My hydroponics setup

The above picture is a hydroponics setup that I am currently using to grow brussel sprouts. It was very easy to set up, and it was moderately cheap. It consists of a five gallon bucket, a "net pot" (plant basket), an air pump, bubble stone, hoses, and hydroton. The links for all of the materials are listed below.
1. Bucket Lid
2. Bucket (no link provided. This is a standard 5 gallon bucket that can be purchased at any hardware store. I bought this one at Walmart for about $3.00.)
3. Air Pump (This isn't the exact pump that I'm using for this setup, but I've read that is a very good pump for this application because it rated for a 10 to 30 gallon tank. The pump I use is also rated for up to 30 gallons, but it has two air ports in case I decide to add another bucket. With the correct valves and plenty of hose, this pump could provide enough air for up to 4 or 5 buckets)
4. Bubble Stones (There are many various types of bubble stones that can be used for this application, but this stone was very cheap. Walmart is a very good resource for items like these.)
5. Hoses (I'm not posting a link for this either because they are directly next to the air pumps at the Walmart, or any pet store where you might purchase an air pump like this.)
6. Hydroton This is a good pebble type medium for planting in hydroponics.

A store that I have become very familiar with in the Athens area, and I try to purchase the majority of my hydroponics supplies there, is a place called Flora Hydro. They have so many things to choose from, including grow closets, lamps, fans, net pots, drip irrigation supplies, nutrients, and water and soil testing supplies.

I'm still very new to all of this, so if you decide to do your own research, and you find other items or methods that work better for you, please feel free to share via comments and I will do my best to incorporate them into my future posts.

This is underneath the bottom shelf of the storage rack in my laundry room where I prepare my seedlings. I have two fluorescent grow lights mounted to the bottom of the shelf.


There isn't much space here, but this is the perfect spot for starting seedlings and for storing my hydroponics buckets during the cold weather.
This is the air pump that I use for my hydroponics buckets when I bring them inside during the cold weather. As you can see in the picture, I also have a power strip mounted just above it in case I need to add another pump or more lights.

I bought a book from the clearance rack at Borders for about $4 that included these herb growing kits. The book is called Sprout Your Own Sweet Scents. Tonight, I transplanted these into a small rectangular pot on my back porch, and I really hope they do well out there. The herbs that were included in the book are zingy cinnamon basil, cool & fresh spearmint, and tangy lemon balm.

Composting

There a lot of options for composting, and some are fairly extreme, but if you have your own garden and rely heavily on composting, here are some options for you.
Humanure Handbook - Humanure Toilet

People are typically opposed to this concept because they are so comfortable with the convenience and simplicity of a flushable toilet, and they don't want to have to deal with the smell, but from what I've read, there are ways to cut down or completely eliminate the smells associated with this method, and if you have a large garden, and you need to find easy and cheap ways to fertilize, this method can be very easy and cost effective.  Plus, it cuts down on your water usage.

There are so many things around the average home that can be composted, including paper trash, uneaten leftovers, other perishable foods that have expired, lawn scraps and leaves.  Here is a link for some basic information on composting that includes plans and instructions on how to build composting bins.
Composting 101

Hydroponics Video Links

Hydroponics for beginners

Free-standing hydroponics rack

SureToGrowers Youtube profile

I've found these videos to be very informative.  I'm growing my brussels sprouts using techniques I learned in these videos.

Green Energy

Here is an interesting article I found online today about green energy.

Gym of the future

Solar Power

 These are some solar panels at my granddad's house.  There are (4) 12 volt panels wired in parallel.  As you can see, there is a rain barrel in the background.

 There is also a small 12 volt panel at the top connected to a HAM radio.

 These are (8) 12 volt gel cell batteries connected in parallel to produce 12 volts but more amps so it will power the AC inverter for several hours.  He has a simple car power inverter connected so he can plug in lamps, fans, or other miscellaneous low power devices in his shop.  It's not enough for power tools, but it will definitely come in handy for powering lights during a long night of working in the shop or for powering fans on a hot summer day.

 This is the charge controller connected to the (8) 12 volt batteries.

This is the charge controller for the HAM radio.

Permaculture

If you live in Georgia, here is an interesting group that teaches about permaculture.
Georgia Permaculture


And, if you want to get connected with the Athens permaculture group on facebook, here is their link.
Athens Permaculture

I discovered this group after meeting someone from Hungry Gnome Gardenscapes at a local event here in Athens. Here is a link for their website.
Hungry Gnome

Introduction

With the current climate of the world (pun intended) going in the direction of green energies, gardening, farming, self sustainability, energy independence, and cleaner and greener technologies, I feel that it's important that we share as much information as possible with each other in order to become more educated in these areas so that we can all better ourselves by taking steps in the right direction.

Many people talk about climate change or global warming as a very important thing that needs to be discussed in politics and in our culture in order to protect the planet, our environment and ourselves, and I do believe that it's an important issue that needs to be considered, however it's not my main focus.  It's not a motivating  factor for me in creating this blog, and I would like to refrain from engaging in any conversation about the subject.  As we all know, lately there has been a huge change in the political climate, and there has been a division created in our society between the people on the left, or as some people would call them "hippies" that are pushing for reform in our laws and our methods of energy creation and consumption, and the people on the right who, supposedly, are not concerned about the environment, and are only interested in making money.

This introduction is going to be the only mention of global warming or climate change in this blog.  Because of the tension between the "left" and the "right" in our politics today, the issue of climate change is a very heated, very highly debated topic, and I believe that it diverts attention from the issues that really matter.  The purpose of this blog, as I mentioned before, is to spread information about new technologies regarding "green" or sustainable energies from natural resources and gardening methods that help to promote self-sustainability.

I would like for each person to take it upon themselves to examine their own lives, to evaluate their own situations, the way they live, consume energy, the kinds of energies they use, the foods they eat, the places where they buy their foods, what's in the foods, and most importantly the lack of importance that each person has placed on these issues in their daily lives.  I would like for each person to take responsibility for the way they live and use the information provided in this blog to better themselves by becoming more independent and less reliant on energy from the grid, fast food, frozen foods, genetically modified foods, and foods that contain huge amounts of preservatives,  fillers and hormones.

It's become clear to me that most people want to be independent of the fast food culture and corporate monopolies, but they are afraid to do it because they don't know how.  Of course, it won't be easy.  It will take lots of hard work.  We can't sit back and expect someone else to do it for us, not corporations and certainly not government.  They can help, but ultimately we all need to take responsibility for making the change.