Let’s take a minute to recognize this post has nothing to do with no-till. But, we here at No-Till Growers love a good farm-hack. One thing we love about no/low-till grow systems is the amount of tools you don’t necessarily need to do it reasonably well. What you do use can be simple, and just as effective. I love the ingenuity and creativity here, which is inherent to successful small farms, even despite a lack of time and technical/mechanical skill (to which I can totally relate). One could argue the former is more important than the latter, but we’ll save that for another time.
- Farmer Jackson

After admittedly having some complaints about debris and a couple bugs (one a ladybug, which in some cultures is a sign of good luck, at least) in my salad mix, I decided to invest in a greens bubbler. But here’s the thing, I like mobility. Flexibility. Liftibility? I like to be able to reconfigure my wash/pack as the season calls for it. So, I didn’t want any sort of stationary system and definitely didn’t need anything particularly large for the amount of greens we move.

Moreover, I don’t know jack about working with electricity. I don’t have the savvy to set up a jacuzzi blower that has to be wired into a box or a timer like Curtis Stone’s or Steven Cornett‘s. Sure, I could learn. But at the moment, mid-season, I just don’t have the time to figure it out. Winter project season is over. I had an issue, it needed to be solved immediately, I am mostly a dummy about electricity. Just facts.

I found that several people were using the blower on their shop-vacs to power their bubblers, but there was almost no information on how to do so. However, there was this one video I used as a reference point. I had the PVC lying around, shop-vacs are $60 to $70 bucks, I could use a small vac anyway, why not?

In the end, it cost me roughly $100 plus 15 minutes per bubbler to build. Note that I already had the tanks, +$10? I don’t know that I would use any old used shop-vac, but you could definitely reduce the cost by buying a cheaper one. If previously used, I would sanitize the fire out of it, though.

Note that a shop-vac is a shop vacuum. It is built to suck, not necessarily blow, so your shop-vac must have a usable outtake!

Some of the questions I raise are well-answered by viewers in the comments section, so be sure to check that out at YouTube. There are a couple other ideas for blowers and for how to reduce the pressure (the shop-vac is surprisingly powerful), considerations for reducing the noise, and issues with PVC cement (I no longer think it’s necessary, really). Otherwise, let us know what you think!

Our model is different. It is based on the idea that the more we can share, discuss, and connect, the better our farms will be for the long-haul. Like farmers sharing observations over the fence-row, our aim is to provide you—the grower—with the best no-till information we can get our hands on. For free. However, it take a lot of time, and not a little bit of money, to keep No-Till Growers growing. If you found this post (or the podcast) to be of value, you can help us keep it that way by voluntarily supporting our work for as little as $2/month on Patreon, or you can Venmo/Paypal a one time donation.