The Observation Beehive is coming together!!! Keep following the channel and the blog for more information, we are also taking orders for custom furniture
Showing posts with label YouTube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YouTube. Show all posts
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Design|Build - An Observation Bee Hive!!!
I've been charged with the task of designing and building an indoor apiary for a Seattle based clothing company!!! I'm pretty excited because I had wanted to do one of these for a while and this one is bigger than I could really find indoor space for. There are some really cool challenges to building an indoor bee hive, not having to mention bees getting loose in the store! This store has already been built out and the display floor is arranged so this build needs to mesh with the existing decor.
Since the store has a warm feeling of repurposed construction materials from salvaged wood and patina metal, I dug around for some matching materials. Since the specification for the beehive was three deep frames wide and three deep frames tall with optional space for six honey supers, I figured I'd need to use metal to get the strength and aesthetic I was after. I was able to get in the shop and spend a good day or two welding up the observation frame. It's great really getting into the groove of a project and not watching the clock and just enjoying the craft.
Stay tuned for the finished product and I hope to have enough media captured for a video on my YouTube channel!
Jason Kotarski Bees Beekeeping Apiary Honey Permaculture Welding Ironworking Metal Fabrication Furniture Office Furniture Commercial Design Build Architecture Nature
Since the store has a warm feeling of repurposed construction materials from salvaged wood and patina metal, I dug around for some matching materials. Since the specification for the beehive was three deep frames wide and three deep frames tall with optional space for six honey supers, I figured I'd need to use metal to get the strength and aesthetic I was after. I was able to get in the shop and spend a good day or two welding up the observation frame. It's great really getting into the groove of a project and not watching the clock and just enjoying the craft.
Stay tuned for the finished product and I hope to have enough media captured for a video on my YouTube channel!
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| Jason Michael Kotarski Observation Beehive |
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| Jason Michael Kotarski Observation Beehive |
Jason Kotarski Bees Beekeeping Apiary Honey Permaculture Welding Ironworking Metal Fabrication Furniture Office Furniture Commercial Design Build Architecture Nature
Monday, July 29, 2019
Carving a Square Bowl
Here's the latest bowl carving! This time around I decided to do a square platter from a chunk of Big Leaf Maple I've been saving in the corner of the shop. This time I went with a diamond embedded grinding disc on the grinder instead of the carbide tipped Graff Speedcutter that I used on the Root Bowl. The grinding disc isn't as aggressive so it takes a little longer but there is more control and less chance of accidental damage to the material.
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| Jason Michael Kotarski Jason Kotarski |
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Raised Garden Beds- How to Make a Hugle Culture Lasagne Masterpiece!
In a post I made last year I added a video from my YouTube Channel Jason Michael Kotarski on a method to create a raised bed that would age in place, continuing to provide the garden with broken down organic matter. HugleCulture is the method of mounding wood debris including logs and branches, covering with more organic material and planting on top of it. Boiled down this is the farmhand style of cleaning up alot of storm debris, stacking in a pile and watching turn into dirt for later use. This is perfect if you have a lot of space but if you're confined and want to keep things tidy a raised garden bed is the perfect way to build up your soil in a natural way.
The previous raised beds have worked wonders already and as this is the fourth year for these beds we've had a full rotation of crops. Ideally I think I would've liked to do units of five instead of four. For instance, each area in our master plan is designed as a unit, scalable up or down in size, but repeatable by duplication. The four beds are typically, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Beans/Peas, and Tomatoes, each moving to the next bed the next year in a clockwise direction and they all over winter as salad greens. I think the fifth would have been a good way to add one fallow box to add to during cleanups, instead we're building a seperate space out the will be insulated with a glass top to increase temperature to kill off weeds and seeds.
Here's' a a quick photographic journey of the raised bed method. In these instances I combined both rotten logs with new logs to jump start the mycelium. Mycelium breaks down the material providing nutrients and minerals to the soil, it also creates a symbiotic relationship with the roots of the plants.
On these raised beds, I used $3 cedar fence pickets. they're six foot so if I buy six boards I can build a 6' x 3' raised bed for $20. Notice I place my stakes on the inside of the boxes, feel free to do as you please as they are technically stronger on the outside but I like to be able to line trim quick and easy around these things. All the water entices grass to grow and grass growing intices slug growing!
Yup, skip the bagging, these wonderful maple leafs are going to break down just nice! By adding a leaf layer, the leaves will be pushed down into the branch crevices and help keep our soil from washing to the bottom to quickly.
Next comes the mulch layer, you can skip it if you only have leaves but the leaves break down very fast. The mulch acts as a bit of weight, and insulation blanket to keep the bed warm, and another sponge layer.
This is the part I love! Mabe because its the dirtiest! The worm bin compost is added. Typically by this time of year there is a healthy mix of compost and worms working to break everything down. There is still moe work to be done so we add a layer of coffee grounds over the compost to reduce any smell ( it's not a foul smell, we just don't want the critters digging it up) and heap another layer of mulch on that.
ahhh......all year I keep these little things fed and wen it comes time to plant the soil is a beautiful rich black earth with plenty of aeration. The compost layer will be almost completely gone within two weeks of spreading. The worms will multiply and work it into the bed with ease. The warmth of the beds and the cracks and crevices of the branches allows the worms in the ground to work their way up. The wood chips will be decomposed after the next winter cycle at which time we will add store bought compost as a topping to bring the beds back up. They'll be half of the bed by the end of the Fall and the following year we add the commercial compost that we plant directly into and cover with mulch again after the sprouts are established.
I'll leave this video at the bottom for the squeamish! Me personally? That's an amazing thing dans la jardin. Make sure you check out the YouTube page and follow what we're doing, we hope to spin off to ventures from what we've been working on. I'm working on WellHaus Winery and we have the Farming Prospectus (working title)
The previous raised beds have worked wonders already and as this is the fourth year for these beds we've had a full rotation of crops. Ideally I think I would've liked to do units of five instead of four. For instance, each area in our master plan is designed as a unit, scalable up or down in size, but repeatable by duplication. The four beds are typically, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Beans/Peas, and Tomatoes, each moving to the next bed the next year in a clockwise direction and they all over winter as salad greens. I think the fifth would have been a good way to add one fallow box to add to during cleanups, instead we're building a seperate space out the will be insulated with a glass top to increase temperature to kill off weeds and seeds.
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| Regular trimming, pruning and cleanup debris |
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| Big logs on the bottom, branches on top. These will help hold water like a natural sponge in the soil |
Yup, skip the bagging, these wonderful maple leafs are going to break down just nice! By adding a leaf layer, the leaves will be pushed down into the branch crevices and help keep our soil from washing to the bottom to quickly.
 |
| A good wheel barrow heaping should do the trick |
Next comes the mulch layer, you can skip it if you only have leaves but the leaves break down very fast. The mulch acts as a bit of weight, and insulation blanket to keep the bed warm, and another sponge layer.
 |
| mmmmm......a Summer's worth of compost!!!!! |
ahhh......all year I keep these little things fed and wen it comes time to plant the soil is a beautiful rich black earth with plenty of aeration. The compost layer will be almost completely gone within two weeks of spreading. The worms will multiply and work it into the bed with ease. The warmth of the beds and the cracks and crevices of the branches allows the worms in the ground to work their way up. The wood chips will be decomposed after the next winter cycle at which time we will add store bought compost as a topping to bring the beds back up. They'll be half of the bed by the end of the Fall and the following year we add the commercial compost that we plant directly into and cover with mulch again after the sprouts are established.
 |
| Well that photo looks like shit |
I'll leave this video at the bottom for the squeamish! Me personally? That's an amazing thing dans la jardin. Make sure you check out the YouTube page and follow what we're doing, we hope to spin off to ventures from what we've been working on. I'm working on WellHaus Winery and we have the Farming Prospectus (working title)
Friday, November 23, 2018
Finishing the Wood Carving Maple Root Bowl- Jason Michael Kotarski
The Big Leaf Maple Root Bowl is finished and ready to ship! It wad fun getting to finally use the branding iron my wife gifted to me for our "wood" anniversary. She just couldn't bring herself to find something in wood that I wouldn't say "I can make that", lol.
Check out the channel for more video as I hope to really expand the content during these rainy cold dark Pacific Northwest Winter days.
Jason Michael Kotarski- YouTube
Check out the channel for more video as I hope to really expand the content during these rainy cold dark Pacific Northwest Winter days.
Jason Michael Kotarski- YouTube
Thursday, October 4, 2018
New Computer Build "GearGrinder"
Finally getting the pieces together for a new computer that can handle the amount of data I have with video editing in 4K HD with the Nikon D5600. Going to try and keep everything listed and up to date as possible as I acquire the various components.
Since I have been planning this for over a year I was able to keep my eyes open for some deals. Having my Google News preferences set on the list below I started seeing rumours that AMD was about to release a new, next Generation ThreadRipper 2990X. This means the last Gen should start being discounted to make room on shelves for the latest and greatest! I was able to score a combo pack on NewEgg that was exactly what I was after for a nice little discount! That takes care of the CPU with a AMD Threadripper 1950X and the ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme X399 Motherboard.
The Fractal Design Define R6 Full Tower Case happened to be on sale as well so I figured a little savings is better than no savings! Now for those pesky (and expensive) graphics proccessor unit! With Nvidia releasing the RTX 2080ti I thought I'd get a good deal on the GTX 1080Ti but alas, everyone else had the same idea and with the general specifications between the RTX and the GTX being close enough the cost savings on the older model are great, except there aren't very many left in stock.....
Now......to get some more parts.... Sponsorships or Discounts anyone????!??!!?!?!?!
GearGrinder on PCPartPicker
| Component | Selection | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU |  | $699.99 | GOT IT!!!! | |
| CPU Cooler |  | $159.99 | Buy | |
| Thermal Compound |  | $6.57 | GOT SOME!! | |
| $6.57 | Buy | ||
| Motherboard |  | $537.00 | GOT IT!!!! | |
| Memory |  | $276.99 | Buy | |
| Storage |  | $167.99 | Buy | |
| Video Card |  | $704.98 | Buy | |
| Case |  | $109.99 | GOT IT!!!!! | |
| Power Supply |  | $201.00 | Buy | |
| Operating System |  | $124.79 | Buy | |
| Sound Card |  | $149.99 | Buy | |
| Case Fan |  | $19.34 | Buy | |
| Monitor |  | $893.94 | Buy | |
| Total: | $4059.13 | |||
Thursday, September 27, 2018
YouTube Partner Program Back Up and Running!
Well, it appears I have not blogged on this site since February when YouTube announced the demonetization plans. I'll admit I do the majority of my writing and video editing during the dark cold months so it's only fitting that I restart with entry at the beginning of Autumn! After a long hot summer my Channel finally hit 1000 subscribers and the requisite 4000 hours of Watchtime per past 365 days. While this is by no means a windfall in the grand scheme of things, it is a good feeling.
A double wammy on the YouTube channel struck as the demonetization went lock and step with the laptop absolutely imploding. I put in a new motherboard, usb board, power button, 8 G ram stick, battery and power supply, NOTHING! the only thing left that was original is the fan but even with that unplugged I get no lights. I'll probably continue tinkering with it as I hate to give up when I'm defeated but we'll start the HP Pavilion 15 obituary soon. The more important thing is the next phase. I'll be adding some random tech entries (as if I know what the hell I'm talking about) as I build the next generation computer. Editing video shot with my new Nikon D5600 brought the laptop to a standstill reminiscent of my college days trying to render video, computer animation, and autocad files. We only had one computer in the lab for rendering and you had to sign up for a timeslot with your anticipated final files size! A stack of sticky notes was always handy to jot down your name and location (ie, coffee shop, bar, couch...) as we didn't have cell phones!
Stay tune and check out the build, I'll have some YouTube videos coming up as well and a list of parts still waiting for funding on over on my Patreon page!
A double wammy on the YouTube channel struck as the demonetization went lock and step with the laptop absolutely imploding. I put in a new motherboard, usb board, power button, 8 G ram stick, battery and power supply, NOTHING! the only thing left that was original is the fan but even with that unplugged I get no lights. I'll probably continue tinkering with it as I hate to give up when I'm defeated but we'll start the HP Pavilion 15 obituary soon. The more important thing is the next phase. I'll be adding some random tech entries (as if I know what the hell I'm talking about) as I build the next generation computer. Editing video shot with my new Nikon D5600 brought the laptop to a standstill reminiscent of my college days trying to render video, computer animation, and autocad files. We only had one computer in the lab for rendering and you had to sign up for a timeslot with your anticipated final files size! A stack of sticky notes was always handy to jot down your name and location (ie, coffee shop, bar, couch...) as we didn't have cell phones!
Stay tune and check out the build, I'll have some YouTube videos coming up as well and a list of parts still waiting for funding on over on my Patreon page!
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Youtube Partner Program #youtubesucks
Well they did it, today is D-Day, Demonetization Day.
As of today, your channel, Jason Michael Kotarski will no longer have access to monetization tools associated with YPP because it doesn’t meet the new threshold of 4,000 hours of watch time within the past 12 months and 1,000 subscribers.
A whole lot of channels out there with horrible useless content ruined it for the majority of folks actually trying to share some skills and knowledge.
My channel is not political, uses no curse words, is family friendly, and instructive. It's sad that all Youtube cares about are the numbers. 4000 hours and 1000 subscribers? Why would that solve the problem if your problem is with the top tier of your content?
This blog, however, does use curse words, Assholes.
#Youtubechanges, #YTPP, #Youtubesucks
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Mulching the orchard with the wood chipper
Although it is still considered Winter I am getting excited about this Spring's gardening. I plan on taking the orchard to the next level this year and have the next phase of the food forest installed. So far we have our Fruit trees laid out with Plum, Persimmon, and Apricot in the first tier terrace, Italian Prune (Plum) in the second terrace, Cherry in the third, Pear in the fourth and Apple in the fifth.
Each terrace has a row of fragrant herds for scent masking, pollinator attractant and cooking/ medicinal uses. these include Rosemary, Lavendar, Valerian, Borage and Sage.
Another row of flowers for attracting pollinators includes Columbine, Foxglove and Lupine (also a nitrogen fixer)
In between the fruit trees running perpendicular to the herbs and flowers are Goji Berry bushes. these are both extremely nutritious but also provide nitrogen to the soil. Along the edge, also running perpendicular to the herbs and flowers is a row of ceonothus acting as both a pollinator attractant and a nitrogen fixer.
As the trees will take time to mature this year I will be adding bean and pea trellises to produce vegtables as well as fix nitrogen in the soil. The trellises are being contructed out of Alder that we acquired this year and will be inocculated with mushroom plugs. Like I said, I'm getting excited about what is in effect Year 4 for our Orchard and Garden turned Permaculture. Check out some of the videos on YouTube and Subscribe, we need all the help we can get! Also check out some of the links for products I use around the yard!
Like the new Nikon D5600 I picked up to help up the quality of the YouTube channel and spme of the photographs I put up on the blog!
http://amzn.to/2HeG2ws
Each terrace has a row of fragrant herds for scent masking, pollinator attractant and cooking/ medicinal uses. these include Rosemary, Lavendar, Valerian, Borage and Sage.
Another row of flowers for attracting pollinators includes Columbine, Foxglove and Lupine (also a nitrogen fixer)
In between the fruit trees running perpendicular to the herbs and flowers are Goji Berry bushes. these are both extremely nutritious but also provide nitrogen to the soil. Along the edge, also running perpendicular to the herbs and flowers is a row of ceonothus acting as both a pollinator attractant and a nitrogen fixer.
As the trees will take time to mature this year I will be adding bean and pea trellises to produce vegtables as well as fix nitrogen in the soil. The trellises are being contructed out of Alder that we acquired this year and will be inocculated with mushroom plugs. Like I said, I'm getting excited about what is in effect Year 4 for our Orchard and Garden turned Permaculture. Check out some of the videos on YouTube and Subscribe, we need all the help we can get! Also check out some of the links for products I use around the yard!
Like the new Nikon D5600 I picked up to help up the quality of the YouTube channel and spme of the photographs I put up on the blog!
http://amzn.to/2HeG2ws
Sunday, January 21, 2018
The Death of Small Youtube Channels
Once a small idea where people could upload their own content to share with others, Youtube (YT) is going all corporate and dropping the guillotine on small channel creators. Will this be the equivalent to your parent or boss friending you on Facebook? Probaly not, will it be the catylyst for creative minds to find a new outlet? Most likely. With moat things good, it's what makes something interesting and attractive that ruins it.
I started on YT in 2007, mostly searching for music that I had since lost records, tapes and cd's of. I made my first playlist and let it rip on random loop for months. I started posting my own content as a way to post what I was up to long before smartphones, skype and snapchat. It was a great way to share with people ovet distance and also show clients what was going on under, in and on top of the buildings. Photos are great but to show a client the view from the 7th tier of a scaffold with video and narration was exciting!
So I continued with it even though it wasn't all that popular, and then came the ads.......... yup, big advertisement. Before the video, during the video, ad nasuem. (HA!)
The first sign that things were changes over at Alphabet, Google, YT was they wrnt through and cleaned house on any old, unused, or otherwise fake accounts. The advertisers demanded it, what are we paying you for they asked. Then they started the purge, sure violence, bullying, generally inappropriate behaviour, definitely uncalled for and swept away. Then it was time to up the ad ante and get highr CPM (clicks per mille) rates. Get the new channels without the views out of the pool, 10,000 or less views? See ya!
In Febraury comes the next wave of the purge, any channel without 4,000 hours per annum and 1000 subscribers. Ugh, you SOB's, I'm freaking 200 subscribers away from that mark. If they decide to axe it, it won't make it through the algorithm and growth with at best come to a standstill.
You know, back in the day I had an awesome MyGoogle homepage. On one page I had email, calendar, weather, stocks, news and whatever else I needed for a 15 minute status update. They killed that and I had to setup each page separately, so I had MyFinance where I could get all the news I needed about the market with analytics. Nope they killed that too.
So I can I figure each time they kill something I find a new outlet to use. What will replace the YT of old?
Remeber when ETSY went all public? Yea, artists started exiting the site in droves as mass produced products from China took over. Well YT, your time will come as well, innovation turned commercial will be your parents and bosses channel so they can feel "hip".
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Upgrading to the New Nikon D5600 DSLR
Awhile back I made the decision to up my game a little bit in terms of photography. After cycling through several point and shoot cameras that had dismal battery life and frustratingly small storage capabilities with relatively crappy resolution it was time to do some real documentation. For those of you who stumbled upon this blog from my youtube channel, you'll be happy to know that future projects will be filmed in HD!
So after playing with the settings, reading several other blogs and watching some youtube videos I feel comfortable announcing this new upgrade. All in all I am very happy with this camera, not the highest end of the spectrum but right where I need to be between amateur and semi-pro. The video feature is limited due to both over heating and apparently some stupid import tax on the difference between cameras and video cameras, kinda sucked finding that out after I bought it.
So in the future some of my blog posts will be far less text and alot more pictures! Here's tow links to the Nikon D5600.
And here are the first few photos.....................
So after playing with the settings, reading several other blogs and watching some youtube videos I feel comfortable announcing this new upgrade. All in all I am very happy with this camera, not the highest end of the spectrum but right where I need to be between amateur and semi-pro. The video feature is limited due to both over heating and apparently some stupid import tax on the difference between cameras and video cameras, kinda sucked finding that out after I bought it.
So in the future some of my blog posts will be far less text and alot more pictures! Here's tow links to the Nikon D5600.
And here are the first few photos.....................
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