Curtis loved your mad max comment. i think alot of people need that kind of wake up

Thanks Curtis for your generosity in sharing best practice and lessons learned!!

Thanks for the speed demo of how it works. It really puts things into perspective in a hurry.

you got a great mix of DIY + commercially available + MacGyver lifehacks

A big thank you Curtis! I'm creating my first market garden here in Sweden, your help is MUCH appreciated! On my way to pick up an old jacuzzi right now for free - gonna have a blast making a bubbler thanks to you! Cheers //Martin

I love what your doing and sharing thank you 😊 I just signed up for your 1 day online class and can't wait to learn from it 🙏🏻🌱

great little piece of equipment, and awesome video mate. I couldnt help but think of fryers and their baskets, im betting a metal mesh basket would let you pick up all the greens with one lift. Being metal, they wouldnt float up from the bubbles, and they'd still allow agitation to occur without impeding it.

What an awesome contraption!

Love the "In Focus" Series.!

Nice beats Curtis, Will be rewatching this one when I get the production.

great addition Curtis ... much better than the old days of sitting on the ground :) can't wait to see your next upgrades

Busy Bee! All I can say is wow! And thank you for sharing enjoyed it very much

Built this with an old electric leaf blower for air, works great for my size setup

you are a inspiration. beautiful work.

Hi Curtis, The bubbler is better with the dead end, there would be a backflow of air if you would connect the endpipe....nice work m8!!!! greets from Belgium!

you really save my life, i 've stucked in this problem for weeks :(( Thank you so much!!

Thanks Curtis. I made one of these in less than 30 minutes from 3/4 PVC I had on hand and a shop vacuum exhaust. I didn't have to buy anything. Your advice on this item alone saves me more time every time I use it than the time it took to make it. Thanks so much. I've learned so much from your videos. I will be working on a drying rack next.

@gulfcityswampwitch7108

6 жыл бұрын

Gene Howard that's a great idea!!! Thank you.

@pitpotdeeerste

6 жыл бұрын

PVC is not food grade. it is toxic in fact, What are you ppl doing ????!

@YorkyPoo_UAV

6 жыл бұрын

Doesn't house water travel through PVC?

@pitpotdeeerste

6 жыл бұрын

It shouldnt. i have heard other ppl asking this but i really hope there is no state in which his is legal by the building code. I know a guy who has lead piping in his house so i wouldnt be surprised S: To my knowledge pvc is only used in drainage, even by gardeners who then reuse the water that has this degrading more then 10 year old lead laced pvc pipe decaying in it.

@marshwetland3808

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, PVC is used for cold water lines and CPVC for hot. They aren't toxic at that point, only in the factory or when burned, et cetera. Check out the great docu Blue Vinyl for all the dirt on horrible PVC.

Love your work. Idea - drill lots of holes in the bottom of a large laundry basket to sink in the bubbler. clamp or weight it down. Dump in your greens.

@offgridcurtisstone

8 жыл бұрын

If you're farming, build one and show me.

Thanks for posting the vid. I already have volunteers who want to make this.

Very clever contraption! How about using something like over-sized frying baskets in the bubbler to ease the handling of the greens and minimize waste?

Great idea. This one goes in the saved files!

AMAZING!! I admire your work so much and am thankful for your constant sharing. I would cut out the bottom of the pot wich holds the tote. Or use some kind of circular frame to hold the tote open, and fish up the greens by diping tote and frame. But perhaps its unhygienic?

Curtis, I was going to try a blower for a kids blow up bouncer. Half the price of a spa blower. All the best

This is very smart!

The fitting you need between tub and pvc is called a bulk head. In the US you can easily order them on amazon, not sure about Canada. Also, have you thought about rubber fish nets for removing the greens from the tub? Thanks for sharing so much information.

Nice piece of equipment to have on the farm 👍🏼

Hey Curtis, I don't know if you're still using this greens bubbler or not, but I noticed one idea for moving greens out of the bubbler. Have you tried mounting your washing bag to a dip net like for fishing? Would have about the same diameter I'd think as your perforated bucket, but save you maybe a minute or two worth of moving it in handfuls into the bucket. I'm not sure on the fastening mechanism, but I'm sure you could figure it out. Maybe some quick loops like what hold a basketball hoop net on the bottom of the rim. Maybe you've already thought of, or tried this. Just thought of it when you said that was about your only item to solve, and then I watched you move it all out by hand. Every minute counts right!? BTW, really love your videos. I'm hoping to someday have a small operation on the side growing fresh greens. I like you're very basic but also practical approach. Big key to any scale of farming is figuring out what's worth doing (building) yourself and what's worth just paying others for. Oh dang, just scrolled down and saw you already tried this. Oh well, I'm leaving it up. Thanks for sharing all that you do!

Thanks!

Man, you literally have the only video on KZread about the bubbler...

To remove the greens maybe you could use a larger net that rests inside the tub that you pull up to remove and then rests back in. Basically a larger version of the net inside the big planter bucket you have but uses a large enough net for the whole tub. This way you can cut out the step of removing greens by hand.

@offgridcurtisstone

8 жыл бұрын

Make it better. Make a video. Show me! We're working in on it.

@christophersmith8014

8 жыл бұрын

The problem would be that some of the things that you are trying to wash off of the greens would stay in the net, slugs especially. Washing requires the unimpeded void underneath the greens. I like the 8" spider strainers for this.

This is great

If anyone wants to rebuild this, the part you where missing is a "4 way tree", not a very common part, you might need to order it online. Alternatively you could use a "3 way elbow" for one of the corners to have the line up there.

hey, this is so cool! and how this one remove the insect and dirtys? do have some filter?

Start out with your greens in an over sized mesh net with maybe 1/4" size holes. Put that into your bubbler, then lift it into your spinner/washer, then dump them onto your drying table. Might cut down on some of the tedious handling.

turbo wash,love it!

A big step-up than mine.I used a 20 gallon tote and a shop vac same pvc setup. It brused the lettuce and still had dirt and aphids on my greens. Still had hand wash.. How clean dose your larger system get the lettuce? Good video...

a clear roof over the washer space would bring more light. Thx for your videos

Hey Curtis. You mentioned that moving the greens to the spinner was not "dialed in" and i saw you moving it by handful to the bag and then to the spinner. There are relatively fine(1cm) garden fencing made from plastic(gentle on tender greens). it is fairly rigid and when bent it keeps the new shape. fi you were to cut some so it generally hung from lip down to the bottom and back up to the other lip while washing then afterward you could simply lift the entire fencing length out of the washing tub taking all the greens with in one go. then in your mesh bag etc.. its not that it would save massive amounts of time but it would reduce that particular part of the operation by a great deal. I have included a link as an example. its in german(am currently in germany) but it is just the photo ref. that is important. the price might be surprising but it for 25m and usually it is sold by the meter in hardware stores. Ill be building a bubble washer myself soon and the bubbles will be be blown at an angle forwards while a wheel made of the above mentioned material, turns back wards forcing the green into the airstream. it makes the entire washing part hands-off, but then it is designed to wash for larger production. anyway here is the link. www.terragala.de/gartenzaun-aus-kunststoff-15mm.html?gclid=CNi03PWe4tECFYmRGwodY6QN3w

maybe a pool cleaner (with a rigid scoop, like a kitchen strainer) to scoop that stuff out? awesome info. shout out from a farm in eastern PennsylBANia!

I noticed the greens seem to get stuck around the edge unless you move them around with your hands. Maybe adding some holes on the sides of your PVC would help push the greens away from the edge. Just a thought from gardener.

Thought I'd let you guys know. I ended up building one of these and started with 1" PVC piping and our REALLY big compressor. It just wasn't pumping enough air through to fully move the greens around. So went to HD and was going to get their Rigid shop vac. But my HD had a Husky stainless steel 5HP shop vac on sale for $39!!! Grabbed that and 2" piping to make the upgrade. Decided to try the 1" bubbler pipe I already had before cutting up the 2" and making anew. The shop vac blower going through the 1" pipe works FANTASTIC!!! So just a little modification to Curtis' and it works great.

@seattlednb

6 жыл бұрын

and it works just as good?

@soup5220

4 жыл бұрын

This was my first thought when he said he spent $200 on an air pump

@1982MCI

4 жыл бұрын

Rex Landings I was thinking that the 2” pipe was so overkill. You could even drop down to 3/4” copper or stainless as long as you’ve got something that will push the volume of air needed. That 2” pipe is way to large in my experience, it’s too bulky, and you need a higher volume of air to maintain an appropriate amount of pressure to still be able to aerate and clean the greens. I will build one and when I get it all tuned up and cleaning good then I will post it along with plans

@kristopherkersbergen1378

4 жыл бұрын

1/8" holes 3"-4" spacing?

This was really useful, thanks. What airpump are you using?

Uni-Seals are a cheap easy way for a bulk fitting alternative

Have you ever tried using the blower side of Wet/Dry Vac (usually 180-240 watts)? It seems like it would be easier to attach, turn on, and be more cost effective. Just need a 4'' to 2.5'' step down.

@offgridcurtisstone

7 жыл бұрын

No, but try it and let me know.

@AndyBalllz

7 жыл бұрын

Drew S or even an air compressor on low psi some of us just have them sitting around in the garage

@YorkyPoo_UAV

6 жыл бұрын

Used a med sized air compressor for a 25-gallon tote. It worked but I wouldn't use a larger tote for it. This year I'm going to try the shop vac blower in a 100g tote.

That thing is sick all about efficiency

Cool music! I dig! 🌍🌎🌏

Thanks for this video. Question, will this bubbler work with carrots, beets, and radishes (which all have the greens attached)? Right now we hand wash, but it is too time consuming. Thanks for any response.

amazing! very inspiring. you are a great teacher

Have you tried a pool skimmer to remove greens from the wash? Or large colander? Or are those just one more thing to sterilize?

did you have to connect the wires of the waterway blower to an extension cord?

I'll add another idea to the suggestions for efficient removal of greens from your bubbler, particularly since you're no longer using the laundry bags in your latest updates: pick up a couple of big plastic leaf rakes from the hardware store, remove the pole handles and use them the same as you would salad serving claws to get your greens out of the water in one scoop. Here's some salad serving claws on amazon so you get the idea... www.amazon.com/dp/B072F2R651

Nice build, I made one using a salvaged shop-vac to blow my air.

@offgridcurtisstone

7 жыл бұрын

How's the pressure? Making enough bubbles?

very clever me like.could a guy use a shop vac for a blower?thanks for sharing.

I got an inline fan that I used to push hot air out of a greenhouse. Do you think that it would generate enough pressure to do the same job as a jacuzzi pump?

I have an idea on how to get your greens out more easily. How about using a soft mesh fishing net? They won't bruise the lettuce and you can get them in lots of different sizes. The mesh can also flip back and forth through the metal hoop for easily getting it into your mesh bags.

@offgridcurtisstone

7 жыл бұрын

+Stew Haggerty tried it. Picks out debris too.

With the greens bubbler do you pre dunk the greens before putting them into the bubbler or do you find that the bubbler is enough to clean the greens? Thank you.

Hey Curtis, it would be really super easy to put a sink drain in the bottom of the bin.

How long do you typically have to bubble the green to get all the stuff off. Slugs are stubborn

Any idea how much liters of air you want flowering through your bin per minute to get the greens nice and clean? So far I can get pumps that do about 80 liters per minute, they do cost about 200 dollars though.

I see on store salad mixes they say "triple washed". Should we be washing three times?

+Urban Farmer Curtis Stone I like your replies they inspire. Im working on much much smaller scale. Working on a design for drill driven salad spinner. Bigger than a bucket spinner but smaller than a washing machine. Thanks for the drive.

@philhgts1560

8 жыл бұрын

Also modified my hob cooker hood to blow instead of suck. Slot in a drying screen below between the wall cupboards and Boom! Dry leaves

Is the wash tub, PVC and PVC adhesive all food safe? Just curious.

Have you thought about taking something like a laundry basket, drilling holes into the bottom of it and setting them into your greens bubbler? that way the air still rises, but you could empty the washer in one or two movements, and while you transfer the greens to the laundry bags, it would be continuously draining. Just a thought…

@offgridcurtisstone

8 жыл бұрын

I have thought of that. But, you should try it and let me know how it works.

@Thewildlifewarrior

8 жыл бұрын

My production is no where near needing one of these yet, I might try a smaller scale to see if that could then be scaled up. Thanks for the great videos!

Howdy Curtis, how did you convert this to a three prong plug?

Think you meant to say 60 hz. Your 1 hp blower is 6.8 amps x 120 volts. That's 816 watts. In the process of building one of these from scraps i have laying around. I think a mini shop vac might work as a blower. Will let you know if it does. Just to be clear. The water does not touch the blower correct?

Do you have a video on your modified salad greens spinner? And maybe how you did other mods, particularly your flame weeder.

@theworkingmansgarden7638

7 жыл бұрын

Or was the flame weeder pre-fab?

@offgridcurtisstone

7 жыл бұрын

+Jon-Paul Wallace not yet. One project at a time here.

What size is the oval collection tank?

Love your videos! the greens are laid on a screen to dry for a bit right? couldnt you just cut out the spinner step then? just seems like an extra step in handling the delicate greens.

@offgridcurtisstone

7 жыл бұрын

No. It's a different function.

Hey Curtis, Thanks for the vid. I have a question concerning the washing area during the cold winter season, just wondering how you manage and protect your material during a freezing period ? I eventually found a place at my home to put my washing station, just need to put a roof or a simple but robust canopy on it, I have a clean concrete soil and need to put a water pipe. A little worried about how to cope with harsh freeze... I am in the north part of France, it can be mild but it can be pretty cold as well, a climate like yours in Kelowna but much less dry

@offgridcurtisstone

7 жыл бұрын

+Ingmar Meley i bring all of this stuff into our greenhouse during the winter.

why dont you use a fishing net to get the from wash to spinner

YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Do you so straight from harvest to wash station or are the greens placed in the cooler before cleaning? Thanks

@BacktonaturelivingCom

7 жыл бұрын

He cools off the field greens in the cooler before washing and packaging...

Ok what about health and safety. What's the regulations about washing greens.

Could you some sort of pool skimmer to remove the greens from the bubbler?

@offgridcurtisstone

8 жыл бұрын

Try it. Let me know how it works.

Genius

Do you like the Farmer's Friend Greens Harvester, or the Johnny's Seeds Greens harvester better (not taking into account that Johnny's is half the price)? I'm wanting a USAGE comparison. Thanks!

@offgridcurtisstone

7 жыл бұрын

Johnny's doend't sell it anymore, and Farmers Friend was the one who made it for them anyways.

Curtis, if you didn't have a power washer, would you use the greens bubbler for root vegetables as well?

@offgridcurtisstone

6 жыл бұрын

You don’t need a power washer to wash roots, just a washing table.

@MicroUrb

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you for taking the time out to answer my question, as always, its helpful.

How can you wash the inside of the pvc tube if it’s all glued together?

@offgridcurtisstone

Жыл бұрын

It's not glued.

Hey Curtis, what's the situation on sanitation? Do you have to bleach the tables, washing machine and drying rack before and after washing greens? I'm looking to start a farm myself and your videos have been super helpful! Just something I don't think I've seen you cover before.

@offgridcurtisstone

7 жыл бұрын

+jack jonte it depends. Follow government laws as you see fit.

@jackjonte6283

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the reply. It's not so much about making sure I follow government regulations, more a long the lines of what's the best practice. I saw your video on how to talk to restaurants and about not over committing on produce to new customers, if it would leave your regular customers high and dry. It made me realize how many customers you're probably serving. Watching your videos on harvesting with the plastic bins, I was just wondering how you keep everything clean and sanitary. Again, not knocking, just curious as to best practices. Regardless, thanks for all the great content! I hope to have a strong micro greens business going in the next few months and your videos have been a big help.

@mikereynolds1368

4 жыл бұрын

@@jackjonte6283 it's been 2 years since this comment. How did things go? Did you ever build one? Did you figure out answers to your questions?

@jackjonte6283

4 жыл бұрын

@mike Reynolds I did not 🙊

I thought the process was; harvest, wash, spin in the washing machine, dry on the table, bag them, then either deliver to your customers, or they go in the cooler waiting to be delivered. What I saw was that you pulled some from the cooler and then washed them. So what am I not understanding or missing?

@offgridcurtisstone

8 жыл бұрын

It's not set in stone. The key is to cool the greens right after harvest (if it's warm outside) that can be in the cooler or washing them right away.

@ptrain9020

8 жыл бұрын

ok gotcha.

roughly how many gallons is that tub and how many lbs of lettuce can you wash before needing to change the water....thank you much!

@offgridcurtisstone

7 жыл бұрын

+Trip Shaw depends. Just use your judgment. When it looks dirty, change it.

can you be more specific about the blower? I see it is a "Waterway" Stealth II. I think you said it is rated at 60 watts. Is that at 110 or 220 volts? What is the volume of air needed?

@offgridcurtisstone

7 жыл бұрын

I don't even know. I showed a close up of it in the video. I don't know the volume of air needed.

@normnelson

4 жыл бұрын

In the video, he shows it's a model 700-1011, which is 1hp, 6.8A @ 120V, and 120 cfm @ 2.1 psi

Curtis, I know you have a reason but you didn't say it. why do the spinner and not just straight to the drying rack?

@offgridcurtisstone

7 жыл бұрын

+Cory Betts they don't dry as well when it's heavy amounts of water in the greens.

Hey Curtis do you use an electric pressure washer? Do you find it sufficient enough power for your needs? I want to avoid gas wherever i can but i want something that will get the job done. Im assuming you only really need it in the one area of your farm so you dont need an enormous cable length. Thanks for all your inspiring vids man. Im starting up in Metchosin on Vancouver Island and plan be be selling by May.

@offgridcurtisstone

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, we use one for washing totes and sometime washing root veggies.

You said one person can do 100#/hr how much faster is that than your old washing method?

@offgridcurtisstone

8 жыл бұрын

+BrokenArrowFarm not totally sure. Near double I think

I looked for that video you mentioned about your modified washing machine and I could not find it. Could you provide a link please?

@offgridcurtisstone

8 жыл бұрын

I just realized that too. It's in my book. I've been making so much content for the last year, they're all meshing into one;)

@ptrain9020

8 жыл бұрын

LOL

@ptrain9020

8 жыл бұрын

I would love a video on how you modified your washing machine.

@offgridcurtisstone

8 жыл бұрын

There's nothing to it. Just screw around with one and you'll figure it out.

@ptrain9020

8 жыл бұрын

When you grow red russian kale, how come you don't let the leaves get large? Do your customers not want big leaves?

How is the washer modified?

@offgridcurtisstone

8 жыл бұрын

Watch my older video on how to wash greens.

@philhgts1560

8 жыл бұрын

Its on a vid washing greens... the drum is cut shorter so fits the bag of greens better. Stops the bag bashing around i guess.

🙌

Curtis I see a potential weakness in your system. Your spa pump runs with water lubricated bearings. If you do not supply a lubrication source it can burn up. My 4 year old son turned on our spa pump in a dry tub & burned it up. All you need to do is tee in a hose connection to the suction & throttle the minimum it needs. Do not recirculate the dirty water from the greens tank because the bearings will not like the dirt. Thanks for all you do

that blower fan says it's 6.8 amps @ 120 volts so its 816 watts not 60 watts, not that that's really important though lol

@BacktonaturelivingCom

7 жыл бұрын

It is important, tho, when you live off grid...thanks....

pool skimmer

it only washes greens or do you wash root vegetables in there as well? anyway I found this guy the other day that built a bunch washer. a way to bunch them in the field and then wash them bunched together.kzread.info/dash/bejne/fJqMs8-egsrRYsY.html seems like something you could use.

You could've done that with your snowblower and some duct tape...

Just put your greens in a net bag and dip in toilet, flush a couple times. Good to go.

This kinda looks like your setup, but probably more refined. kzread.info/dash/bejne/qHqXxNVyoJbNobw.html After the bubbler, the bucket of greens goes straight into the dryer. Super efficient. Thanks for all your vids, all the way from Manila.

Points given for ingenuity, points removed for maintenance. More recent posts on your channel are hyper critical on DIY approaches and apparently those folks are not longterm fans like myself. Bubblers are interesting but I think it is an extra step. I may think that because I'm still a tray farmer. I'm going to resist in ground row farming as long as I can - waste of 3D space. Disinfecting has got to be a problem, as is always true for permanent open air approaches. I appreciate your point on recycling the water but disagree. I think your experiences then were based on the volume of water this approach wastes. It's not "mad max" thinking to keep your eco self enclosed. Eight liters of water per 5lbs of microgreens is easily used to water mix management farms which mix in multiuse trees that produce fruit, pods, and bark residuals. "Waste" water from cleaning greens is actually rich nutrient water for the next tier. I'm fully aware we have different priorities. I'm building something my special needs son (now only 15) can run for several generations. I appreciate you, and Diego has bought in as well, is year by year for your shorter term targets. I don't think either approach is wrong - it's a matter of horizon. I have kids 30, 16, and 15. You have a toddler. I'm building a sustainable farm for them no matter what the future can throw at us, you're making immediate money. I assume you plan to cash out in a decade at most. I'm skeptical farming without specialization will last more than a decade without becoming more and more a Chinese or South American dependency. I'm skeptical rising fuel costs and climate change will allow row farming to last long. I'm especially skeptical that fresh water will be as affordable long term as you assume. www.amazon.com/dp/B002C8HR9A?ref_=pfb_cj2h800f730ndg6hl457a27eg6a9&tag=hydfbook0e-20&ascsubtag=pfb-P11-V01-O5-t1jp5d-FR7WF8

@1982MCI

4 жыл бұрын

poco curante damn dude, how do you get thru a single day being so damn negative and skeptical about everything?? Seriously? I sure am glad that our forefathers has a more positive approach to building this country otherwise we wouldn’t be here now. You do understand that everyone of them were farmers I assume. Farming has been around longer than anything but sex, and both are still here and doing fine and although different than they once were, are not going to disappear before the end of time. When farming is gone then the people will starve and the world has ended. Think about it and try to have a positive day, for your kids sakes!!!

Love your work. Idea - drill lots of holes in the bottom of a large laundry basket to sink in the bubbler. clamp or weight it down. Dump in your greens.

@BacktonaturelivingCom

7 жыл бұрын

Then you would get slugs with your greens...