Introduction: Cube Farm: a Modular, Open Source, Agriculture Platform
Welcome to the CubeFarmtutorial series.
CubeFarm is an open source, do-it-yourself, modular, transportable agriculture system for reducing waste materials while growing food. FarmCubes can be laid in rows as space permits and stacked up to three cubes high to maximize plant growth over a minimized land area. The CubeFarm system repurposes commonly available waste materials such as shipping pallets, scrap wood and PVC pipe. Through this tutorial series you will be shown how to construct your own farm cubes and adapt them to fit the needs of your local environment, including how to construct the farm cube module, install the semi-hydroponic system, build LED grow lights, assemble a wind turbine and brew a batch of compost tea to fertilize your CubeFarm.
Join the growing number of CubeFarmers in reducing waste materials while producing healthy food in addition to improving your local and global environment through this easy step-by-step project.
To see more information about the project, please visit http://cube-farm.weebly.com
Step 1: Tools, Cut-list & Materials
TOOLS:
- Measuring Tape
- Hand Saw
- Jigsaw Square
- Sawtooth Hole Cutter Drill Bit (5cm diameter)
- 2x C-Clamps
- Caulking Gun
- Soldering Iron
- Hot Glue Gun
CUT LIST:
- 1x Shipping Pallet: 100cm x 120cm
- 4x Vertical Supports: 86cm x 5cm x 10cm
- 4x Depth Cross Beams: 100cm x 5cm x 10cm
- 4x Length Cross Beams:110cm x 2cm x 10cm
- 4x Angled supports: 91.5cm x 2cm x 10cm cut at 22.5°
- 2x Median Vertical Supports: 62cm x 4cm x 6cm
- 16x Wooden Discs: 9.5cm Diameter x 2cm thick
- 8x PVC Pipes: 106cm Long x 10cm Diameter (848cm total)
- 32x PVC Pipes: 10cm Long x 5cm Diameter (320cm total)
- 6x PVC Pipes: 20cm Long x 1.5cm Diameter (120cm total)
OTHER MATERIALS:
- 36 red LEDs (3 each for 12 lights)
- 12 blue LEDs (1 each for 12 lights)
- PCB board
- HotGlue Sticks
- Enameled Wire
- Red and black insulated wire
- Solder
- Silicone caulking
- A DC motor
- Screws (4X60mm (5/32”X2-3/8") Wood Screws (100pcs))
Screws (4X20mm (5/32”X13/16”) Wood Screws (32pcs))
Step 2: Prepare Your Materials
To make a single Farm Cube, you'll want to begin by cutting all of your wood and PVC to length. With all of it prepared, it will be really quick for you to assemble your Farm Cube and by making multiple Farm Cubes, you'll be able to put them together to make a Cube Farm.
CUT LIST (Metric):
- 1x Shipping Pallet: 100cm x 120cm
- 4x Vertical Supports: 86cm x 5cm x 10cm
- 4x Depth Cross Beams: 100cm x 5cm x 10cm
- 4x Length Cross Beams:110cm x 2cm x 10cm
- 4x Angled supports: 91.5cm x 2cm x 10cm cut at 22.5°
- 2x Median Vertical Supports: 62cm x 4cm x 6cm
- 16x Wooden Discs: 9.5cm Diameter x 2cm thick
- 8x PVC Pipes: 106cm Long x 10cm Diameter (848cm total)
- 32x PVC Pipes: 10cm Long x 5cm Diameter (320cm total)
- 6x PVC Pipes: 20cm Long x 1.5cm Diameter (120cm total)
CUT LIST (Imperial):
- 1x Shipping Pallet: 39" x 47"
- 4x Vertical Supports: 34" x 2" x 4"
- 4x Depth Cross Beams: 39" x 2" x 4"
- 4x Length Cross Beams: 43" x 1" x 4"
- 4x Angled supports: 36" x 1" x 4" cut at 22.5°
- 2x Median Vertical Supports: 24" x 2" x 4"
- 16x Wooden Discs: 3 3/4" Diameter x 1" thick
- 8x PVC Pipes: 42" Long x 4" Diameter (334" total)
- 32x PVC Pipes: 4" Long x 2" Diameter (126" total)
- 6x PVC Pipes: 8" Long x 19/32" Diameter (47" total)
*I've provided both a metric and imperial cut list for you, but I really suggest you use the metric cut list if you have access to a metric tape measure. Also, the cut list dimensions may be slightly off if using a non-standard shipping pallet or using a North American shipping pallet. If you are using materials with irregular dimensions, then you should skip cutting all of your materials at once and cut/measure the materials, adapting the basic design and instructions to your materials.
- To begin with, cut all of the lengths
- Remove the center boards from your pallet(s) so that it retains the outer frame with the center support (*See the provided image)
Step 3: How to Assemble Your CubeFarm Module
- Begin by Assembling the cube’s sides (x2)
- Begin this by laying 2 of your length cross beams, lengthwise against the two longest edges of your shipping pallet, so that they are resting on their narrowest side.
- *These two pieces of wood are simply acting as spacers for this step and will not be screwed to anything at the moment.
- Take your two of your vertical support beams and put them, alongside the two length cross beams, on the shipping pallet so that they also rest on their narrowest side.
- Now place two of your depth cross beams ON TOP OF your vertical support beams so that they are resting on their widest face. These four beams should make a rectangle measuring 86x100cm (34x39”).
- Screw the two depth cross beams to the vertical support beams using 2 of your screws for each corner. Repeat the previous instructions so that you end up with two rectangular frames.
With all of the previous steps complete, the result should be a rectangular cuboid with an a-frame on either side. Now would be also be a good time to paint, stain, varnish or weatherproof your farm cube.
Step 4: How to Install a Semi-hydroponic System
- To begin with, cut the plywood discs and lengths of PVC pipe, as are provided in the cut-list:
- 16x Wooden Discs 9.5cm Diameter x 2cm thick
- 8x PVC Pipes: 106cm Long x 10cm Diameter (848cm total)
- 32x PVC Pipes: 10cm Long x 5cm Diameter (320cm total)
- 6x PVC Pipes: 20cm Long x 1.5cm Diameter (120cm total)
- Make sure that one end of each of these 2 pipe sections is sitting slightly higher than the other end so that the liquid fertilizer will drain properly and then screw through the angled support boards and into the plywood discs which cap the PVC pipes.
- Next you will need to install the other 6 pipes similarly to how you installed the previous two but with approximately 15cm(6”) between them, making sure that the highest end on each of the lower levels is closest to the lowest level on the pipe above it, so that the fertilizer will run from the PVC pipes at the top of the cube to those at the bottom.
- On the top tier pipes you will drill all 5 holes with your sawtooth hole cutter drill bit.
- For each remaining mark, which should be the highest point on each pipe, you will use the 15mm (⅝”) Flat drill Bit to make a hole in the PVC pipe.
- Use the same 15mm (⅝”) Flat drill Bit to drill a hole through the pipe directly above where you just drilled the 5th hole in each pipe.
- Wait for all of the silicone sealant to cure and test the system by pouring water in the top tier of the pipes and checking to make sure that it filters all of the way down to the bottom tier.
- Adjust the system as necessary and fix any problems you may encounter.
- *If you need to replace a plant in the future, it will be easy to do so by removing the whole 10cm Long x 5cm Diameter pipe that houses the root system and plant.
With all of these steps complete, your rectangular cuboid should have a gravity driven semi-hydroponic system installed. Additionally, you can install a pump at the base of your farm cube to circulate the liquid fertilizer through the system. If you are stacking your farm cubes, up to 3 cubes high, use some additional PVC pipe or hose to connect upper levels to lower levels so that the liquid fertilizer trickles down through the whole system.
Step 5: How to Brew Compost Tea
- Dig down in your compost pile or bin till you hit some well composted material, but avoid compost that contains animal manure.
- Fill a container with 1 part compost and 4 parts de-chlorinated water or, ideally, collected rainwater.
- *Optionally, you can add something sweet and sugary to the mixture such as molasses, maple syrup, cane syrup or fruit juice, to aid the growth of the bacteria in the compost tea.
- Use an air pump setup, like you would find in an aquarium or something more powerful, to oxygenate the brewing compost tea.
- Allow your compost tea mixture to brew for 1 to 3 days, out of direct sunlight. The finished tea will look like coffee and smell sweet and earthy.
- Strain the mixture to remove the particles of compost out of the liquid.
Keep the air pump running or refrigerate until you are ready to use it. Your compost tea can now be used to deliver nutrients, hydration and microbes directly to the plants in your CubeFarm. Additionally, it can be sprayed onto your plants to deliver nutrients directly to the foliage.
Step 6: How to Make LED Grow Lights
- To build your LED Grow Lights, you will need:
- 36 red LEDs
- 12 blue LEDs
- 4 PCB boards that are perforated with 5 holes by 50 holes
- Solder and a soldering iron
- Start by soldering 2 solid two bare wires that run along each long side each of your PCB boards.
- Then solder one RED wire coming out from one of the bare wires and one BLACK wire coming from the other, these will be your positive and negative terminals.
- Then insert your RED LEDs, next to each other in 12 groups of 3, evenly distributed among the 4 PCB boards, so that the anode (which can be identified by its short leg or flat side) is pointing towards the negative terminal.
- Solder the pins to the PCB board, neatly connecting the anode pins to the negative terminal and the cathode (or positive) pins, of each grouping, together.
- Insert the BLUE LEDs so that their anodes are pointing towards the center RED LED’s cathode pins and so that the BLUE LEDs’ cathode is pointing towards the positive terminal.
- Neatly solder the BLUE LEDs’ anodes to the connected RED LED cathode pins, and then the BLUE LEDs’ cathodes to the positive terminal on the PCB board.
- With your LEDs soldered together properly to your PCB boards, you can power them using a 5v power supply, meaning that they can be driven using USB power, a 4.5 or 5v wall adapter, battery power or other options which will be explored in the following steps.
The red and blue LEDs that were used to build grow lights have been salvaged from discarded electronics but you can also buy new LEDs or you can use magenta colored LED strips to encourage the plants in your CubeFarmto photosynthesize.
Step 7: How to Build a Joule Thief
- Begin by gathering a few simple components:
- 1K resistor
- A NPN transistor
- A ferrite toroid
- Two pieces of differently colored enameled wire
- Red and black insulated wires
- Dead batteries
- A small PCB board (optional)
- First Wind your toroid with your two lengths of enameled wire.
- After winding it, connect one end of one colored wire to one end of the other colored wire and solder them together.
- *You can also wrap your toroid with just one color of wire but it will be easier to identify the separate wires if you use two.
As an additional note, you can make one of these circuits with a 3 hole connector attached to it, where the transistor should be, so that you can test salvaged transistors to see if they can be used in future Joule Thief circuits.
Step 8: How to Make a Wind Turbine
- You will need:
- 2x rigid flat steel, wood or plastic which is at least 40cm(16”) long
- 1x 2cm(1”) diameter piece of wooden dowel around 15cm(6”) long
- 2x 30cm(12”) lengths of PVC pipe that is 10cm(4”) in diameter
- 1x DC motor2x 15cm(6”) scraps of telescoping PVC pipe that are just bigger than your DC motor
- Some small screws.
- To begin, use a jigsaw to cut your PVC pipes, lengthwise in half.
- *Optionally, you can build a quick wooden jig out of some scrap wood to hold them securely while you cut them.
- Each of these halved PVC pipes will be your wind turbine blades.
Step 9: In Conclusion
After building your first FarmCube, you should have a pretty good understanding of how it works and how to reproduce 2, 10 or 100 more so that you end up with aCubeFarm that is constructed out of waste materials, producing healthy food and oxygen in the process, while also utilizing minimal land as well as fresh water resources. Your FarmCubes can be stacked, laid in rows or a combination in order to best occupy your available space. They can be left open for greater access to the plants inside or they can be covered to make greenhouse structures so that you have greater control over the climate your plants are growing in.
Additionally, because the FarmCubes are built on shipping pallets, they are easily transported by two people or can be moved around by use of a forklift. Due to the size and modularity of the FarmCubes, they can be replicated in both rural and urban locations – providing the potential for access to nutrition in food deserts.
The goal of CubeFarm is to be a platform that is adaptable to the user’s environment, location, skills, and resources to create a democratized, open-source, modular agriculture system with aspirations of reducing material waste and greenhouse gasses while increasing food security through collective production. Through all of this, CubeFarm denies singular definitions such as art, design, engineering, activism or agriculture but creates a hybridized form for the purposes of addressing real issues through creative problem solving and aesthetic solutions.
See more about CubeFarm by visiting the project’s website: https://cube-farm.weebly.com
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9 Comments
3 years ago on Introduction
I really enjoy looking at projects that involve not only proper setups but also those that serve as decorative structures as well. You can have a garden while beautifying your place as well at the same time. The layout would help clean your air and add colours to your place too.
3 years ago
Fascinating concept...and a whole lot of work! I can clearly see the benefits of this, but it makes me glad I currently have a little bit of land where I can do raised beds, containers, a small orchard, and a greenhouse! I've saved it anyway for the "just in case" scenarios of life. One never knows...
Reply 3 years ago
Yes, of course it may not be for everyone, especially as it sound't like you have a very fertile property, but ideally it could make any plot of land more efficient. It was a lot of work to research so I really much appreciate your comments :D
Reply 3 years ago
On the other hand...this would definitely make it easier to protect one's produce from the chickens, scavenging rabbits, etc., as wrapping the cubes with protective mesh, etc. would be easily accomplished. I'll have to give this some more thought. I do appreciate your research and passing this concept along!
Reply 3 years ago
You make a really great point OutofPatience! I think you would probably want to attach the mesh or chicken wire to removable frames which would easily attach to the front and back faces of the FarmCubes while the sides and top could have the mesh secured directly to the cubes.
Reply 3 years ago
Good idea...as long as one is able to access for harvesting! This "cube" really does provide for a lot of options. Versatility and flexibility might be among it's strong suits!
3 years ago
Justin, this is awesome! Seriously, this Cube Farm is one of the coolest creations I have ever seen, very impressed. Keep hustling!
3 years ago
This is really interesting! Great use of materials. :)
Reply 3 years ago
Thanks so much JessyRF!