So its been about a week or so since my last post. My attention has been drawn from my garden to my career for the moment. I’ve decided that it may be time to explorer other opportunities but I have been somewhat selective as to which and where. Last week I interviewed for a position that I hope will be a ‘quality of life’ boost as well as a modest salary boost. While I wait for the results of the interview/paperwork processing, I can again focus on the planning of my garden.

I searched Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, and Target. I found that Target had the most attractive prices for storage totes. I picked up a 45 Gal Sterilite latch tote ( that has a couple of wheels at the bottom of one end ) for my water/nutrient repository.

At the time of purchase my reasoning was this. Larger top surface area would mean a larger quantity of mesh cups which would mean more plants. The tote cost me about $15.00 and was as expensive as totes that were half the size. I figure if something goes wrong with this one I wouldn’t be out any more or less than if I had purchases a modest size tote.

Now I was off to Home Depot to pick up other misc. stuff that I would need.

	One Utility Knife
	2 inch Hole Driller
	6 Clamps ( … Mine were Green …. =) …. )
	2 inch wire brush
	One Bag of Zip Ties
	Weatherseal

Out of everything so far, the hardest thing has been trying to figure out the miscellaneous connectors, washers, and tubing for the external water/nutrient level checker. I got the angle bracket from the Lawn and Garden irrigation area.

It’s a Toro Funny ( I didn’t think it was all *that* funny) Pipe 1/2 inch male elbow. I went with this one for two reasons. It has a good connection for the outside hose and was a perfect fit ( after some trial an error ) to one of the PVC couplings I found. It is a 1/2 inch PVC Schedule 40 Female Adapter Slip X FIPT.

This is the point I veered away from the original plan/instructions. I know I have to drill a hole in the side of the tote for the male end of the funny pipe. So I swapped out the 5/8 inch hole bit for a 1/2 inch hole bit to match the size of the male end of the funny pipe.

The goal being to screw the funny pipe into the tote and secure it on the other side with the PVC coupling. I’m not sure this is going to work the way I have it. So what I think I’m going to have to do is find another PVC coupling to match the inside PVC coupling and screw the funny pipe into that ( kind of like the original instructions … DUUUHHH !! ).

I also had issues finding the right washer that would fit over the male end of the funny pipe in between the washer and the tote. I’m hoping that as I’m reworking that area by adding the additional PVC coupling that I will come across the right washer.

Since I was already at Home Depot, I figured I would ask around about submersible water pumps. I was standing in the plumbing section looking at about 15 different water pumps ranging from around $70 to well over $300. One of the employees more skilled than I in plumbing came over to help. I explained to him what I was doing ( which he was very intrigued by and interested in some of the details of my little project ).

Although he was very helpful, I came to the conclusion that all of the pumps they offered were way beyond my needs. After being exhausted from my shopping I headed to the register with what I had and decided that I would pursue the rest another day.

At this point I’ve gathered a good chunk of the parts I need to do this. I still need to tackle the interior irrigation system, the mesh cups, covers for the mesh cups, growing medium, and concentrated nutrient solution.