Obligatory, 9/6/15

Well, it is Sunday, and now I am considering the pros and cons of working today, or staying home yet another day.

I'm not especially keen on working, obviously.

One thing I had in mind is to keep planning for the move out west.  There was an idea to use stucco for the outside of my RV van conversion project.  It could also go on the outside of the shack on the property.  One can get carried away.  I haven't priced the stuff.  One downside is the cost.  It's not as cheap as other alternatives.  Haven't priced the concrete cloth either, so there's still some work to do on that.

A new idea for building a wall on the north side of the "quadrangle" came to mind.  But the north side is where I intend to put the greenhouse.  The idea is to use the wall as shade from the sun during the summer.  It would be a windbreak in the winter.  I like the idea of a wall, so I thought up yet another idea.  Use the wall as one side of the greenhouse.  Use the idea for extending the floor space offered by the cattle panels ( which was to not make them into quonsets, but something a little different.)  Thus, the wall wouldn't be another side which was to be covered with transparent material, but the wall material itself.  The roof and the other wall would be open to the sun.  So, in the summer, the greenhouse would get the full sun, and in the winter, it would be mostly dark ( and cold ) during the day.

Yet another idea was to use the van as a place where I will grow my spirulina and another thing--- fish.  The fish and the spirulina would require two things--- light and water.  That means they would take up valuable space.  Could I afford to do this?  There are aquaponics setups that grow stuff in small areas, but this would require a lot of light and a lot of water.  I'm wondering about this.  However, the thing would close by and I could keep an eye on it continually.  If you leave any animal life out there on the ranch, it would be vulnerable.  Thus, the meat would come from the aquaponics setup, and the veggies from the greenhouses.

One more idea that might be a mind blower:  I could carry along a couple hens to supply me with eggs!  Feed the fish and the birds with crickets and earthworms.  All of this grown downstairs in the RV van conversion.

Update:

Note:  Home Depot has a brand of stucco mix that is one step only, which makes it simple and easy to analyze.  To apply a 3/4 inch thick coat would cover 7 square feet per 50 lb bag.  For 128 square feet of concrete cloth covering, that would cost 250 bucks.  It would also weigh a bit too much, probably over 1000 lbs.  You would have to use a thinner coat and it might still be too heavy.  This doesn't look like a good option for the van, but it might work on the shack.

Update:

Stucco is too expensive, although it may be useful in combination with concrete cloth.  Another note is that some aquaponics setups are on trailers.  It seems like it's too complex to put inside the van.  Besides, a trailer set up may go nicely with the trailer I already have.

Heck, let's put this in the construction subseries of the off-the-grid main series of posts.


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