Settlement: Refinement
A settlement that must be initialized in a far away place with limited or no resources must carry with it the raw materials necessary to assure a reasonable opportunity for success. While my prior post provided the preliminary requirements for a settlement on another moon, or planet, it made a few assumptions too many. It became clear on further research that some of those assumptions were based on square footage, and time that the new settlers would have available. In this post I will offer changes that I believe will streamline the settlement.
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First, in the food category, I originally included rabbits as a meat source. In discussing with an acquaintance who grew up on a farm raising both chickens and rabbits, I learned that rabbits require a great deal more time to deal with relative to the meat provided. In the environment I propose here, such a time-sink could become problematic over time, reducing time that could be spent on more productive endeavors. This does not preclude the addition of raising rabbits in the course of the development of the habitat community. As a part of the bootstrap process, rabbits are problematic, compared to other activities. I have updated the Web of Life diagram accordingly. This diagram is the model for the prototype aquaponics system I will describe below. I hope to be able to see this system in action soon. |
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I have embarked, with my friend Scott, on the production of demonstration prototypes for several of the low-tech modules I propose using for the bootstrap homestead.
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The first is a prototype for the local Moon Society. In an effort to demonstrate Remote operation of vehicles like the Mars Rovers, I constructed a prototype Tele-Presence racer. The car is part of a Walmart kit of 2 vehicles; the tv was purchased at Goodwill, and the camera and transceiver were purchased online. |
In a first test, I found myself up against a huge wall of somesort. Upon going outside to see where the car was actually at, I found it wedged between my truck tire, and the curb. Driving this vehicle using only the view screen, is a real challenge
The total cost of the prototype was under $100.
The next project involves building a "mostly" self-regenerating food production system. Borrowing from aquaponics, and the work of GardenPool.org, my friend and I have built the basic framework. This last week I added 20 feet of guttering to my house and a collection barrel. To my delight, after an overnight rain, I found my 55 gallon collection barrel full to overflowing!
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The assembly is approximately 8 feet tall, and approximately 3 1/2 feet wide. Two storage barrels on top, two water plant basins below, |
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plant troughs below the basins, the fish barrel next, and lastly, the sediment catch basin. Note the rain water catch barrel to the left. |
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Scott has purchased a sump pump to be placed in the catch barrel. The sump pump will fill the upper barrels, and the water then will be piped, first to the shallow basins, then into planting troughs, and ending in the fish barrel. The fish barrel will drain into the sediment bin which has two sections. The water from the fish barrel will drain into the first section. A divider will allow water to flow to the second, pump section that will then recirculate the water up to the catch basin.
This week I will be adding the piping and hopefully, by the weekend we will begin cycling the water throughout the system.
Onward!
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