Low Rent Renaissance

More work on the garden wall. These days I'm mixing the ingredients dry in the cement mixer -- six parts sand, three parts paper, three parts Portland cement -- then putting a bit of the dry mix into a 5-gallon bucket and hand mixing in water and joint compound. It's a very workable mix, and cures to form a nice, hard shell.

Continuing to rework the garden wall using the same sandy mix --six parts sand, three parts cellulose insulation, three parts Portland cement, approximately two parts water, and a little joint compound.

A work in progress -- refinishing the papercrete garden wall. Papercrete, I think, for most of us, involves a  lot of experimentation and a good sized learning curve. There is information on line, but most of it is like the information in this blog – experimental recipes and processes that offer a starting place for our own endeavors. Those batches of papercrete I mixed two or three years ago for the garden wall were, like the first layers daubed onto the gazebo structure, too soft for exterior work– too much paper, not enough sand. The strongest, most workable papercrete has been the heaviest – lotsa sand, some paper, some cement, some ready-mix joint compound to help it stick. The same learning curve applies to the lime plaster applied to the garden wall a couple of years ago. Though the surface of the inside wall was still looking fair, the outside surface was brittle and full of cracks. Possible causes are plentiful. Like my practically nonexistent curing process. Or maybe

 We finally got our 15 tilapia fingerlings. Ammonia levels in the fish tank were high for a day or two (testing with Jungle Quick Dip Amonia Test Strips), and I took water out several times with a pitcher and replaced it with clean water from a little reservoir in the yard. Today the ammonia level checked out and the fish seem to be doing well, though we lost a couple of the smaller ones. We planted a variety in the grow bed to see which would do best -- two types of pepper, two of tomato, two eggplants, and a couple varieties of lettuce. I took the plants from the pots, rinsed the roots clean with a hose, and placed them in the gravel bed. We were surprised they did not go into shock, are budding out, and thriving. We're feeding the fish pond pellets right now but are researching which kitchen scraps to feed tilapia.  Looking forward to an abundant harvest.