So hydroponics are kicking off (as well as soil container gardens, backyard gardens, and community plot gardens) with me and my friends....
....and with that now is a good time to emphasize that this is not just a hobby (or a hobby at all for some). It's easy. sure. And takes little time, money, and effort... and is fun... and calming... don't get me wrong.
But we're not doing this for shits and giggles.
This is one part of a larger effort at bringing about post-scarcity food. (Note: One part. No one thing is a panacea.)
So right now, we have efforts to garden (hydroponically or otherwise) for one's self and one's family. That's good. It either supplements or fully replaces a corporate grocery store. Great.
But it's only part of it.
The next part is mutual aid. When we plant food, we also plant for our neighbors and greater community. For every 5 plants I harvest, I give away at least 1 plant. At least 20 percent. The question then becomes, how do we get the food out. How do we distribute it?
Food banks are fine. They're already set up. Many accept home grown produce. The issue with food banks is they are often means tested. You have to prove you NEED the food before you get it. That has a shit ton of issues and often just means that people who are hungry don't get to eat.
Instead of food banks, I've been using two solutions to distribute food.
The Olio App ( https://olioapp.com/en/ ): The Olio App let's you list your produce online. Folks can then request the item and arrange for pickup. It's like craiglist and uber eats and specifically is about giving away free food.
Community Fridges / Community Pantries ( https://freedge.org/locations/ ): Free fridges and pantries are physical nodes in your community where folks that have extra food, put it in the pantry. Folks that need food, take it out. Give a food, take a food. No need for apps, low overhead, works really well and is efficient.
The key to all of this is it's NOT charity. This is MUTUAL aid. You give AND you take. As we produce for ourselves we also produce for our neighbors. Everyone eats.
My proof-of-concept "Single-Unit Hydroponic Grow Bin".
I don't know if it will work. Follow this thread (for the next three months maybe) and grow with me... maybe... or just watch it fail... :P
The goal of this grow-bin is to be:
Exceedingly cheap (This comes out to around $11 a unit - reusable - and that's mostly the light. Each additional growth will only be a couple of cents per plant).
Exceedingly easy to make.
Have as little moving parts as possible.
Require as little maintenance as possible while the plant grows.
Not require any special space, set-up, or shelving.
Be able to stick anywhere you have a couple of inches of spare room indoors, even if you live in a very small amount of floor space.
Be powered by wall socket or by external USB battery (for folks that are charging USB batteries with solar cells).
If you want to grow more plants... make more of these grow bins and add them wherever you have juuust a bit more space.
This answers the obstacles of hydroponics being portrayed as requiring an expensive startup cost, having dedicated or expansive space for hydroponic growing, require special or complex equipment, or special knowledge and skills.
AND IT'S ADHD FRIENDLY!!!!
Start growing whenever you get around to it. Doesn't require following growing seasons.
Once you start growing, you can forget about it until it's done growing.
Note: This is an experiment. I don't know if this will succeed. But! I plan on tweaking it and correcting any issues as I test it out. So... I'm not showing you a finished product. I'm showing you the design and test phase. Maybe we'll get a finished product out of the end of it!
(Thread continues and will be added onto. Bookmark and check back every couple of weeks. - The next section will go into how to build this.)
When the leaves are growing THROUGH your halo light, it might be an indicator that your light is not powerful enough.
I'm calling it on this experiment. A lot of really cool things discovered!!!
First off, my basic build works! This is amazing! It means:
I don't have to germinate the seed separately, I can just plant it in the grow bin and ignore it until its time to harvest.
You can grow from a tiny single bin that has a six-inch diameter footprint.
The bin is modular. Do you want to grow more plants? Use more bins!
This addresses the following issues that often come up when discussing hydroponics:
"It's too expensive" : the grow bin is free (upcycled protein powder bin). water, nutrients, seed, rockwool, and pool noodle were all less than a dime. The most expensive item here is the reusable grow light. It was $10. A more powerful one might cost $15 or $20 retail (much less in bulk wholesale).
"I don't have enough space indoors" - this has a tiny footprint of half a foot and requires no special shelving. Place it anywhere you have a tiny amount of space.
"I can never remember to maintain my plants, they always die on me!" - This is ADHD Friendly! You plant the seed whenever you get around to it (no need to follow grow cycles). And then ignore it for two months and harvest it when its done.
The one thing that I'll do for my next build is use a brighter grow lamp. This specific lamp was strong enough to get it past germination / seedling and into full plant, but it's started failing once that plant has become mature. The leaves are a bit "leggy" meaning the leaves are reaching towards the light ot get more food. A stronger light means that it can chill and just be a plant without reaching.
All of that said, even leggy plants taste great! I'll let this one grow another week or so and harvest it!
My next experiment will be around grow mediums. I'm using rockwool in a pool noodle on this one and my other grow bins, but I want to try to use a cheaper method that still lets me plant the seed and forget about it until its time to harvest. Watch for that experiment soon!
Alright, sent an email to the head of my local library about setting up a seed library there.
Seeds libraries are places you can go and "check out" seeds. Grow the seeds. Let one of the grown plants go to seed. Harvest the seeds. Then "return" the seeds back to the seed library!
They're interested in building out a seed library as well!!!
YAYAYAYAY!!!!!!
I'm developing some basic classes on how to do low-budget, simple, indoor (in any space) hydroponics. I'm also building out some starter kits to give away.
I'll see if the local library would like me to give these courses and kits when the seed library gets built as a way to promote it and get word out to the local community.
I'm going to plant directly into the grow bin... I don't need to do a separate seeding phase and then move it over. I think it'll germinate / sprout right in the bin and then grow roots down into the nutrient water.
I'm going to harvest a week earlier this go around... at about five weeks. The leaves seemed fuller then.
I'm going to move the Kale and Arugula to more light and keep the light the same for the leafy greens.
I'm going to try to grow some spinach and bok choy this go around as well! Maybe swap out the gold leaf for some romaine lettuce. I did four bins this go around. I'll get two more for the kitchen shelf.
I really don't like using the rockwool. I mean.. it works GREAT. Like its awesome. But it's 6 cents a cube (expensive, right!?!?!). But I also don't like having to clean it off the plants when I harvest. I'm going to experiment with soil and hydroponic cups and see if that works. Dirt is... dirt cheap. Like... fractions of a cent per plant and much easier to clean off. I'll start a new thread on that. (note: I might still use up some of my rockwool this next go around, but I'll be phasing out of it)
I need to expand. Need to grow more. I'm going to build some more grow shelves. Maybe put them in the garage or spread them around the house.
I really want to grow two more types of items. Beans and Fruit Bearing Plants (Peppers, Tomatos, Cucumbers, Squash, etc.) - To that end, I'm going to start experimenting with Kratky reservoirs - Still cheap. Still passive. Still automated. Still hands off.
I'm going to get more people to use the Olio app for decentralized food swapping. Gonna push the idea that we give away at least 20% of our crop to our neighbors. We can feed everyone. We have the means of production here. We have localized coordination and distribution here. We are building post-scarcity food.
Alright... Lastly, I have enough photos and notes, I can build out a DIY How-To. Once I get that written, I'll add it to this thread and close it out. Cheers all!
5x Buttercrunch
5x Romaine
5x Pak Choy
5x Arugula
5x Kale
5x Spinach
I'm not seeding separately. I planted right in the grow bins. We'll see if that works.
Using Kratky method. So I've poured as much water and nutrients as each plant needs and I'm leaving it alone for a couple of months. No pumps, no aerators, etc. Just a food safe plastic 5-gallon bin with water & nutrients and nothing else.
I also added more light. So before I had three LED T5s on both levels. Now I have four on top and five on the bottom.
I'm using rockwool held in with pool noodle sections (the light green circles on top). I'm going to be looking into using other mediums here in the future.
(See thread for previous build information and crop)
"Elinor Ostrom’s rules for governing the commons provide criteria for how a common sector can function well (Ostrom 2021). Even though her politics differ in crucial ways from libertarian communism, many of the overall principles and practices for managing the commons that she outlines can strengthen libertarian communist praxis (Libertarian 2013). And although not stated until now, the above approach of libertarian communism satisfies Elinor Ostrom’s 8 rules for governing the commons: It has clear and non-hierarchical processes/practices/nomos/decision making, planning, and rules, it matches rules governing commons to local conditions (while also retaining specific universalist features), it ensures that those affected by decisions can modify them, it aims towards the commons being respected by others (through a focus on global revolution as well as defending the commons against hierarchical forces), it develops ways for people to hold each other accountable to rules of the commons without resorting to hierarchical strata and without hierarchical security forces, it has ways of dealing with rule violations as well as accessible dispute resolution (via free association/disassociation, self defense and defense of others, breaking up fights, diffuse social disapproval, and dispute resolution via mediation), and has responsibility for governing common resources in nested tiers from lowest level up to the entire interconnected system. "
Hey, actually #amwriting this morning. It's been more than a minute. My WIP #shortfilm is a standalone film but also serves to suggest a huge #scifi scenario below the surface. Currently wrestling with what that iceberg tip looks like. How much do I need to show? How much can the audience infer? #screenwriting#sciencefiction#TheOriginalCopy
My film, #TheOriginalCopy, is a #futurist tale about tech that uproots capitalism. I don't specify if the tumult that follows signals imminent societal collapse, or the birth pangs of a post-scarcity utopia. In any case, these are ideas I always have fun thinking about. I've spent many years building out a future history in my mind, and this #shortfilm will be my first public expression of it. #postscarcity#utopia#capitalism#futurism