Underberg Labyrinth Off The Grid: 2015

9/11/2015

This blog is allied to: underberglabyrinthfinalcountdown.blogspot.co.za

I had always wanted to go totally off the grid.
At the end of September 2015 I retired and anybody who has kept an eye on proceedings in Underberg will know that the "Palace" had almost been completed by then, with just the smaller things to do. The bits and pieces that contractors try to hold back on. Things like plumbing electrical connections etc.

The Solar Geyser

Tanks awaiting completion of levelling and connections.

We had reached the point where we needed to contact the electricity supplier to connect our electricity. The idea being to go prepaid until such time as funds allowed us to go completely solar. I had already bought a 200 litre solar geyser and for a long time had been on solar lights and gas in the kitchen.
I was also independent of municipal water as I had slowly, over the years, invested in 8 water tanks (6 x 5000 litre and 2 x 2500 litre) which was plenty of water to get me through the winter and "so far" the driest summer. It does not take much rain to fill the tanks and even though I had built very small in Underberg had tried to design a place with maximum catchment area and simplest design so as to catch as much water as possible.

So we had reached the point of electrical connection but the provider wanted to charge us R20000 to connect with a prepaid. That is insane and it really made our decision a lot easier. Go straight off the grid right away. Rather make some debt now, while not too much, than big debt later.

This will be the story of how we manage and how we adapt to the new system.
PS When I say "We" I mean myself and my partner. We are in this together.

Up to now all the tanks are in Underberg, ready to be connected (the levelling was being done last week) and as soon as the gutters have been fitted we hope for good rain to help fill them.

This is just the beginning.

11 and 12/11/2015

On the 11th the solar guy arrived from Joburg to install the solar panels etc. He arrived at around 9.30 and he and his staff got to work almost immediately.

Offloading the solar stuff

Battery Cabinet

Installing

Solar panels and rear tanks

Preparing to fit panels

Battery Cabinet on veranda

Now the system he installed is a 48 volt, 10 kilowatt, with two 5 kilowatt inverters connected in parallel. There are 10 X 300watt solar panels on the Palace roof now and the battery cabinet with 8 X 200 Amp hr gel batteries and the inverters installed inside.

Everything installed

It still has to be connected to a DB board so I am not able to test it properly yet. Not living in Underberg yet sets me back a little. This is very new for me and I have a lot to learn.

The row of panels

I have also decided to include my other projects here.
1 The water tanks
2 Using grey water for the veggie garden.

1 The Water Tanks

I have been off municipal water for a long time and when I designed the Palace it was in my mind to have as much roof area as possible for catchment.
I have already mentioned that they were all in Underberg so on my two trips I have spent a lot of time replacing lids, sieves etc in preparation for when it will rain. I get a huge amount of pleasure listening to water running into the tanks.
On the 12th it was misty and drizzled a little so I got my first taste of our new system. The gutters had been completed 2 days earlier so the system was up and running. The contractor had levelled the tanks so I could connect them all. They will all fill together and I will be drawing water from either the top or the bottom tanks. The top tanks will flow to the bottom where the pump will be so I can use whichever tanks are most full. The 2500 litre tanks I will keep for emergency backup and operate their valves manually.

2 The grey water idea.

I have always enjoyed this kind of challenge so when the opportunity arose I asked the contractor to only use the toilet and kitchen water for the septic tanks and to bypass the rest. This he did for me and so I am now presently working on that project. My idea is to use the little pressure from them to feed drippers or micro lines that I will put in the veggie rows. (I want to waste as little as possible).

The first lateral

Where the T piece for the lateral as well as the scour valve is.

Riser protection

Where it all started

I have started back filling slowly.

This project is a hit and miss affair for me but so far looks promising, just a lot of work. I am slow but it will be done eventually.

On both of the last 2 days I have dug a lot and am at the point where I am in the throes of connecting the first line. I need to put in an air release (I use an irrigation riser. I fitted one at the top of the line as well which has made a big difference) and some adjustments to the lateral but it should not take too long.

I am now able to start backfilling where I started as that section now works fine. Oh I also put in a fine sieve to take out anything that might block the smaller pipes.

I will update these projects after every trip.

17 and 18/11/2015

On these days I needed/WANTED to go to Underberg because there was a lot going on at the Palace. however that is not for this blog.

I wanted to carry on with connecting the tanks as well as the little irrigation experiment I am working on.
I have now connected most of the tanks. enough that if we do get good rain then there are enough connected to handle it.

Thank goodness for my gas blow torch. It really is a huge help at softening the pipes so they fit snugly over the connections.

On the 17th when I arrived one of the first things I did was check the tanks. To my surprise I could not move the corner ones. I found out later that it had rained a teeny bit over the weekend. So all is working.
On these days I managed to connect more tanks, lay out some pipes to join the top and bottom tanks as well as completed the digging of the lateral lines for the irrigation.
I have connected 2 drag lines and started back filling because the line runs through pathways and beds. As yet I still have to test it so am holding thumbs.
I put in another air release which should help.

Bottom tanks

Top tanks.

Where I have run the pipe along the Palace wall.

Tap protector

Drag lines connected.

Cabinet breather holes. I have drilled more since this pic was taken. Still awaiting the real breathers.

I also joined the two bottom tanks with the hose piping I had here, which is flexible enough to run along the wall of the house. I will bury it properly at a later stage. I also connected a filter in the line.

Tap off main line.

Back filling untested lines.

On the solar side I have drilled more holes into the cabinet to help with the air flow.
I just love it the way the inverters hum. You can FEEL the energy.
I have started drilling the holes in the walls where the wires from the solar panels for the lights will be coming in.

On the 20th I have a meeting with an electrician who should be doing the wiring for the plugs as well as connecting the DB board to the solar system.

Two VERY nice and rewarding days. I just wish it would rain.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

20/11/2015

Arriving at my usual time of around 2 am the first thing I did was go and check out the Palace, hoping that the geyser was on the roof. No such luck.

After busying myself in the Labyrinth and after the sun came up I decided to try completing drilling the holes for the solar light cables but was very disappointed when I realised I had bought a 14 mm concrete drill bit when my drill only takes up to a 10 mm. Idiot. So that could not be done.

Very little work to do on the bottom tanks before the system can be tested properly.

The top tanks teed and tapped. Just a matter of connecting these tanks to those at the bottom before the system can be tested properly. PLEASE RAIN............

However I still had work to do on the water tanks and teed in the top tanks and did a little work on the bottom 3. I am just short of a few things there, then I can connect the system. I also put another sieve in the line. I have them so might as well make use of them.

The electrician came as well so I showed him where the plugs were going to go. He says he should be starting early next week.

Before going home I did manage to do a little more back filling of the irrigation and was very pleased to see water coming out of one of the pipes at the bottom. I am still holding thumbs. Even though this is a good sign it does not mean that the system will work.
There was also time to put in a couple of "dripper" pipes so now I have to hold thumbs that there will be wet spots at their outlets when I return next week.

24/11/2015

A day to remember but not because of anything connected to being off the grid. This had something to do with the Labyrinth blog.
It was a lovely trip and I started a new project allied to the drip irrigation. This revolves around the tank I originally used to test whether there was enough pressure to get drippers to work.
This time I have taken a drag line from the tank (which is now near the entrance) and added mini sprayers to it to see how many will work before there is not enough pressure. However I have taken off the sprayer heads and am using the pipes "open ended." It is still a project in progress as I still need a few bits and pieces but it does look promising.

I need to try as many tricks as I can. Getting water to the veggies is now of the highest priority. There had been a little rain over the weekend which put some water into the tanks but the ground is still very dry.
On my next visit I have another idea I want to try which revolves around the original system I am working on.

Today the electrician came to connect the plugs. His staff were hard at it when we left. They had connected their drill into the solar system so you could say that yes, the system is up and running......sort of............... (my partner had arrived back from Joburg the previous evening).

I also had time to connect in the remaining water tank and repair the one tank that was leaking. This with the help of a staff member who was willing to climb inside to hold a nut while I connected with his "boss" who was tightening from the outside.

No photos today because I FORGOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

26/11/2015

This was a really interesting day.
We arrived at around 1.30 and the first thing we did was go and check out the Palace.
The plugs had all been fitted so we plugged in the fridge and I checked out the cabinet to see whether its power reflected on the batteries. Nope not a sign. This was great news because the system was running on the batteries so I thought it might have shown.

Fridge plugged in

Micro sprayers

After all of this I had a lot of work to do in the garden so got into that. I buried some more pipeline and have come to the conclusion that I do need to put a pump into the line to increase the pressure to the garden. I have a spare one which I will use. The idea given me by the contractor is to put a "collector" tank in the line to collect water for use at a later stage. I am still deciding on which way to proceed. To put a pump directly into the line or to do as the contractor suggested. They both have their advantages.

Fitting panels for the lights.

There was time to fix a spot where the one connection had a leak and before we left for home again the staff who were working for the electrician helped me affix 3 of the solar arrays for the lights, to the wall of the Palace. I will do the last one myself because that is still in operation at home.

Things are about to get more interesting as it is almost time to settle in to our new home.

A LOVELY Trip. THANK YOU.

27/11/2015

Todays trip was a LOOONG Day. But that is not for this blog.
I did get quite a lot of work done though.

1 Buried the pipe which joins the top tanks to the bottom.
2 Dug and buried the first lateral as far and under the entrance. (now that I will have to have a pressure pump in the line I have to adapt things a little.)
3 Dug a little and buried the pipe joining the top tanks.
4 Buried the one bottom tank pipe as far as the front steps.

There was also time to do a bit of gardening.

It was a really productive day which lasted from around 2.30 to 3 pm. Not a day to forget.
Still it was a Wonderful trip. THANK YOU.

1/12/2015

Today not much going on. However the contractor was busy putting the solar geyser on the roof when we left.He had put up the piping the day before so he could test it.

I only connected and tested the top tanks to the bottom this morning. Now it is just a matter of connecting and plugging in the pump. Did a connection on one of the laterals of the irrigation as well.

The Solar Geyser on the roof.

I also think I have a solution to the irrigation waste water scheme.
I have decided to put a 70 litre tank in the line which has a float switch connected to the pump so when the tank is full enough the pump will irrigate and when it is empty it will switch off. Holding all thumbs that this is the solution.

A VERY warm day today and felt sorry for anybody who had to work for any length of time in the heat.

Another rewarding and interesting day. THANK YOU.

6/12/2015

Just bad news today.
The geyser has been installed but was still not heating the water. The contractor said they had only connected the system to the water mains the previous afternoon so it probably had not had much time to heat it yet.
When I opened the tap the water was still cold. (just before leaving for home I opened the tap to find still no warm water.) However there was a LOT of air in the line.

Everything connected but still no hot water

The hole for Big Jim and the pump for the grey water. The pipe is the one I am using art the moment.

I busied myself most of the time digging the hole where the tank (Big Jim) and pump were going to pump the grey water onto the Labyrinth.
This was very hard work due to the soil being very hard and difficult to dig.

Another interesting day.
THANK YOU.

8 and 9/12/2015

These were two days where I really did not do as much "off the grid" stuff as I had intended.
However firstly the geyser is now working properly and I am so far happy at its performance. The water gets hot enough that you have to add cold water when having a bath.

I did spend a lot of time enlarging the hole/sump for the grey water project because I have bought a bigger bin with the result that I had to dig another 200 or 300 mm deeper. Also the spot where the pump will be.
I was having a hard time understanding the way of connecting the float switch to the pump so the contractor got the electrician to come and give me a hand. Now the system is almost ready to test.

The same electrician also connected in the geyser to the solar mains. It has a 900 watt standby element for days when it might not get hot enough. (it stabilizes at 55 degrees C.) It is a 200 litre geyser but the element only warms 100 litres of the water.

Connecting the pipes for testing.

Tested and furrow filled

The grey water system with the bigger tank.

There was time to connect and test the pipes to the pump for the tank water and ran it over night. I have to disconnect it when we are not there because being portable it is too easily removed. I then put the system back onto municipal water.
There had been a little rain during the week so now all of the tanks are half full. (approximately 16000 litres ). Hopefully they will all be full before winter.

On this trip we stayed overnight so I took a battery for one set of lights but stooopidly forgot the fuse which closes the circuit. luckily I had taken 2 portable lights which ended up being sufficient.

So hopefully on next visit the grey water will be irrigating the Labyrinth.

THANK YOU for a lovely trip.

16 and 17/12/2015

Another sleep over where I had hoped to get the grey water system up and tested. However I only got time to reconnect the wiring to the pump which I had to remove because I had forgotten to put on the weight which controls the switch as well as enlarge the hole a bit.

And still it grows

There was too much work to be done at the Palace although I did get a chance to test the water meter I had acquired. I had to remove it again due to leaking connections. Will try again next visit.

Burying the next lateral

Burying the next lateral 2

Before it was time for me to return home again I had an opportunity to start burying the last lateral near the entrance.

This morning the geyser water was VERY warm and was definitely over its rated 55 degrees C.

I am pleased at what I managed to accomplish.

A LOVELY Trip.

THANK YOU.

23 to 26/12/2015

I will call this my Xmas trip with time to really get into attempting to complete the Grey Water System.
After my usual chores (planting, watering etc) I got stuck in to setting up the pipes for the Grey Water.

Water meter now up and running.

Before it became completely light I had fitted the water meter again. This time I used pipe tape on the connections which stopped the leaks from last week. (by the time I returned home again we had already saved the municipality over 1000 litres of water). I had also closed off the municipal water at the mains so we are now totally off the grid.
The geyser works better than I had expected and even though on one of the days it was overcast all day, there was still enough hot water for 2 baths.
The panels are amazing. We have now used a small oven on the system and it did not even make a difference to the battery charges. Still a lot of things to connect though. TV, Computer etc.

I was really keen on getting the grey water system tested on this trip so as soon as I could see without a headlamp I got into the job. Luckily I had all of the connections necessary so joining them up was not too hard. One thing I forgot was that originally I had planned the system as a gravity fed system and had set it up for that. (low pressure). Now with the pump - high pressure, I had changes to make.
However I still had to enlarge the "crater" a lot before I could put the system into it. This took a while but eventually I had space enough to move and to do the connections.

Big Jim connected. The white filter on the tap did not work as it could not withstand the pressure so I replaced it with an old stocking which seems to work ok.

Big Jim in the line.

Everything connected. I have wired the connections after my "Grey Water Baths." The base of the pump consists of an old hose reel bolted to an old gas "skottel" braai.

On my first test I popped a connection which sprayed me with old grey water. The same with the second test. (I was the flies best friend for the rest of the day).
I then had to spend time "wiring" the connections so they would not come apart. Ok, that done I succeeded in getting it to work. However it was too late to do a complete test and it was time to bath etc. I did go and look at the system after bathing and was happy to see that all connections in the pit were still OK.
It is difficult to test the system effectively because being on a float switch I have to fill Big Jim to the point where the pump switches on. Too little water and the pump will not prime. I have the pump a little higher than the base of Jim just in case............... so the water has to be higher in Jim than the pump otherwise it does not get there.

System under temporary cover. Protection mainly from rain and potential "Cave ins."

And of course I had to design the system so that should the pump not be available for some reason then I can bypass it and use the old gravity system.

Still, I was happy to see that there was at least some light at the end of the tunnel.
The next morning on checking I found that the line had burst at another join so I decided to dig up a piece where there were too many connections and put in one length of pipe. This done, more testing. So far so good. HOWEVER on the morning before leaving for home again I decided to put 2 sprayers in the line and to test again. This worked but I had to make a couple of alterations which I could not test properly. However if the line does pop another connection in the mean time then the water would not be going into the next door garden like the first one did.

Extension cord still to be buried

Testing irrigators/sprayers.

So now for the next trip where I must attempt burying the extension cord from the Palace to the system.

A really lovely trip.
THANK YOU.

30/12/2015 to 2/1/2016

This was my "New Year" stopover in Underberg. Now that my partner is living in the Palace almost permanently I try to spend as much time there as I can as well. I am just waiting to have a removal company take the rest of my belongings (and the cats) and then I will be living there too. However if it takes too long for them to get permission then most of my stuff will already be there.

On this trip I had brought a chair as well as some of my records, a TV tray I use next to the bed as well as some smaller items I can squeeze into the back of Suzi and the trailer.

On this trip I managed to dig, bury and re connect the cable to the grey water system. Did a lot of weeding and planted a few Beetroot. The digging of the cable was really hard work.

There was time to start planting a couple of Dichondra "satellite beds" nearer to the Palace as well. We had had lovely rain while I was there as it stormed every afternoon. The tanks are all full now and so far we have saved the municipality over 3000 litres of water. Wonderful to be able to say that.

While it was raining I did a test to try working out how much water was going into the one tank. It turned out at 6 seconds per litre. That is 30 seconds for 5 litres. What is amazing is that the tank only gets approximately 3/4 of the water from the gutters because the system is split. There is another tank at the other corner which also draws water from the same gutter (the remaining 1/4.)

The next step is to make a decent cover

The end of one lateral. I find that I do not need too many because I use the hoses as drag lines and they can reach most places.

Sprayers in action

The cable dug, buried and connected.

The grey water system is almost perfected even though it still pops a join or two due to the pressure. However there are very few joints left that I have not "wired" now so hopefully those problems will soon be a thing of the past. The pump runs 2 sprayers with ease.

I also got down to spraying in pathways where the weeds have become "out of control" so hopefully by my next visit they will be dying off.

Doing some levelling. I have started bringing the worm bins closer to the kitchen.

All cameras are now connected

Satellite beds

I have also connected the CCTV cameras but left the mouse for my computer at home so could not check them properly. That can wait until next visit.
Indoors I had time to fit a security door to the kitchen door so now all doors have security. I do feel a little better knowing that things are more secure.

It was a lovely trip. Even though on my way there I had an altercation with an Oribi buck.

THANK YOU.

11 to 15/1/2016

This is the first week where I have spent more time in Underberg than ever before.
It was a week when I decided to take any opportunities that arose to get the rest of my "family" to Underberg. 3 cats. I have heard so much about how cats dont adapt to new surroundings easily etc etc so was dreading moving them to new surroundings.
To cut a long story short I took 2 of them on Monday and the last one on Thursday. I stayed with my partner in the Palace interim.
I need not have worried. They all travelled well and in less than a day had settled in.

The work I did over these days, other than weeding was open an access trench to the grey water system so it is easy to get to change filters and to check the system. Really hard work.
Then I started planting Dichondra around the Palace, dug and buried a water pipe near the house in preparation for a new tank. (all the tanks are now full and overflowing). We have now saved the municipality over 5000 litres of water.

I completed the connections of the cctv cameras so now they are up and running. I also tried using a glue gun to glue the cable to the wall but was not very successful.
A couple of minor things as well. Mowing, covering water pipes, started wrapping the taps in preparation for winter and put a light in the toilet. The bathroom will be done on my next visit. I also made a "gate" to stop rain water from getting into the man hole where all the tap connections are.

I am sure there was more but they slip my mind. Oh I am training the (I forget their name) trees to run in the row so pruned them as well. Did some spraying too.
We are now getting beans, tomatoes and strawberries from the garden. More strawberries than ever before. We are still having a huge problem with the birds and grasshoppers.

A really lovely week. Now hopefully it will not be long before I will be living in Underberg with the rest of my family.

THANK YOU.

18 to 22/1/2016

Not much going on this week. I have been working on the grey water project which is slowly being perfected. I still have the odd burst pipe to repair but there are not too many left to burst any more so hopefully that is soon to be history.
Since I have been testing the experiment it has rained almost every day so it is difficult to see how effective it is. However early tests are very promising.
I still do not live in Underberg but hopefully in the near future.

These pics are an example of the type of rain we have been having in Underberg. I have never seen any of my tanks overflowing like this.

I did have a rather "expensive" idea for the canopy of Suzi. seeing as I do not intend using it again I have decided to use it as a partial cover for the grey water pump. Now all I need to do to inspect is look through the windows and hopefully it will be high enough that if I need to do any maintenance it will be high enough that I can work inside. I still have to test that theory however.

New use for the canopy

It has been a week mostly of weeding, mowing and planting of Dichondra around the Palace.

I have also levelled and planted Nui (to bind the soil) in the courtyard with the intention of planting Dichondra at a later date. I have not actually made it level but attempted to slant it so the water should hopefully run towards the door instead of settling.

Indoors I have been setting up my computer and Hi Fi. Also nailed the cctv cable to the wall. Does not look wonderful but at least it will not fall down again. (I hope).

Big Jim looks a little lopsided

The pump is dry even after the huge rain

Courtyard levelled and planted with Nui

I have brought the washing machine (which I had to make plans to connect) as well as the stove (which I still need to make plans for.) I need to take the gas pipe through the wall to the bottles which will be residing outside.

A WONDERFUL WEEK. THANK YOU.

23/1/2016 to 1/2/2016

Rather an interesting week with quite a few challenges.
Firstly old news is the weeding which is on going, however we are starting to get baby Marrows as well as Beans and Strawberries in numbers. Still cannot plant any Cabbages, Beetroot or anything leafy because the birds destroy them. They seem to leave the Marrows, Beans, Strawberries, Spring Onions and Gooseberries (to a certain degree) alone, but the rest has to be covered.

The black line was the actual water level

It found its own way out

I still have no idea where it was going. It did not seem to be going under the house

The big challenge has been the rain. We have been having heavy downpours almost every afternoon and I am now finding the areas where the water settles or does not run away. Mainly from the tank overflows so I have had to take extension pipes from the outlets to draw the water away from the area of the tanks. To be quite honest, I actually enjoy the challenges. When they are overcome I only have myself to blame if something goes wrong.

Now I have a pipe installed

Seems to be leaning a little !!!!!!!!!!

The tank overflows

Outlet

Pipe exit

On Thursday I had a 3 o clock trip to Kokstad to fetch a few more belongings as well as tidy up the house a little. Rather strange going in reverse. The road looks very different. I am getting rather tired of these trips now. I have a lot of other payments to make without having to pay for diesel as well. This trip was memorable for the amount of times I fell asleep on the way home. On Coleford Hill I got stuck behind a truck in first gear and am sure I dozed a little because after that I felt OK again. (could have been a change in atmosheric pressure as well though.)

Speed traps

Dichondra in its "speed trap."

I have also been a little busy indoors but nothing really of interest here. The loft is filling up rapidly with excess belongings. I have no idea what we would do without it. What a gift of an idea that was.

The Nui germinating

Granny clock still keeping perfect time since 1924. She has to lean a little but then at her age I am not surprised.

The Dichondra is growing nicely again and I have quite a few "speed traps" in the garden now. (places where I have planted the grass and put cages around them to protect them.)

With a little help from my partner I was also able to complete fitting of the last solar panels for the lights. We now have more lights than we need which is wonderful.
Oh the TV, Hi Fi etc are now all connected so I can relax in the evenings watching movies etc.

All panels up and running

A rather interesting week but a huge THANK YOU for all the challenges I was able to overcome.

February 2016

An interesting month this one. Firstly Suzi was stolen from right under my bedroom window. No more said. As of writing this I am still in shock.

The inlet and top, the outlet drawing water away from the Palace

I have had a rather slow month so far. The pipe I put behind the Palace seems to be doing the trick so I am a little more confidant that that should be OK for a while.
Everything else seems to be working fine.

I spend a lot of time weeding now that it is getting close to the time when the rains are leaving us. We are getting close to Autumn now so planting the Dichondra has come to an end.

There are also quite a few veggies coming off the land. Namely, beans, baby marrows, butternut and once again one or two strawberries. I have dried the beans but the rest goes into the fridge.

Carrots germinated nicely

I have eventually managed to get the carrots to germinate by adopting the plan I used when I tried planting Nui in the pathways. I covered the seed with 80% shade cloth after watering heavily and then kept the shade cloth moist. It looks to me as if there is an 80 or 90% germination. Now to protect them from the "predators."

The new project. In this tunnel I intend planting the spinach, cabbages and beetroot. Hopefully it will keep "Predators" at bay.

Then there is my new project which I started last week. I had brought all of the pipes and netting from the days when I was doing organic farming so decided to make use of them again to keep the birds here at bay. (I had to grow under netting at that time because of the monkeys). This time I have decided to try using conduit piping instead of the string which I used on my last attempt. (which was not too efficient) I have almost reached the stage where it looks like a tunnel. The test will come during hail and snow storms. I just hope it withstands these "elements." Time will tell.

Due to the tanks overflowing I have decided to catch as much of the overflow water as I can for times when things are dry and to use to fill the compost tea drum.

28/2/2016
Not much has happened since I wrote the above. The only things of note are that all the Carrot seed is germinating with my new plan so now I have decided to try the same with Onion seed. It is too soon to check whether the plan will work with them but I cannot see why it should not.

I hope to thin the Carrots when they are big enough to be baby Carrots

The tunnel project is coming along slowly as well. Not too much left to do there. I just hope it withstands the heavy winds and snow we can sometimes get here.

Just the doors to do.

There are still Beans and Butternut coming from the garden. I am drying a lot of the Beans for future additions to our vegetarian meals. Extra Butternut will go the same way.

I have also experimented covering the Strawberries with bird netting to see whether it will affect the plants. So far so good. There are a few being eaten but this time by me. They do not get as far as the kitchen. I have also started a new Strawberry bed on the outside of the Lab to plant the suckers. I have a hard time throwing them away.

Covered Strawberries

I am also very slowly getting control of the weeds. It is much easier living here and doing that chore whenever the incentive is there.

I do find that being retired the days seem to just fly by. I keep on losing one during the week but that is because every day is any day you choose it to be. They are all the same. No longer are there weekends and holidays to look forward to. They are all weekends or holidays.

A wonderful month.
THANK YOU.

March and April

Now that I am permanently residing in Underberg things in the Labyrinth have become easier to manage. I even find time to relax now.
It is difficult to remember everything that is going on because I work on little projects all over the place and dont complete all of them at once.

For example. I am working on changing the grey water pump area so I can now stand upright to work whenever things need doing (like changing filters etc). Check out what the stocking removed from the water since December. Mostly small residue but there was also hair and stuff from the basin where we wash the veggies at the kitchen door.

One interesting thing is that we have now saved the municipality over 24000 litres of water. This makes it worthwhile being on tank water just to know how much can be saved from the roof.

I have also discovered that being off the grid does have its challenges, especially when it comes to electricity and overcast days.

If we have more than one overcast day in a row then we have to boil water on the (gas) stove to assist the water from the (solar) geyser which does not get hot enough.
We also have to switch off major appliances such as fridges for short intervals.
We are quite used to that now because on good days we are very spoilt. We run the house as if we were still connected to the grid.
This is what we are running.

2 Fridges. Only one is efficient.
1 Deep freeze. Non efficient.
TV and DVD Player.
Surround system that goes with the DVD.
Hi Fi.
Computer.etc
This does not include cell phone chargers, the dehydrator and rice cooker in the kitchen etc.
Not all of the equipment is used at once but they can be on a good day.

I am thankful that I kept the lights on a separate system because the batteries on the big solar system have run flat on a few occasions when I have had to switch the inverters off. In these situations we still have lights.

Additions. A work in progress

I have now a "dam" wall to stop water runoff getting into the hole

The space is now high enough to work in standing erect

The tunnel is now completed and so far only one bird has found a way in and it was so busy trying to get out again that it ate nothing.

Lab entrance

Tunnel exit

Tunnel entrance.

I have ridged and composted most of the fruit trees and grape plants but other than that things revolve around weeding. In am now weeding the Dichondra in the pathways for the second time. Slowly slowly things are becoming easier to manage.

Breaking down the cow dung for the new seasons compost

An experiment to disturb the moles. The idea is that the bottles turning on the rods sends vibrations into the ground which the moles do not like

The Beans have reached the end of their production as well as the Pumpkins and Butternut but I am still harvesting Bishops Cowl and Gooseberries.
Otherwise things are just a day by day matter of keeping things under control which is MUCH easier now that I have time every day to dedicate myself to the task.

New Strawberry row. Instead of throwing suckers away I have decided to plant them outside the Labyrinth.

We had a beautiful rainbow one morning

Ridging fruit trees and Grapes

Ridged and composted Grape

OH PS. I have started burning the branches from last seasons pruning and should complete that task within a day or two.

A small problem we are having with floors lifting and ceiling boards cracking

It has been a wonderful 2 months although the theft of my truck still tastes bitter in my mouth.

The Nui in the courtyard has grown very well

What the stocking filter in the grey water system has removed from the water since December. The stocking is at the bottom.

And last but not least.............

The latest Google map photos. You can see the water tanks, solar panels, geyser etc etc.

THANKS for EVERYTHING.

19/5/2016

There is not much to add today. Only a few lessons I have learnt regarding the solar system.
Now that we are slowly moving into winter the days are getting much shorter which means our charging time on the batteries varies between 3 and 4 hours per day less than in the summer. Even when the inverters come on line again in the morning there is still a time when we have to wait until there is enough "juice" in the batteries to run appliances again.

I now switch off the fridges and deep freeze at around 3 o clock so there is enough in the batteries to run the pump for our water during the night. I also like to watch documentaries or movies but now watch until 7 o clock due to the reason above.
However I know that the pumps and fridges are the main "consumers" in our household. However the heater element in the geyser is a 2 Kw so I have to be very careful when to use it. The batteries have to be fully charged before I switch it on. Usually for an hour which is long enough to assist the sun in making a lovely hot bath.
I am thinking of having a "donkey" boiler made to assist as well. There is always something to burn here. With all the pruning I have to do I might as well make use of the branches.
At the moment I just burn them. Rather silly when you think about it.

So far we have saved the municipality over 30,000 litres of water.

I have been wrapping pipes and covering pumps as well. (so far the grey water system works just fine.)

Lets hope that our winter is not as severe as it was last year. (so far so good)

THANKS AGAIN FOR EVERYTHING.

May/ June 2016

Adjustments adjustments. The challenges of being off the grid are really enjoyable although some people would disagree.

New toilet drum.

Bird scarers (yes they do work)

No shrub better view and more winter sun

So far we are managing, however I have had to put one or two new ideas into operation.
Firstly I have organised a container to feed water to the toilet when we have bad days. ie those overcast days when the energy is very low and the batteries are struggling. The pumps do take their fair share of energy to operate, so now I switch them off at night and when going to the loo I open a tap in the toilet window which fills the toilet tank. So far this works rather well. I just had to get a larger tank because the two of us use more water than the 70 litre tank I had first installed. The new one holds 110 litres.
so far so good.

The new improved hut over the grey water system. The stocking is inside the drum which is in the "hut."

We also have to use the element in the geyser now because the water does not get warm enough. This only takes an hour but it does mean having to switch off everything (fridges mainly) until the water is hot. Then back to normal until 3 o clock when I switch everything off again. This is necessary because the batteries flatten overnight. I now switch off one inverter at 5 o clock because it is not necessary for night time use. I found out that if you leave the inverters on and switch off everything at the fuse box they still draw power. BUT if you switch off the inverters then the batteries stay charged. We live and learn.
I am a little concerned due to the fact that the batteries are not performing as I had hoped. I need to get the agent to come and check the system.

I have also been "improving" the grey water system. The stocking I use as a filter and the float switch keep on shaking hands and a couple of times the float has run overnight without any water because it has stuck. I think I have it beat now but just in case, I now switch it off at night.

Hopefully the pics will show what I had to do here. Took a couple of days to complete. From start.

I had a project which took a couple of days and that was opening up where the septic tank is, and filling the hole in. I have once again learnt a thing or two by tackling the project myself.

To finish

I managed to return a lot of soil from this area to where it came from.

So far I have enjoyed the winter although my partner says she is very cold. I guess 25 years in a freezing house in Kokstad is now being beneficial to me.

Oh we have now saved the municipality almost 50000 litres of water.
4 tanks are now almost empty with 4 to go. Approximately 19000 litres of water left. Hopefully we will have some left over when the rains return.

July/August 2016

I see from the above that I have been lazy. Not too much to say really. We did have quite a nice snow storm and 16 mm of rain which really helped the tanks no end and then not long after another shower. So it seems as if we should have enough water to last until seasons end. The only problem is that it is 1/9/2016 as I write this and already the temperatures are reaching almost 30 degrees. That worries me because we can get snow until October.

The temperature went down to minus 6 which froze the top of the water in the tank. Below you can see my "plan" to stop that happening again. Works rather well.

This tank I had to put in for toilet water. during winter I have to switch off everything at night because the batteries cannot handle all the appliances and go flat. This gravity feeds the toilet so it just means re filling each morning.

The panels were still charging under the snow.

From the front veranda

This actually never broke.

There was a tunnel there somewhere.

Another view from the front veranda

However I have been planting things that should stand the cold should we re freeze. The Carrots have germinated and I have already done a second planting. Am experimenting with Green Peppers. (just planted today). I plant under shade cloth so the moisture stays in the soil and then water by hand.

The big tunnel is history

Plan 35 B in planning stage

I have moved what Aloes survived to the bottom fence of the Lab and have been wiring the fence between us and the dog lady so as to try and keep the dogs and chickens out of the garden. They really mess up everything and the dogs chase the cats.

I have ordered a Donkey hot water boiler to assist the solar geyser on those overcast or cloudy days where the geyser needs assistance. I have all the prunings as well as the wood I brought here before I retired so this will be an ideal way of getting 2 jobs done and it costing almost nothing.

A very wise person said something to me the other day when I told him we were living COMPLETELY off the grid. He said "You have to be in control and on top of everything." Now that is exactly what living off the grid demands.
You HAVE to be in control so this is a control freaks "sunny day." You have to keep on top of the water, how much is left, how much to use etc. Then the electricity. How much you can get away with when the weather is cloudy or miserable. Remember that the panels will only charge to their full potential on a sunny, cloudless day. I was surprised however that when we had the snow that they still were charging even with 40 mm of snow on top of them.

Now it is to hold thumbs that we have enough water in the tanks to get us through to the next rain. You see there are no restrictions here. The bath is always deep and we steal water to water plants when there is not enough grey water. Oh that system is such a water saver .....................

October/November 2016
Winter is a thing of the past and things are nice and green again. We have had a lot of wind with lovely early spring rain. So far so good.

Harvest time.

New look Peach trees

Rose row.

Some beauties

Look at all them buds.

In the veggie garden there are carrots, beans, cucumber, gem squash, sweet corn, butternut, catnip, rhubarb, chamomile, pumpkins, tomatoes and peppers all growing. (plus the herbs, garlic chives and spring onions) I am already harvesting spinach and strawberries. A LOT of strawberries. This is the best I have ever had and this includes when I was growing organically in Kokstad.

Catra eating the small Catnip

Lean to one side to see the Chamomile row.

Under cover Strawberries

Cuckoo. I thought this was a shy bird but not here. He/she is most welcome.

Spinach. These mini tunnels are much better than the large one I experimented with.

The berries I planted along the fence are looking a little better and 2 of them have flowers.
Already I have been able to plant over 20m of dichondra in the pathways as well as a bit around the house.

I dried some Rosemary a couple of months ago and milled it fine. Then had the idea of making tea with it (delicious) as well as making Rosemary salt. This is so nice that I use it on EVERYTHING. It is amazing how it enhances the flavor of food. AAAND it is GOOD for you.

Potatoes

Walnut flower

I split up the Rhubarb earlier in the season. The biggest was the original plant.

On the Off the Grid side there is not much news. At the moment I am experimenting with big milk filters in the grey water tank. Seems to work ok but really too soon to tell.

We have had no trouble with water so far with all the tanks being half full. I have had to take water from the tanks to water seedlings because there is not enough grey water to manage. Luckily the rains have not been too far apart and it has been almost enough to maintain. Also my netting plan (I plant seeds under 80% shade cloth until they have germinated) works very well. I am planting most seed direct now.

Under cover parking experiment.

Being here on a permanent basis really makes a huge difference in maintaining that part of the property. I already have to get in and weed every day but they are more manageable now than last season.

PS. I have started doing "Orb Walks" in the labyrinth to see "who" is around. Here are 2 examples.

I can see you.

A sky full

November

Below are a few "Orb" pics and one or two others. I now go for an "Orb Walk" on mornings when it is clear and there is no mist. I usually get up at 4am and so far there has not been a morning with no orbs around.
The beans are an experiment I am doing with climbing beans planted next to fruit trees in the hope that the beans will give a little nitrogen to the tree and the tree will support the bean. So far 3 fruit trees have beans as "friends."

I am not sure what the red and green lights/reflections are.

Twins

Another two

Following

Is that a UFO on the top right corner?

Bean Pear tree or is that Pear Bean tree. In the foreground is Comfrey I am busy planting next to the fruit trees to assist them with extracting nutrients from the soil. (which is very poor here.)

18/11/2016

Not much to add here except that a lot of strange cats are coming around. I suspect because of the Catnip I am growing. They can smell it from a long way off.

I plant everything direct now. (Natures way) and the net helps me remember where the seed is and also serves to keep the moisture in the soil. I only need water every 2 days when it is hot. This will hopefully be Bush Basil.

Small Catnip. The cats have discovered that they enjoy this one if the wild one is not present. It puts them on a high. This plant is being slept on by "somebody."

I have also discovered a different way of planting seed. When I have put it in the soil I then "fist" it into the ground. ie push it in with a clenched fist. This marks the spot and also makes a dent in the soil where the water settles. Right over the seed.

19/11/2016

Caught red handed. Katra, one of my family.

Mint containers

26/11/2016

Nothing to add. Just photos.
I have decided to take a series of photos from each quadrant of the Labyrinth so I can see the changes whatever they might be. Now that things are growing the changes might be noticed.

Entrance to centre

Entrance to the left

Entrance to the right.

Beginning of "No mans land" to centre

No mans land to the right.

No mans land to the left

Bottom to centre

Bottom to the left

Bottom to the right

Third quadrant to centre

Third quadrant right

Third quadrant left

Desert Roses eventually "colliding."

Lots of babies this season.

Where the beans have reached now

This is how tall Young Oakie is now.

28/11/2016

Just a couple of Veggie pics for me to compare with as the season progresses.
Already things are much better than last season even with all of the ants and grasshoppers I have to deal with. Not even to mention the birds.

Baby Marrow

Climbing beans

Butternut

Camomile

Cucumber

Gem squash

Grape

Hubbard squash

Potatoes

Walnut

Little Walnuts..........I think. I have no idea what they look like.

31/11 and 1/12/2016

Five year old Plum tree with curried ants nest..

Curried ants nest

I had a Plum tree which I planted about 5 years ago which just would not get any bigger. I never had time to find out why until last season when I discovered that it was right on top of an ants nest. I decided to experiment with curry powder and put some on and around the nest. It seems to have done the trick and the tree is starting to look quite good. It has grown about 300 mm plus this season already. Seems to be making up for lost time.

This is how much it had grown until I curried the ants nest.

I am rather pleased as to how the Labyrinth is starting to look. There are much fewer weeds than ever before and I have designed a "Fork on a stick" which I use in the beds. It is efficient, quick and easy. The soil in a lot of areas is much improved as well. I have used a LOT of horse and cow manure so that must be why.

So far I have Peppers, Butternut, Hubbard Squash, Beans, Carrots, Gem Squash, Sweetcorn, Green Peppers, Pumpkins and Baby Marrows growing. The Beans and Baby Marrows are close to harvesting.

It is the first time I have seen this Rose flower here. I am training it along the fence.

Started putting Garlic Chives along the fence and have also planted them around the outside of the labyrinth.

UP until 15/12/2016

Since adding the 5 pics below we have had a lovely hailstorm which luckily did not do too much damage. The baby marrows were the worst hit but hopefully they will not take long in returning to how they were.

Hubbard squash not too happy in poor soil.

Gem Squash looking rather nice.

Cucumbers are slowly improving.

Bean extenders. How much higher.

Getting to grips with their poles.

Bean lemon. Lie on your side and look again for best effect.

I was enjoying myself ridging the Comfrey around the fruit trees by making them look like hearts. Then a voice said to me that I should try doing the centre of the lab. I think it will look rather nice when the Dichondra has grown in.

The bricks need to settle now.

Working on the Heart of the Labyrinth.

From 15 December 2016

And still the bean grows

Gem Squash

Green Peppers

Stand on your head like the other pic above

Marrow

Oakie babies. When I noticed this I actually felt like a proud father. "Oakie" was the first tree I planted in the Labyrinth and is the centre.

Pumpkins

Tomatoes

Walnut

These will be the last photos for 2016. Time for a 2017 blog I think.

LIFE IS GOOD AND I AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR IT AND THOSE WHO ARE SHARING IT WITH ME.

PLEASE TRY TO STAY AWAY FROM ANY GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

Sunday, 8 November 2015