Diesels and Mob Ignorance

So today was my first day at work with my new Golf TDI. Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. First off -now that I’ve seen it in real life: its is fantastic. Super clean inside and out, everything works but the cupholder, and there are no weird noises in the chassis other than a strut mount starting to show its age. We got over 50mpg on the way home, and its got plenty of power to tote around a family of 4 w/gear. Incredibly pleased with the purchase.

But back to my work. Seems that many, many people simply cannot understand why I would buy a diesel -even at 50mpg. The price stigma on diesel seems to be incredibly strong -all they can remember is when it was $4.79 a few months ago. I often get frustrated by normally decently intelligent citizens refusing to think things through for themselves. So here is the thinking to my argument with them -I will try to be less condescending here than in real life… The long and the short of it is that as long as you are getting 12% better fuel economy -a diesel can cost you less. But it is alot more to it than that.

Pump Price

Diesel is often, but not always, more expensive than unleaded. In the past year that I have been watching it it seems to anecdotally hover around 10-12% over unleaded. The issues with The Mob is that a 12% premium over unleaded at $4.29 is about $4.79, which carries alot of sticker shock. It is best to de-emotionalize the major purchases of our lives so lets stick to that 12% worst case scenario to be objective.

Effeciency

Diesel fuel has about 30% more “boom” per gallon than unleaded - but good engineers can actually eck out more efficiency than that using turbocharging and direct injection. Golfs come in both unleaded and diesel versions of the same car so it is a decent comparison of apples/apples. The 2.0 liter VW unleaded engine can was rated at 24/31 with 105 hp. The TDI in the same year was rated 35/44 with 90 hp, but more torque (they “feel” stronger). That is a a roughly 45% improvement! Now the 2.0 VW engine uses ancient technology, so lets compare it to a high tech Honda of the same year -though this loses some of the apples to apples as the Honda is more aerodynamic and weighs less being only a 4 Star car. It got 28/35. Still the TDI is a 25% improvement over the highly esteemed Honda 4 cylinder - and that is in a heavier car.

Fuel Cost

Really they only way to compare fuel costs is in dollars per 1000 miles o some other distance. Lets say unleaded is $4 a gallon. Lets compare a 2001 Honda Civic(28/35), a 2001 Golf TDI (35/44), and a 2004 Prius (48/45). I used the ‘04 Prius since it the oldest year of the most fuel efficient 4 door car available. I will also include a 2004 Subaru Forester (19/25) as that is what we had until recently considered a frugal tow vehicle. These figures are from www.fueleconomy.gov and use the revised 2008 EPA numbers which are a joke -if you can’t beat these you are a menace to the planet. I will simply average the numbers for “mixed driving”.

• 2001 Civic costs $126.98
• 2001 Golf costs $113.45
• 2004 Prius costs $86.20
• 2004 Forester costs $181.81

The Prius is a hands down winner here. On strictly fuel alone, the Prius would save you about $800/yr if you traded in your Civic and drove 20k a year and a significant $2000/yr over our Forester.

Vehicle Cost

This is the Prius killer for us and many others. Lets compare average prices on Autotrader within 500 miles of me (Upper Midwest) which include Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis.

• 2001 Civic were $7960
• 2001 Golf/Jetta TDI’s were about $9500
• 2004 Prius were $20,500
• 2004 Forester was $13950

On Total Cost the Civic is our winner. But the TDI is close enough that many people would be able to make good rationale decision on more subjective things like safety ratings, towing capacity, resale, availability etc. The Prius loses out on any cost analysis, but that isn’t really what hybrids are about and this isn’t news to anyone.

Basically a diesel can save you some money in the real world. I drove a 2001 Civic for many years and got 37pg every single tank. I expect the TDI will get me about 48mpg on mixed driving, but that remains to be seen. That would save us a decent $300/yr. Better yet, it has alot more utility for our family -it can tow barrels and Grillo’s, is more comfortable on long trips to visit family in SD or Ohio, and most importantly I can make my own fuel for it which weighed very heavily on our final decision.
One final note, I didn’t even touch the emmisions debate -and that was intentional. Alot of the diesel emmision info on the web is from the old uber dirty diesel (500+ ppm sulfur) and the data on the 15ppm sulfur is not readily availible for these older cars. Also I plan to run 20-100% biodiesel mixes and tailpipe readings for that are even harder to come by. In this category the Prius gains significant ground as a PZEV it is by far the friendliest to the planet.

Again,the moral to this very long story is that as long as you are getting 12% better fuel economy -a diesel can cost you less, but there are sooooo many other variables you should really spend the time thinking this through that any purchase of this caliber deserves. I have made impulse vehicle purchases and have always regretted them.

Our world is very much in need or more mindful consumerism. Be the Change.

-Rob

PS: The 2008 EPA estimates are frustrating. They seem to factor in driver behaviors even less than before and really show a bias to low tech producers like GM and Ford. Low tech and/or big engine like the Big 3 and the 2.0 liter VW engines seem to be more accurately reflected -my parents are slow drivers and can only eck our about 32 highway in their 2.0 Jetta -a 5% gain. Compare that to our Forestes (27mpg mixed ) a 20% gain, and that I was able to achieve 52mpg in my first ever trip in the Golf also for a 20% gain, and many Prius drivers can do the same. High Tech engines are better able to run efficiently if the driver is smart and light on the throttle -where the low tech ones cannot since they are always dumping in fuel. The EPA, under the Republicans and Big business, has catered to mediocrity. Again.  Your goal should be to beat the new 2008 EPA estimates for highway driving by 10% in
your mixed driving.  If you aren’t, adjust your behaviors and save money and the planet.

Gone Bio Diesel Crazy

We are heading out tomorrow morning to grab the Golf.  Spent much of the weekend first researching VW tuning (Friday) and the boning up on Bio Diesel Processing.  Here is some of my findings

VW Tuning

The MK IV cars (1999.5-2004) come into the world with 90hp/155lb ft torque.  They also make a routine of going 700+ miles on their 14.5 gallon tanks (45-48mpg).   They also come very well equipped 4 wheel disc brakes, side curtain air bags, and lots of luxury items in the GLS models.  The mileage is great, but I need a bit more power to tow my barrels.  Luckily the tuner community has lots of answers.

• Fuel Nozzles.  Upgrading these to “Euro” spec injectors nets 10-15hp and 20#’s of torque.  No loss of mileage if you keep out of the turbo
• “Chip” tuning will clean up the fuel map and bump the boost up a bit to 18.5psi max.  This get you another 10hp and real close to 200#/ft of torque.
• 2.5″ Down Pipe and performance cat and remove the muffle (diesels are quiet) gets you a broader power band (turbo spools 300rpm’s sooner), a handful of ponies/torque, but more importantly let the turbo breather better and lowers your Exhaust Gas Temps (EGT’s) by several hundred degrees (reduces stress on engine components/oil).  This one is optional and will only get done if I see my EGTs going up on towing runs.
• There are many drivers with these mods in the “800 Club”: 800 miles on one tank  That’s 55mpg in  vehicle that can tow 2000#’s while seating 4 adults in 5star safety.  Nice.

Bio Diesel

I’m not going to go into all the ins and outs of making it here.  A staggering amount of info can be found on Journey to Forever’s bio fuels pages which is where I have spent several hours this weekend as I huddled indoors to avoid the ragweed pollen until my allergy medicine could catch up.  I am convinced that we will be going Bio Diesel and not WVO at this point - our Subaru may very well get traded in for a ‘09 Sport Wagon Jetta, and one BD processor can handle multiple vehicles if it is sized right.  Progress so far:

• First contact at our local China Buffet -permission granted to salvage their grease!
• Spoke to my farmer friend and he is willing to donate space for a Processor-I am not willing to have 99.5% pure Lye and Sulfuric Acid within reach of the kiddos.   Our discussion grew into making an “Energy Shed” to house a gasifier, Bio Diesel Processor, and an Ethanol Still.  Huh.
• Emailed out to several Craigs listers with various Processor Bits for sale -mostly large drums, pumps, etc.  Looks like a 50 gallon sized still can be made for under $1000.  That is big enough for 2500 gallons a year or so.  That would be 112,000 TDI miles so there is room for 3-4 more in the project, or more likely I only run it once a month.

Time will tell where this goes.  I would be happy making 5-10 gallons weekly, but it seems that the effort is about the roughly same if you make 1 gallon or 40.  If I proceed, it will likely be with a 5 gallon mini processor to get the feel of it, and then maybe ramp up to a 50 gallon processor if it seems doable.  Price for BD home brew seems to be in the $1 range these days -driven mostly by the price of methanol which I still need to find a local supplier for.
Much of this was mulled over while harvesting (and selling!) my 900th pound of potatoes.  Still 3-500 pounds left!

-Rob

End of an Era

3 years ago I bought my beloved Honda Insight… a 2001 5spd with 54k miles on it. I have absolutely adored that car -it was literally the only car that could have broken by affair with Big Speed and my modified 330hp Mitsubishi EVO 8 race car. The Insight was everything I wanted -wicked huge mileage -peaking as high as 102.2, rolling poster child for “a Better Way”, and a nice slice of minimalism in a life that is not yet bike friendly. But in the past year our need for a second car that can either tow a trailer for our Eco LLC business or have a backseat for the kids has increased as our little uns begin to get Involved: swim and ballet lessons, sports, play dates, etc. Out here in the rural suburbia seemingly everything, be it groceries or a pool, is 10 miles away. So we began to look at options.

4 Months ago I was completed smitten with Plug In Priuses. Sure the $30k buy in ($20k + $10k conversion) was uber steep, but I had a plan to sell 160 rain barrels in the next two years to cover at least the cost of the conversion. Then oil hit $140+ and inflation crested 5%. That Prius became $35k as used hybrids appreciated and we struggled mightly to sell our first load of rain barrels as America (finally!) tighten her belt. We’ve sold most of the barrels, but just barely and selling another 100 is not likely since the majority went to one buyer.

But we still need a high mileage 4 seat car.  So 3 weeks ago I began to look very seriously for a used VW TDI.  There were never a ton of these on the road (thought the 2006+ are MUCH more common!) and they are also in demand.  Prices are ranging from 10-30% above Kelly’s Blue Book -and most buyers are flying in to get them and driving them 3 states home.  I had 4 semi local cars slip through my fingers -even calling within an hour of the ad posting is not enough to get these.   Then just this week I found my new car. I had email Mia my “Dream Ad” and don’t you know it, I came home from work to find a  new Ebay listing that matched it perfectly.  Its a 2000 Golf TDI GLS 5spd with about 110k miles on it.  I am as vain as the next guy so I wanted it loaded -moonroof, premium sound, and heated seats (these little diesels take like 20 miles to heat up in the winter) and I found it on Ebay.    4 doors, super clean, and I bought it for $4k less than I am selling my Insight for so the budget is uber happy.  Its in MN so I am bumming a ride with family on their return trip to South Dakota this weekend.

More on why I bought a TDI -this paragraph gets more than a little Car Guy.  Most guys driving them are getting 42-48mpg every single tank -and the hypermilers are getting 60mpg!  Second, they can be turned into nice little tow vehicles.  In Europe these engines have about 20 more hp -and the only part change is larger fuel injection nozzles-about $300.  You can also add a “chip” that remaps some of the boost parameters for the turbo and get another 10-15hp.  More importantly you can also get another 80 ft/lbs of torque making the Golf a better tow vehicle than our Forester.  Open up the exhaust with a bigger down pipe off the turbo and you can keep your Exhaust Gas Temps down too and add a few more ponies.  Here is the kicker -there are many guys with these mods still getting over 50mpg every single tank.  You only use the extra fuel and boost of the mods if you push the engine hard while accelerating/towing. Even still, I have yet to see anyone on the forums at TDI CLUB getting under 40mpg in a modded 5spd.   Nice.

Are hybrids more efficient?  You bet.  But they can’t tow, cost over twice as much, and I can’t make my own fuel in a pinch.  I am very happy with my decision and will likely start doing some home bio-diesel processing using Journey to Forever’s 5 gallon “Test” kit this Fall.  Making 5 gallons a week actually would cut my Dino Fuel use 100 gallons anually over a standard Prius.  I have already found a source for grease, just need to build the kit. In my “spare” time.

Very sad to see my beloved Insight going away, but also excited for the future!

-Rob

Fall Projects

So I am in a mid summer lull.  Not that I have lots of free time mind you… we’re still building barrels, harvesting 1-200#’s of spuds a week, weeding, watering, working 50 hours a week etc its just that things are in a routine and I guess I have some mental free time which I have been putting to use.  Much of that has gone into Fall Planning.

Gardening

We will not be putting in any large crops for fall, or more precisely any crops for market.  Projects are falling behind and I would like to catch up.  We still have alot of fall squash in the ground, and will see those, our beans for drying, onions, etc to harvest and will plant a winter hoop house for greens.  But the land that is coming out of production will be entirely put into cover crop at the market garden to allow us to get a better jump on weeds next year.  Hopefully next year will start to see a significant drop in the amount of tilling we do as well.  I also need to map out a Big Vigorous Veggie (BVV) rotation to ensure we are confusing the Colorado potato beetles and not taxing the land.

Transportation

As we transition away from the Plug-in Prius plan (too expensive in a downturn), I am going full force into the TDI VW camp.  Still some major descisions there.  Do we go WVO?  Can I find grease, and will it still be there in 3-5 years?  Then there is what kind of VW.  Jettas are the more easier acquired and cheapest, but I want at least a Golf for the hatchback functionality if not a Jetta Wagon.  A Passat Wagon would be able to be a rain barrel delivery truck, and I have always loved them, but they are so dang pricey.  More thought, and more than a bit os serendipity, is needed

Energy

I am completely enamored with our gasifier, but it is impossible to put one in here.  We are committed to our next home being The One, but need to re build the $30k beating my 401k has taken in the past 6 months for that to happen.  Figure 2-3 more years.  I also think that a Bio Diesel still is where I will end up on the diesel front.  While a WVO is simpler and cheaper to maintain, every single engine will need one, while a Bio-Diesel still will allow me to make fuel for multiple, unmodified, engines powering everything from my Grillo to our cars, to farm trucks and tractors.  Also, if we build it oversized we could start a small fuel co-op and spread the start-up costs, but as importantly offset even more dino fuel by spreading to other families -in permaculture you strive for a surplus, right?  My wife Mia is uncomfortable with me making fuel in our HOA -safety, insurance, pushing the neighbors just a bit too far, etc so it will likely have to be off site.  Also, BD stills take a goodly amount of energy -the oil must be heated for a long time -and they typically use one or more 1500 watt heating elements.  That is like running 2-3 waterheaters for days on end -using electricity.  Ouch.   But back up a minute -BD stills need  heat and electricity.   Our gasifier  makes heat and electricity.   Can we do a “tri”-gen facility producing hot water, electricity to a grid tie, and Bio Diesel in one set up?  Time will tell.  But the ability to heat a home, power a site, and fuel a fleet from one contraption -that runs off of wood chips grown on site- may be eco nerd nirvana.

Lots of loose ends to wrap up here, but it will be an exciting Fall to follow an exciting Summer, which followed an exciting Spring.  Living in a time of Historical Change may be stressful, but at least its not boring!

Be the Change!

-Rob

625,000 Calories on 1/10th Acre

Well we are officially 3 weeks in to the Great Potato Harvest, and the Yukon Golds are about done. They are sizing up nicely -with a few rare lunkers coming in at almost a full pound -each. With today’s take of 170 lbs we are officially at 575lbs in, and my best guess is about 5-600#’s of Carolas left, on top of the last 150#’s of Yukons. Add in a hundred combined of Green Mountain and Buttes and I just might break 1500#’s yet. The pic is from the first batch of baby Carolas 2 weeks ago they are continuing to add weight -I am getting about 25% more poundage per Carola hill than the average Yukon hill.

On top of that the Carolas are living up to their billing as the “Brandeywine” of potatoes. Super moist and tender, they all but melt in your mouth after roasting, frying in a skillet, or soaking in a wet curry. The Yukons are much firmer and have been perfect for our potato salads. It took 3 weeks, but we are slackening our passion for potatoes -we had gone almost 2 weeks with them at 2 of 3 meals per day. Still, they are carrying a meal a day most days.

And that is why I like spuds -they are what I call a “calorie crop”. It is difficult to just eat Peppers, Cucumbers, or Tomatoes etc as a main course -even for vegetarians. But Corn, Potatoes, Squash etc can anchor a meal. It is also said that Potatoes pack more energy per acre than any other crop. My 4500 sq ft (1/10th acre) will net 625,000 calories if my figures are right (26 calories per ounce for 1500 lbs). That is ALOT of calories!! Considering this is harvesting at baby weight, and/or using low yielding varieties like Yukon I don’t feel bad about being significantly off the typical yields of 30,000 lbs per acre conventional. A field of Purple Viking left to maturity would come very close to that.

So next time That Guy at work says we can’t feed the world organically, shove the figure of 6.3 million calories per acre at them and be comfortable that there is still 4 million calories of production on the table!!

-Rob

Commuting Commutations

So I have used this forum as a sounding board on many occasions, and will continue to do so since the advice and comments are typically of a pretty high caliber. What we are continuing to struggle with is our transportation conundrum. We had spoken of earlier of the need for another 4 door vehicle. We live in semi rural Wisconsin - which is incredibly pedestrian -UNfriendly. We have a 7 mile drive to the nearest grocery store for example. There is essentially no mass transit Our children are starting extra curricular activites and only having one 4 seat vehicle is starting to be more than just an inconvenience.

We have looked at the new generation hybrids -Civic and Prius, but moving from a 65mpg Insight to a 48mpg Prius is frustrating, especially when the ticket to ride costs well north of $20k for a used one. I am also REALLY interested in plug in technology and we had an earlier post to that effect -but with the economy going to crap my funding scheme (the conversion adds another $10k) is faltering -we still have 15 of our 80 barrels left and it would have been much worse without a Gaia-Sent order of 50 from a Municipality. We need to sell 160 to fund the conversion. Plugins are essentially out. Selling the Insight is no problem -they have actually gone UP in value despite my adding 30k miles to it.

So now what? Still frustrated by the cost of the new hybrids -though that is driven by the fact that I am getting 65mpg now -rationally I think they are worth it. But with the economy crapping out and energy bills for home doubling, adding $13k in debt is not appealing. So I am coming back to diesel. TDI’s are getting cheap as the price of dino diesel goes up. I have some alerts set up on Autotrader and TDI Jettas and Golfs with under 100k miles are availible for less than I can sell my Insight for. New Beetles are to be had for under $8k. We would want a wagon, but both the Jetta and Passats came in wagon models. A 4 Door Golf might also work. I have always LOVED the Passat Wagons -which are an A4 Audi wagon with some very slight body mods, and even more so when I learned that they have a stronger TDI engine (60lbs more torque than our Forester and better brakes!) that would tow barrels just fine. But the Passats are holding their value VERY well and cost as much as a used Hybrid, though they are more useful.

The reason I am willing to get 44mpg on a TDI vs 48 in a Hybrid is that I can make my own fuel. I am firing up my research again on the decades old debate of home Bio-Diesel still vs a WVO conversion in the trunk. Price is similar if you build your own still and we have a Coop in Madison that does installs on the WVO kits and use a very high quality German system. WVO is cheaper and to some extent easier, but I see WVO becoming a commodity in less than 2 years, so either way I would want to get a 4-5 yr “right of first refusal” contract with a local restaurant before I dropped several bills on a kit. BioD takes some time to make, and you have things like lye and methanol in the garage. Both are alot less noxious than they first appear, but still something to think about. There is also the energy consumed in heating the still (though it could mate with a gasifier just fine if I could get one in the garage!) which needs to be considered. That said, making bio-fuel is a skill I want to learn, I would like to be able to grow my own fuel someday. Either way we could have a eco-fueled TDI for about $15k -or $17k less than a Plug In Prius, and $7k less than a plain jane Prius. I want air-bags so the old Mercs, etc are out. But for a farm truck, I have found a BEAUTIFUL old Land Rover pickup out east that was imported from Europe and is titled. Those things are bullet proof! But that is a few years out.

I would love to hear about personal experiences with home Bio Diesel manufacturing and WVO conversions to help me out.

-Rob

Why I love Slow Food

I love Slow Food. Yes, of course I love slow food -the kind it takes all night to make -like a good curry, or all week like a good sourdough, or all year like a good onion. But what I am talking about today is Slow Food -the group of individuals reconnecting Americans and other citizens of the over commercialized planet with the goodness of local, heirloom, and often organic/sustainably grown foods -and why that goodness is a value worth our time.

I am growing alot of potatoes. Perfect harvest (10#’s for every 1 planted) would bring in just shy of 1900 lbs. As I planted alot of Yukon Gold (low yielders) and am harvesting lots of baby’s, end harvest will likely be well shy of that, but I still think over 1000#’s (5:1) is very feasible. That is awesome. It also scares me. Last week I harvested a bit under 200#’s. I sold it all, which felt really good. But that also took care of everyone in our mini CSA, friends at work and family. Many bought 10-20#’s as we gave price breaks there. That also means that these people are out of the potato buying business for many weeks. And the Yukons are READY and need to come in. No root cellar can take potatoes yet, and we don’t have that much fridge space.

Worry set in, so I started to look for a local resturaunt (I know I should have done that months ago…) and found that a chef in the next county started a Slow Food Chapter a year or so ago, and he is a friend of the farm owner so I gave him a call. Long story short I spent most of the morning harvesting 120#’s for him. For this week. But that isn’t the half of it. We had talked price ranges on the phone. I quoted what my CSA members were paying -which is about 25% above Whole Food prices for California organic Yukons. I’ve seen and eaten their potatoes, and mine are significantly better. He seemed fine with that, and ordered 100#’s -plus 20#’s of my baby Carolas -which are divine.

The delivery was great -Chef Jack is a good guy in a very high end “members only” restaurant at a Yacht Club-and he gets it. We looked at the spuds, and then he looked at the invoice. I had billed him $1.25/# for the Yukons and $2/# for the Carolas which was in the range we mentioned. Then he crosses out the $1.25 and makes it $1.75. I was floored. When I stammered a question, he simply replied something like: “these are great potatoes and I don’t like looking for new farmers. I’d rather pay what their worth and have them around rather than save a buck and have them shut down.” Amen.  I would wager that many a Slow Food Chef has had a similar conversation with a farmer.

I love Slow Food.

-Rob

PS Again, the power of being open to your neighbors pays off. I would never have found this chef, let alone have the ground to plant on if I hadn’t talked to my friends.  Talk to people -you’ll be better for it!

July Learnings from the Garden

So we are about half way through the gardening year. Early and Mid spring crops like Spinach, peas and lettuce are gone, early summer crops like potatoes, beets, and carrots (as well as Hoop House peppers!) are harvestable. Tomatoes are heavy on the vine but still green, corn is 4-5′ tall and starting to tassle, fall squash are sending their unruly vines through the paths, and onions are bulbing. Fall crops are being planted in flats -kale, spinach, and lettuce #4 to refill holes in the potato patch and other areas. With a breif respite from chores, its time to document some of my reflections.

Seeded Crops

To a row, our direct seeded crops have failed. Our market garden plot is a 9 mile drive from our house. That means that I am really only up there once a week for any appreciable time. While the main culprit for this was the 15 inches of rain we got in a 10 day period in June, but even in a “normal” year (haven’t seen one yet) I know the weeding would have gotten away from us. In freshly plowed ground like we started with, carrots, beets, bush beans, onions, and direct seeded lettuce will all be out competed by weeds without almost daily attention the first several weeks. Some rows have been inundated with a perrenial, rhizomatous sedge, but our main problem is super vigorous annual weeds: amaranth, lambs quater, button weed, and thistle mostly. Left unattended these will all crest at over 5′ tall, and in a week they easily get bigger than any growth carrots can put on. My biggest learnings here are that I will simply not even try these on fresh soil again. With more frequent attention mulching and/or wider row spacing would either smother many of the weeds or allow a wheel or scuffle hoe between the plants. I planted them in “wide” rows and the weeds took care of every gap I left.  I was planting based on maximizing yield per row ft like I do at home, but at the farm I have all the land I need -I need to focus on ease of maintenance, to maximize yields.  I am retrying carrots in the compost beds which have a fraction of the weed pressure to see if that might help.

The B.V.V. (Big Vigorous Veggies)

That last section was depressing… this one will be more triumphant.  The same insane fertility that makes the lambsquater put on a foot a week in height does the same for equally vigorous veggies.   Our potatoes, corn, fall squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers are unbelievably lush -deep green leaves, great height, and from the harvests on the potatoes at least -very productive.  Even at baby stage I am seeing 1# per linear row foot of Carolas, and at full size should see 2-3#.  These plants are either very aggressive in and of themselves (potatoes, squash, corn) or transplanted in at decent height (cukes, and tomatoes).   In the seeded crops I have weeded about twice 2 weeks in, and  again at week 4.  After that they  are so robust that nothing else stands a chance of causing any significant harm and I only weed to prevent them dropping seed.  In the tomatoes/cukes I planted into freshly tilled soil, and the mulched.  Again, they put on so much mass that little can cause them harm.  This amount of work better matches the amount of effort I am able to put in.

Drip Irrigation

Its fabulous.  I bought mine from Fed-Co and love it.  Thus far I water about once a week (in the 2 times we haven’t had an inch of weekly rain).  Routine is to pull into the farm, turn on the water, unload, weed, harvest, transplant, whatever for 3-4 hours, pack up, and then turn the water off.  Done.  Its pricey, but will last for several seasons and it has already paid for itself in time savings.  I also have 2 auto timers for when the dry season gets here, I just haven’t needed them yet.

In addition to providing some food for local folks and restaurants, the main goal of this project is to make my mistakes and take my learnings on land that doesn’t have a mortgage riding on it.  It is easier to be Zen about mistakes when you have no debt!  So here is the sum of them:

• Start with Big Vigorous Veggies (BVV) on fresh land if you can’t smother the weeds out first.  I will never try carrots, etc on freshly tilled soil again.
• Match your plants to your time constraints.  Potatoes are great crops for periodic spurts of energy in the garden.  1 Day planting.  2-3 half days weeding.  1 Day pulling beetles/spraying Bt (if needed!).   Lots of little 1 hour days harvesting -and harvesting potatoes is  not even remotely considered work by me!  Yields will be well north of 1000#’s, with 180#’s already in the hopper in July Wk 2.  Corn and Squash are about the same, with less time harvesting.  Tomatoes get alot more time harvesting, but the harvest is much easier.
• Consider weed pressure in your rotational planting.  In years 1 and 2 of my garden I will plan on growing the BVV almost exclusively and then trading the surplus for beets, beans, and carrots.  The BVV will be on the leading edge as my gardens expand and will always follow any freshly tilled in green manures -the tilling will have brought up more weed seeds.  Carrots etc will only go in favored beds that allow for extra attention and will get wider spacing to allow better cultivation
• When considering a truly Sustainable Garden -time needs to be factored as an input just as much as water and nutrients.   Time will make a garden economically unsustainable if poorly managed, and the entire garden could fail if the time inputs for various crops are not considered wisely.

I am a long way off of using the Sustainable Market Garden Plan, but the idea is still sound.  Incorporating these learnings will only make it better.  While there have certainly been some disappointments this year, being able to pull out bushels and bushels of potatoes with so little input is making up for it in a BIG way!  Other things still to work out -these gardens are not “permacultured” yet, and are still very “problem” intensive when compared to Fukuoka’s Natural Farming (the problem of weeds, the problem of plowing, the problem of fertilizer).  In other words the design is messy.  Need to work on that!

-Rob

Ultimate Rain Barrel Delivery Vehicle

Hell Ultimate ANYTHING delivery vehicle!  This came up on Hybrid Cars today.  100 mile range, virtually as much payload as a F-650 (what its based on) and coming to America?  I just hope I don’t short it out with my envious drool on the test drive.  Diesel Sprinter eat your heart out!

-Rob

Great Bennie Bug Guide

Attracting “good bugs” to our yard is a primary design consideration in both our home permaculture gardens, and at our market gardens.  Having permanent Beneifical Insect Populations and Sustainable Soil Fertility are the two main reasons I designed the, as yet untested, Sustainable Market Garden.  But I am not an entimologist, so how do I know what bugs I am attracting?

Luckily there are resources out there like ATTRA to help a brother out.  They put up a PDF from the Oregon State University, which is a high quality “pocket guide” to benificial insects.  I took the liberty of posting it here:

Pocket Guide for Beneficial Insects

Very high quality photos help you identify the buggers, and put a name to them -and if the guide is short on text it will at least allow you to have a solid idea of what is in your gardens, which will allow you to go back an ddo more research.

Speaking of research, this field is WIDE open -start tracking where you find soldier beetles and hover flies and get it on the web.  We all need to learn from each other

-Rob