Chapter 22 - Andy's Ark Resurrection

Andy had his replicated server from Brian soon enough. Brian was right, its was just a matter of hosting the existing scripts and connecting them to a database. So he could use this system independently of Imogen. Brian had advised that it would be easier for a programmer to write a clone of the system than to modify the existing one. Andy thought about that for a while and decided to reassess once he had gotten the hang of what he already had and had found something wanting.

Roger had done a splendid job of fixing the house and it was done in good time as well. Roger had joined the Chamber of Commerce and Imogen had taken charge of marketing. The biocrete was working like a dream with some of the historically significant derelict buildings of the Great Southern. A rush of Government grants was providing Roger the opportunity to expand rapidly and establish himself in the region for private commercial work as well.

Tracy had settled back into her role of developing the farm. He was beginning to learn that the worse thing you can do if you want a project to remain unknown is to keep it "Top Secret". He had seen drone footage on twitter, various posts on facebook from backpackers. Students taking soil and water samples from the perimeter of the property, government officials poking their noses in. Everyone seemed to be sniffing around, like you're the different one and we don't have all these rules for nothing so lets sort you out. This was meant to be a free country, there was more surveillance here than in the former Soviet Union. Maybe Roger was right when he said: not only are you doing a manly thing but you're also being creative, so there's got to be something wrong with it.

Andy decided that there was only two ways people were going to stop hounding him and that was either to let some foreigner take over the operation, which was not an option, or to 'admit' to failure. Since he wasn't trying to sell a product he decided to get Tracy to clock up some implied setbacks on the internet forums and have the property drop off everyone's radar.

In reality everything was either meeting or exceeding expectations. Excess compost from the deep litter chickens was being eaten by oysters. The greywater going through the deep litter picked up enough nutrients to grow a great vegie patch downhill. The crops grown were melons, oranges, tamarillos and other succulent produce which would serve to reduce the potable water intake of any residents.

The goats were eating the prickly pear cactus and the milk from the goats further reduced the need for potable water. The rain water tanks were filling up and had enough capacity for 12 adults through the dry season.

As a possible added bonus he believed that one of the BNF composts were producing more food in the way of critters than could be got from feeding them home grown wheat. The best set up Tracy could come up with was to start with a Tagasaste and have a succession of 6 BNF composts around it. Each compost fertilising a food producing tree at its centre in-situ. Water was an issue, but at least it didn't have to be fresh water.

One of the more extreme ideas that Tracy had trialed was the use of ammonia oxidising bacteria as a spray on mist to bathing. Production of the mist was quite simple, use diluted urine passed through shredded paper full of earthworms. As the water drained from the base it was put in an empty windex sprayer and sprayed on to the body. The liquid itself was completely odourless. He was having concern for her mental health as she was explaining this until she told him that she hadn't had a bath for two months. His nose could validate the truth of the method, it worked and it worked well. It was one of those ideas that could be put on the back burner until needed, if ever. The composting toilets were also working flawlessly. The significance of the two ideas being that they could get by on very little fresh water. Was this going over the top? By current standards way over the top. But such conventions were subject to the conditions of the time. It's not as if Tracy, with broad hints dropped by Imogen, that all the 'conventional prepping' problems had been solved. Best to have as many tricks up your sleeve as possible and decide what's acceptable on the fly.

Was he losing focus? To be honest to himself, apart from the financial contribution and following developments, he never had a lot of focus on the property. If the economy crashes the property was the ideal place for him and a few close colleagues, a wife perhaps, to see things through.