Farm Hack Talk

Hi folks, I'm CTO of the nonprofit Open Learning Exchange, we're doing a pilot of our School BeLL technology in 20 schools in Ghana this year and we're hoping to put together some resources for schools on building school gardens. Does anyone know of any open source curriculum for school gardens or any garden designs that would work well in Ghana? Would anyone be interested in helping to develop that curriculum if we can't find any good existing materials?

-R.J. Steinert

Here is an attempt to list a few of the skill sections we might want as we document some of the skills that may be needed to build open source tools (this will be a very partial list I am sure - and I am sure that the categories will need to be worked out more carefully) Ideally we can match these up with on-line tutorials already out there and with local vocational programs etc.

Computer Skills

How to use this site How to use design software opensource programming documentation and use of repositories etc.

Hi, I just discovered this site and it Rocks! I've got several projects I'm working on right now and I wonder if anybody has feedback on these ideas.

1. A better (cheaper) Batt-Latch - basically just a timer that releases a pin, from there the Rube Goldberg possibilities are endless. http://www.novel.co.nz/webapps/site/76545/134711/shopping/shopping-view.html?pid=356247

2. Hypar roof for chicken tractors - advantage being perfect rainwater catchment in the low corners, disadvantage is difficulty covering it with a flat sheet, and vulnerability to high wind.

Prototyping can be a painful (and expensive) experience! The first Farm Hack event I attended at MIT had a focus (at least as I remember it) of trying to get farmers and engineers together to develop new technology. The conversation since then has shifted primarily to farmers documenting their projects. It can be helpful to suggest when writing a grant that you will document your project on Farm Hack, in the sense that the institution with the funding is looking for the greatest possible return on their investment.

I have a great idea just not the know how to get it done: Objective: Keep the bird water from freezing.

This summer we built a 10x10 Chicken Shack. I oriented the roof so that one flat side it was facing south to south-west to catch the sun. I had planned to place a solar panel on the roof and made a place for a battery at the edge of the roof inside but I just cannot wrap my head around what I need to get this done.

A component of the Farm Hack events since the project's start has been the Design Charrette - a small group brainstorming/design process, around a specific tool or topic. As we hold more events and think about the needs that Farm Hack events can best serve, there has been discussion within the Farm Hack core group about what use this activity serves, and how we can improve it. Here we want to invite comments and reflection from other Farm Hackers, whether you have attended an event and participated in the charrette or not.

I finally finished the greenhouse on the roof of my apt building here in Brooklyn, measuring 10' X 20'. I attached all the plastic using Wiggle Wire, which turned out to be strong enough to make it through Hurricane Sandy, so W.W. has my endorsement forever;) My landlord asked me to secure the GH frame using pallets, so I ended up bracketing the pallets to the baseboards and then cutting out the interior top boards of the pallets to form planting beds. We lined the pallet/beds with landscape fabric and threw in potting mix.

I just came across this site based in Begium, which is being used to document the individual components that would go into open source hardware based structures. The web site is http://openstructures.net/ I am interested what this community might learn from these efforts. I think the approach of documenting not just the opensource nature of the finished tool but of individual components which can be grouped into tools is very ambitious but also exciting.

Hi folks. A fabricator/farmer friend and I are discussing developing a prototype for an open-source tractor. We would like it to be narrowly focused on organic farming field work.

This topic has come up pertaining to Farm Hack several times, and is worth exploring further. It would be a great project for a localized farm hack crew to take on in their area. There are a few examples of farmer groups who have done this.