There is a Hole in the Roof

The weather cooperated enough today so that Burr was able to open the roof of the building that I am now referring to as "The Greenhouse."  He is putting a shed dormer into the second story for me so that we can have more storage space.  The south facing window should also give me a good area to start my seedlings as well.

Burr and Calvin spread a tarp over the roof just before it got dark.  It isn't calling for rain, but I would not be surprised if we didn't get some tonight.  They plan to work on it tomorrow and hopefully get everything closed in before it gets dark.

I spent time experimenting with the siphons for my growbeds.  At first I thought that I might need a larger drain pipe than the 1 inch that I am using.  I hooked up this contraption to my 1/3 horsepower sump pump so that whatever water I didn't want going to the growbed would be sent back to the tank.  I am using a valve to regulate the amount of water entering into the bed and  I found that it was very easy to find the right spot where the siphon turns on and turns off.  

I am experimenting with using two different bells on top of the siphon.  I found that the 2 inch bell sometimes has a problem stopping the siphon, so I added a snorkel (see photo above).  I also am experimenting with a 3 inch bell and it works well without a snorkel.  It is taking about 11 minutes for the tank to fill and about 4 for the tank to drain.  I am going to let it run all weekend and see how it performs.