Ok; back in February I mentioned rebuilding/replacing the floor in the old barn. There has been a delay in posting but the finishing touches on the floor/drainage were put in last week. As usual, first there was the plan, then there were the assumptions and then there is what actually happened. Got the old floor dug out early spring and installed 1 run of drain tile with sock. Drain tile set about 18" sloping to 10" deep under stall side of barn and run to daylight. After digging out the old manure and leveling the floor, we installed 8-12" of #10 crushed limestone over the native clay. This resulted in the interior floor about 8" higher than the surrounding. The new floor is completely level compared to the existing (sloped) exterior grade. Last week we finished installing the exterior drain tile with sock; due to drainage/slope the tile is only about 6-8" below finished grade but since the problem has always been surface water not underground I am as yet unconcerned. One exterior run of tile is tied in with the interior run and they continue to daylight; the back side has its own run. Both exterior runs have stub-ups for gutter tie ins but since we left the top gravel (#57 blue stone - 3/4 - 1-1/2")exposed I may not install the gutters. If so, I will cap the openings with Fernco's. Water dripping off the roof hits the gravel, enters the drain tile and runs out away from the barn to the existing drainage swale. Have not had much rain yet but seems to work well with what we got last weekend. The new floor has been blocked off and stock limited to first 20'; the crushed limestone is easy to maintain and there does not seem to be any difficulty with odor or manure drainage/removal. Next stop - replacing/reinstalling wood ends, sliding doors and damaged siding ... and new lightning protection for all of the structures.

grizzman I guess it came out wrong, it was late and I needed to get to bed. I meant that growing in soil generally takes about ten times more water than growing hydroponically. With soil you pour water on them and it all drains down through the earth (pots etc.), that takes continual watering (often daily). Where hydroponics makes use of all the water in the system (unless it's a run to waist type system). So really the only water used is what the plants drink, and some evaporation (depending on location and setup design). jfd986 I simply cant tell you how much it will cost to build and run the system that you decide to build. That's why I wanted to explain all the variables to consider when making a decision. If you decide to use a water culture system that only uses one or two air pumps, you wont notice anything on your electric bill. Unless you decide to grow inside, then you would need to factor in the cost to run the lights as well for the same plants. Bottom line * Water pumps, timers, and air pumps cost almost nothing to run, unless you are using a lot of them. * Lights I would go with what grizzman said with respect to cost to run, I don't use lights myself, I grow in sunlight (its cheaper that way). But you would need to factor in the cost of equipment. It isn't just the cost of the bulb. As bbrush said there's the cost of the ballast, and metal halide, and High pressure sodium ballasts are not interchangeable to the best of my knowledge. So if you are needing both type, for different phases of plant growth, well that adds up. Also you will need a light reflector to direct the light down to your plants. * The cost to build the system depends on how you build it, how elaborate you want it, as well as what the cost of the materials you need are. What type of system you decide on etc.. I can tell you that I built a system using 4, 5 gallon buckets for the plants, a 18 gallon reservoir, all the tubing and parts needed to build it, including the water pump and timer, even both black and white spray paint to light proof the system (as well as the growing medium), for under $100. But again I use natural light so I get great growth, without needing to buy expensive lighting (much less the cost to run them). This system cost just about nothing in electricity to run, and I had 4 large broccoli plants growing for about 6 months in it. do I really have to keep the light on for 24 hours? No, the lights don't need to be on 24/7. Everybody has a different lighting cycle for their plants, and they often change the on/off times (cycle) as the plants grow. Some plants like more light than others do, so lighting cycles should depend on the plants you grow. 1) Change the water Here everybody has their own preferences. Some change it once a week, some ever other week, some once a month, and others change it once or twice a year. The size of the reservoir, as well as the size of the plants is a big factor in those decisions as well. I personally chance it between one week and one month. There are a lot of variables in my decision, and I always pay attention to how the plants look. 2) Add nutrients (Are there instructions on the bag for that? Should I just comb through previous posts?) Again here everybody has their own preferences, and each situation is unique to that situation. I'm not sure what nutrients you plan to use, but any manufacture of hydroponic nutrients should have mixing directions with the product (and online as well). But generally you can mix them a little weaker than the manufacture directions. There is also a difference in how strong they should be depending on size of the plants, but manufactures list that as well, they refer to it as the growth phase. 3) Water them (Do they even need watering?) Every plant needs water, so I'm not sure what you mean. Are you asking if you need to hand water them? That would depend on how you designed and built your system. But that's why people use pumps in the first place, so the watering cycle is automated. In the case of a water culture system, the roots are always in the water, and the air pump provides much needed oxygen, and air bubbles to the roots so they don't suffocate. 4) Expect them to yield edibles I must of mist it, I'm not sure what plants you decided to grow after all. But generally speaking about the same as growing in soil. They will probably (and likely) grow a little faster than in soil. It all depends on how well you control the growing environment, that makes a big difference in both plant health, as well as yield. The better the conditions, the faster the plants grow. Any pet supply store will carry air pumps (and air stones) in the fish tank department. You can get an air pump designed for a 30 to 60 gallon fish tank at Wal-Mart for about $12 (air stones $2-$3). If you are planing to build a big water culture system and more air output, they do make high output air pumps, starting for about $80 and up that you can find online. P.S. I have some good links to strawberry information, but you say you decided not to grow them after all, so I guess I wont post them after all. If you want to keep track of the electricity costs get a Kill-A-Watt, you can get them at almost any home improvement store inexpensively. They will tell you exactly how much each electrical device is costing to run. You just need to know how much you pay per kilowatt hr (that's on your electric bill), and is programmable into the device.

Okay, I'll be completely honest. I honestly have a very difficult time finding any redeeming value to industrial agriculture. Every time I find something, there is always something that more than counteracts it. For instance, I suppose that it is a good thing that layer chickens in a northern Iowa egg factory aren't freezing to death in their climate controlled environment. I would think they hardly find it comfortable, however, as they live in tiny cages each with six other hens so crowded they can't even stretch their legs or extend their wings, cages stacked 8 feet high in rows 800 yards long, over a million birds per house. And live that way for their entire short lives. And I guess the same can be said for the controlled environment of a hog farrowing house. Until I think of the fact that a sow is so tightly penned that she can't turn around, and must live that way for her entire productive life. Oh, wait. There is the low cost of food. Until I think of how artificial that low cost is, as costs to the environment are externalized and left for future generations to clean up, with groundwater adulterated and fisheries destroyed all around the country. Not to mention it is built on crops subsidized with my tax dollars and grown almost entirely on oil, from fertilizer to pesticides to packaging to transport, every chicken or steak or pork chop figuratively coated in oil. And what about those crops themselves? Oil is a finite resource, and emerging economies like China and India are increasingly competing for their share of it. What happens when we have a long term shortage or demand outpaces supply? What happens to that cheap food then? It is a completely unsustainable system. Compare that to organic and sustainable agriculture (and I'm sorry but that is in fact what we are debating here). It has been the claim for a long time that it can't feed the world, when that is absolutely untrue. Fat cats just can't get rich off of it, that's all. Think of all the renewable inputs you use in a natural form of agriculture. Rather than depleting and killing the topsoil the way chemical agriculture does, the soil is nurtured and built upt, and left better than when you started. Small and medium size organic can feed the world, and there are multiple studies that prove it. In the long term, it is the only thing that can.

It's an open plan so I presume the floor is for all the space...? If you don't mind going with lighter color floor, as in you haven't decided yet, the lighter flooring would create a better contrast with the cabinets. Unless we see the other floor darker than it is in real life. If for the sake of the whole space you highly prefer dark floor-I feel you should consider lighter cabinets. Even if the space is very large,open, and gets a lot of light...the expanse of the cabinets is still too big, it will be too much black on dark brown. (I went for a very little contrast cabinet and flooring myself, not that it can't be done at all-but it was in a bathroom, much smaller space, and the colors were more medium-toned. ) Otherwise, it's a very pretty scheme you're going for.