the end of the day, the dome was now visible from the road and a few of the neighbors would stop by to see how we were progressing.

We finished late in the evening using flashlights….here is how it looked when it was completed.

Here’s a little time-lapsed segment of the dome being assembled.

On October 30th, we had a freak snowstorm that decimated the region. We were without power for a week while the town and line crews cleaned up the

roads and utilities. The project was put on hold…

Once we recovered from the storm and most of the snow melted, it was time to go back to work. Even though the dome was standing on its own, I stilled

needed to adjust a few of the hubs and tighten the nuts.

The next part of the project was to build the walls for the shed area. One of the biggest problems with working in the fall is the rain and snow,

along with the constant freeze and thaw cycles. This turns any disturbed dirt in to mud. I decided that it was best to build the walls up by the

house and set them in place with the tractor.

When building a prefab-type building, it’s critical to make sure each section is square and accurate. Once each wall frame is squared up, I would

secure it with a few angle braces to keep it from racking. After all of the studs were nailed in place, I would again check to make sure it was still

square and then install the sheathing. Since the walls are placed so close to the ground, I installed treated plywood sheathing along the bottom 16

inches of the wall to help prevent rot and insect damage.

The excess sheathing is marked and cut off to the appropriate length and then nailed into the studs.

My good friend, Ford, helped me lift the walls and carry them to the greenhouse site. Each section fit perfectly into place. Ford was also kind

enough to hold the wall in place while I secured each section together.

After all the walls were in place, I finished installing the remaining sheathing.

Even though the dome structure probably could support the weight of the shed roof, I felt it was best to add a support beam across the length of the

shed and cantilever the rafters over the dome. The rafters are attached to the dome, but they have almost no load bearing weight against it.

There are 35 rafters, all custom cut with the correct angle to match against the dome. Any of the excess is then cut off, and the scrap is then used

as blocking between the rafters to keep them from racking. The roof decking is then laid down, cut, and secured.

Once again, that’s the end of another segment. I invite you to join our Facebook page at the link below for building updates prior to these video

releases. Thanks for watching!

Teaser Video #8

2011-11-11T16:11:00.001-05:00

Here's the latest teaser video for the geodesic dome greenhouse! Enjoy!

Geodesic Dome - filling the foundation

2011-10-31T09:14:00.000-04:00

Most of you know that the dome's frame is up, but here's the next video in the series about what will be hiding under the floor.

I had too much video to cram into 5 or 6 minutes so you get a double-feature today!

We’ll start with the sump tank that’s located in the center of the dome area. Plastic tanks can’t be buried directly in dirt since they expand and contract with temperature change and the weight of the dirt will eventually crush them. I surrounded the entire tank with scrap 2 by 4’s and built a brick wall around it. When the well was completed, the goal was to simply lift the tank out, remove the boards and set the tank back in the well, resulting in a space between the tank and the well wall.

I didn’t realize that the tank was slightly tapered so the bottom was larger than the top - the tank was trapped inside the well! If you watch carefully, you can see the entire well lift slightly with the tank. Some extra pondering was required…

I decided to slide each board out one at a time until enough were removed to loosen the tank. I drilled part-way through the board, inserted a bolt, wrapped a strap around it, and lifted the board until it hit against the rim of the tank. Then cut the section of board off and repeated the process until the board came out. This was a few hours wasted, but it worked!

There is a larger sump tank that is located in the shed area that also needed a well built around it. This is a cone bottom tank so I tightly strapped some 2 by 4’s as legs to it to keep it level, then set the rest of the spacer boards around it. After leveling out the area, I set some cement blocks on the ground to act as a footing for the brick work. When it was complete, a perfectly round well was surrounding the tank and we were able to pull the tank out with the excavator.

This is the baby brother excavator compared to the one that dug the foundation hole. With a slightly smaller bucket, it was able to place the dirt back into the bottom half of the hole. Bruce, the operator, was very careful and didn’t hit a single block off the wall! When the area was roughly level, he tamped the dirt into place to help prevent future settling.

While Bruce graded around the exterior of the foundation, I set the tubing for the thermal mass. There are 5 equal length perforated pipes that connect to a central manifold which will eventually be connected to a heating system. The tubing zigzags around the floor to help spread the heat evenly throughout the dome. The exhaust for each tube then vents to a different area in the dome.

Six inches of stone was placed around the tubing. This is partly to protect the tubing from larger rocks, and partly to allow some more air flow for heat distribution into the thermal mass floor.

Earlier in the project, I didn’t have time to set the anchor bolts in the foundation wall. To make sure they were placed in the correct locations, I first cut all the treated lumber sill plates to their correct lengths and labeled them. I then drilled a hole for the anchor bolt into each plate, roughly in the center of a one of the block cavities.

The entire cavity didn’t need to be filled with concrete so I filled them half way with stone first. It was a nice day so I got a helper. Her job was to vibrate the air pockets out of the concrete as I shoveled it into the cavity. I then leveled off the area and set the j-bolt into the concrete, and then set the sill plate over the area to make sure the bolt was in the correct location.

This is what happens when you don’t wear boots in a construction area!

There will be an outer ring of grow beds around the perimeter of the dome, and also a central ring. This 2 inch drain pipe will allow the beds to drain into the central sump tank. The piping is temporarily set on bricks to make sure they are sloped in the right direction.

More dirt is filled between the pipe areas and sand is filled around the pipes. This helps to protect them from stone and allows them to be fine-tuned for the proper slope.

Now that all the drain pipes are installed, the sump tank can be dropped into the well. Holes are cut through the side of the tank and the pipes are pushed through the holes. I plan on installing an elbow at the end of each drain to try and swirl the water a bit.

The large sump tank is a bit trickier to install since the cone shape needs to be properly supported. I made a quick template that was equal to the angle of the cone. Sand was then added to the bottom of the well and I used the template as a guide to shape the sand into the same angle as the cone. The tank dropped into place perfectly!

The dome will sit on a 16 inch knee wall. Although each section should match perfectly with the dome, they will be left loose until the dome is assembled so they can be adjusted. Each section is placed on a strip of foam to help prevent air from leaking between the concrete wall and the boards. They are then loosely bolted into place.

That’s it for now. Thanks for watching and don’t forget to join our Facebook page at the link below.

Dome video #7 Teaser

2011-10-17T15:12:00.001-04:00

Another teaser video. It's moving along quickly! Most likely the dome part will go up within the next week!

Geodesic Dome Greenhouse #6 - Foundation Walls

2011-10-13T07:01:00.000-04:00

I've made some excellent progress in the last month on the dome! The entire concrete block wall was built and I'm now moving on to some of the heating and plumbing that will be buried under the floor. I'm still hoping to have most of it built before the snow flies!

Geodesic Dome Greenhouse #6 Teaser

2011-09-26T15:25:00.000-04:00

A quick preview of our next video.

Videos on YouTube and Vimeo

2011-09-20T13:43:00.000-04:00

We have had numerous problems with our YouTube videos being blocked in several countries. We created an account on Vimeo that should work. (www.vimeo.com/web4deb). The majority of our videos can still be found on YouTube at www.youtube.com/web4deb. Thanks!

Building a Geodesic Dome Greenhouse - Part 5

2011-09-18T19:00:00.000-04:00

I finally finished up the 5th video in the series. This one covers how the footings were done, and then a little problem with flooding in the foundation hole!

Geodesic Dome Greenhouse Teaser

2011-09-01T09:08:00.000-04:00

A quick preview of the next video!

3rd Party film by FairCompanies

2011-08-22T13:51:00.000-04:00

Film maker Kirsten Dirksen produces videos on sustainability and better living and stopped by our place when she heard about the Aquaponic setup. Here's a video she put together about it.

Plastic Extruder - The saga continues.....

2011-08-19T18:11:00.000-04:00

Last year I made this plastic extruder to try and make growing media from recycled bottles. Even though I didn't get the desired results, it has tickled the fancy of a few niche groups. This article was published in a German trade magazine that deals with plastics.

It's all in German...they said the article may be picked up by their English counterpart later this year. I have no idea what it says...for all I know, they said I was a raving lunatic!

Groundbreaking for the dome

2011-08-06T13:45:00.002-04:00

After many delays, we finally got the foundation hole dug for the greenhouse. Things should start moving along much quicker now!

Finally staring the foundation hole for the dome

2011-07-29T10:44:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since we've had a dome update but we've finally started digging for the foundation hole. More info in the near future!

Aquaponic greenhouse summer update

2011-07-22T19:34:00.000-04:00

It's been a really long time since I've done an update on the greenhouse so I put together a video show the various plants that are growing the summer.

Hello Everyone,

I’m a bit overdue with an update on the aquaponic setup in the Harbor Freight greenhouse.

Cucumbers love the heat. These older leaves have some brown spots from aphids but the rest of the vines have grown up into the cross braces and make a really nice canopy area. This year I’m only growing the smaller pickling cukes. They grow fast, produce a lot of fruit, and are resistant to powdery mildew. Last year we had 264 cukes from 2 plants and are on target to have a higher yield this year!

The cherry tomatoes are also doing very well. This one plant has huge clusters that contain about 50 tomatoes each. There are about 250 pieces on this one plant with more areas starting to flower. The clusters have gotten so heavy that I had to tie each one up to the main support line so that they don’t tear themselves off of the stalk.

Last year I grew an heirloom tomato called Brandy Wine. They were huge and delicious, but were prone to cracking and getting mold in the cracks. This year I’m trying Amish Paste tomatoes. I like them much better since they are far smaller and haven’t been cracking.
The vines probably produce the same amount of weight, but there is a higher quantity spread out over time. There are 2 plants in the greenhouse and they are on target to produce 50 tomatoes each.

Each year I grow a couple of bell peppers. They grow well, but don’t produce any more than a few peppers each, which is on par with our regular garden.

This is the second year I’ve tried growing eggplant. They grow well and produce flowers. Then the leaves start turning white and the plants eventually die off. I’m not sure what is cause of it is.

It’s too hot during the summer to grow lettuce so I let this one plant go to seed. It will produce more than enough seeds to use for the fall planting and also for next spring.

The strawberries were also done producing in the spring. They are now sending out runners which I will let them take root, producing more plants for next year. Once I get enough runners, I will start cutting any others back so that the energy will stay in the main plant.

In the original 8-inch tube grow beds, I planted carrots again. This time I’m trying a Danver’s half-long variety instead of the standard length. Hopefully they won’t hit the bottom again!

The automation system is still working well including the 6-way sequencing valve. The automatic fish feeder is also working well with just a few signs of rust. The fish are fed just the right amount based on the water temperature.

Thanks for watching. I’ll leave you with some underwater footage of the fish. Please subscribe to receive updates about future videos!

Get to the point

2011-07-16T16:18:00.000-04:00

Sometimes we see a few critters wandering around the farm and they usually keep their distance. This guy didn't care that I walked right up to him to take this video.

Playing with Fire

2011-06-20T08:14:00.000-04:00

It's been quite awhile since posting any info about the geodesic dome greenhouse. This spring had more rain then usual and the site was too wet to run heavy equipment through. We're hoping to start digging for the footings in next week or so.

I've started to experiment with rocket mass heaters and have had very good luck with running a good clean burn. It will be quite impressive to be able to heat the entire greenhouse without needing electricity to store heat in a thermal mass or run a blower for the burner. More to come!

Invest In The Future!

2011-06-17T08:30:00.000-04:00

We have a new product that were preparing to launch! To help offset some of the expense of the molds and dies, we decided to seek outside funding and chose to use KickStarter.com. There are many pledging tiers that offer generous rewards once the project is complete!

Click here for project details

Whitefly control

2011-05-22T10:50:00.001-04:00

Here's a little video on how to make cheap flypaper traps. White flies are a big nuisance in greenhouses!