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Backyard Greenhouses

There are many different styles and ways to build a greenhouse for your backyard. Your decisions on how to construct, heat, cool, and maintain an overall working environment will mainly depend on your needs and what you want to get out of it.

Choosing a design/frame is going to help define everything else. This is dependent on your both your interior and exterior space requirements, the look you’re going for, and your budget. Small geodomes are visually interesting and are relatively simple to build, or the traditional greenhouse look may be what you’re looking for. Choosing this helps decide the construction material needed.

Construction Material

The two main construction materials for the walls and roof are lumber or metal conduit. However, lightweight PVC piping or steel are also options, depending on your needs. Choosing which one may depend mostly on your experience and your budget. Either material is appropriate, but most homeowners are more comfortable working with lumber. After deciding on the design/frame and the construction materials to use, the next step is to set up the frame and insulation.

In addition to the construction material of the physical structure, keep in mind the flooring material too. A system that easily drains and maintains an appropriate barrier between pests and bugs is ideal. This can range poured concrete with drainage, crushed stone with weed cloth covering, bricks overlaid on sand, or weed mats.

Insulation and Greenhouse Cover Material

Depending on your needs, which is partially defined by your geographical location, you can choose several options for the insulation. The greenhouse cover material doubled as insulation and your your walls, so taking into account the harshness of the weather is important too. The two main types of greenhouse cover material are solid corrugated polycarbonate sheets or different thickness polyethylene film. The thickness will depend on the level of protection required.

Conditioning the Air and Ventilation

Conditioning the air and small greenhouse ventilation are needed in some capacity, however, just a small greenhouse ventilation system may be enough to maintain the appropriate conditions for most backyard greenhouses. At a minimum, the ability to open a window or a door and leave it open can act as a form of ventilation. However, it may be necessary to include a physical window or vent that can be opened or close while also limiting bug and water infiltration.

Overall, you want the ability to control the environmental conditions within your greenhouse. This includes a blower, heating, or cooling systems. A simple thermostat can be used to control these, however, someone can also incorporate a more intelligent system if they need to in order to more precisely maintain the environmental conditions.

Other Considerations

The type of door you want may depend on your needs. Most backyard greenhouses will have a simple door that has the same insulating material as the walls. This is an easy go-to option. However, there are other options such as roll-up doors or simply an area where you can easily move aside the plastic insulation to gain entry and exit.

Depending on the style of the greenhouse, a guttering system may be needed. This helps maintain the integrity of the greenhouse by channeling the flow of water from rain to a specific area. Better yet, channel the water to a water tank for watering the plants.

Benching and tools are a consideration that you want to take into account when working in a greenhouse. benching allows for you to work higher on a sturdy structure so your plants can thrive. Having the tools available and placed in there is an organizational point that makes it easier for your to achieve what you’d like to. Also important are greenhouse lights. The greenhouse lights can aid in supplying light to the plants, aid in your ability to see when there is not enough ambient light, or both.

Putting It All Together

Start by laying you flooring which will be used for greenhouse. Erect the frame on top of the flooring. At this point, it may be best to include any electrical components such as lighting, fans, blowers, heating or conditioning components to the frame. Next, cover the frame and doors with the insulating materials of your choice. Finally, install any guttering system and the interior components such as benches, places for tools, and the like.

Pemmican is a nutritious food that is made out of a mixture of concentrated protein and fat and it originates from indigenous food in the regions of North America. Pemmican is still a widely prepared and popular food even to this day as survival food, due to its long shelf life.

In Europe, pemmican was made popular due to its high-energy property, especially during the fur trade era. It later shot to fame when Antarctic and Arctic explorers, such as Richard E. Byrd, Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Fridtjof Nansen.

Ingredients To Make A Pemmican

Back in the old days, pemmican was made from anything that was available in the kitchen. However, the usual meat that was used came from, elk, deer, moose or bison, where saskatoon berries and cranberries were added at times for flavour and taste. There was also pemmican made especially for weddings and customary ceremonies where currants, cherries, chokeberries and blueberries were used.

Normally five pounds of meat is used to produce one pound of dried meat (or Pansawan in Cree), which is then pounded into small pieces and later to almost power-like form using nothing but stones. The pounded meat will then be added with fat in a 1:1 ratio and mixed thoroughly. It is after this concoction is made, that the said fruits can be added in. The pounded mixture will then be packed for storage in rawhide bags.

What Is The Shelf Life?

Its shelf life varies depending on the ingredients used, the way it is prepared and also not forgetting, the storage conditions as well. As a rule of thumb, you can generally, keep pemmican for one to five years at room temperature. But there are also stories where pemmican was consumed after a decade of storage in cool cellars. Want to know if that is true? Well, try it for yourself. Refrigerated or frozen pemmican however, will most probably exceed this.

How Is Pemmican Served?

A note in 1874 by Sergeant-Major Sam Steele, a North-West Mounted Police, recorded that pemmican was served in three different ways: fired, or more popularly known as rechaud in the west, raw or as a boiled stew they called rubaboo. Flour, water and if available, preserved potatoes and wild onions were the favourite add on.

From 1899 to 1902, during the Second Boer War, British soldiers were given food they called the iron ration. This ration was actually made out of sugar, and four ounces of chocolate and pemmican and it was more superior to biltong, which is considered sort of the pemmican of Africa, made of mainly cured meat.

Even to this day, pemmican remains as one of the most trusted survival food by preppers and survivalist throughout the world. An American adventurer named Frederick Russell Burnham, insisted pemmican to be carried by every Boy Scout, while he was still serving as Chief of Scouts in South Africa for the British army. That is the significance given to this ultimate survival food, everyone should have one in their BOB.

Wildfire spreads at a fast rate. However, there are chances of survival on fire attacks if you are educated on how to deal with them. The most important thing to remember when dealing with a forest fires or any emergency for that matter, is to always maintain a calm mind and do not panic.

Why is this so? Well, panic leads to hyperventilating, and when that happens you will be breathing hard, with deep and rapid inhalations and exhalations. In a forest fire environment, your surrounding would be in the region of superheated temperature and this could be lethal. Sucking in superheated air can kill you faster than you could imagine. Secondly, panic may cause one to urinate on the clothes leading to wet clothes that do act as conductor. Take cover in large water streams, water bodies etc, if available. If that is not available, always remember to keep your clothes dry.

Use Air Filters For Forest Fires

Inhaling becomes a problem in an area full of smoke, even a wet bandana would not help. This will only bring about lip blisters rather than a cool breath. There are special filters available in the market that are used in filtering airborne ash and are highly recommended for use during forest fires. You can use your clothes as temporary filters for small building fire, however, clothing material do not have the capability to filter smoke particles. Prolong exposure to smoke particles will cause you lungs to be clogged. When this happens you will lose the ability to breath and eventually die.

Hold Your Breath To Survive

When you see heavy gust of smoke coming your way, or if you are on the move and crossing areas with heavy smoke, hold your breath as long as you can until you are out of that area. This is the best way to survive the situation. Of course there is only so long you can hold your breath, but try.

Dig A Hole To Shelter From Forest Fire

This is a technique that is commonly used by firefighters. When a fire fighter is surrounded by fire and there is no way to escape, he or she will create a heat shelter by digging a hole in the ground to aid in breathing. However, this requires the use of a shovel or the sort, so make sure you always have a shovel or an emergency kit ready at all times. This is especially true when you plan to go outing in the forest.

Keep Away From Possible Fuel for Fire

In case the fire is on a hill, flames tend to climb up faster than you think. Check for potential fuel sources close to you. The quickest to burn are the dry grass and wood so be aware of those. Try getting to lower grounds, stream area or move towards the already burnt regions would be a good choice.

Once you are out of danger, go home to safety and dont stick around trying to put out the fire. Leave this to the expert. The best thing you can do to help is to keep yourself save and out of the fire. Survival preparedness is key here.

Freshwater Fish Farming in the US and Canada

Freshwater fish farming is a form of aquaculture that can have many advantages in the United States and Canada. Also known as pisciculture, fish farming is a method of raising fish commercially in a tank, pond, or enclosure. These fish can be raised to serve a variety of purposes but are usually used as a food source in one way or another. Below, we’ll take a look at how this farming works in the US and Canada, what advantages it may have, what some of the most common farming methods are, and more.

Why is freshwater fish farming beneficial?

This form of aquatic agriculture is beneficial for a few main reasons.

Saves wild populations – Aquatic farming is a great way to use farm raised fish to supplement wild populations or otherwise protect and reduce instances of overfishing in wild fisheries and natural lakes.

Easily containable – Fish farms contain fish well and don’t have many risks when it comes to domestic animals interfering with local species.

Ecologically friendly – In many ways, this form of farming can be ecologically friendly. Many fish farms today utilize green practices that don’t have much of an impact on the environment. Very-high-intensity recycle aquaculture systems, for instance, reuse nearly 100% of the water that they use in their fish farms.

Economically viable – Freshwater aquaculture can be a lucrative industry that provides jobs for many people.

What species of fish are usually farmed in the US and Canada?

There are a wide variety of fish species that can be grown and thrive in freshwater fish farms and aquaculture facilities in the United States and Canada. The most commonly farm raised fish species are:

Grass carp
Silver carp
Black carp
Common carp
Nile tilapia
Crucian carp
Salmon
Trout
Roho labeo
Wuchang beam
Amur catfish
Northern snakehead
Milkfish

Which methods of freshwater farming are most commonly used in North America?

There are a few main methods of aquatic farming that are utilized in the United States and Canada.

Cage Systems – These fish cages are generally placed in places like ponds, rivers, bayous, and lakes. They contain and protect fish in a natural environment until they can be harvested.

Copper-alloy Nets – Copper alloys have recently become a material used in modern aquaculture. This is because they are antimicrobial and safe for the fish in their marine environment. These alloy nets are used to contain fish that are farmed in a natural or a man-made water source.

Irrigation farms and ponds – Irrigation farms and ponds utilize ditches and other areas that collect water to farm fish. These ponds and ditches can be natural, though usually, they are man-made. They contain buried pipes with headers in most cases and are generally lined with bentonite clay. In small systems, the waste products of fish are used to fertilize fields and crops. In larger systems, these ponds can grow water plants and algae along with fish.

Integrated Recycling Systems – These systems aim to reduce the use of water in farms for financial and ecological reasons. They function in many different ways but generally will involve the purification of water in a greenhouse or hydroponic bed.

Classic farming of fry – This is a form of a flow-through system that involves sport fish like trout being raised to fry and then released into the wild and re-caught.