What we're
learning
in real time.
Long-form pieces, short field notes, regulatory updates, and the occasional rant — all written by the same crew that pulls totes, drives loads, and runs the wash bay. New posts every few weeks.
8 more posts.
Hydroponic Nutrient Mixing: Dedicated-Tote Setup
A dedicated mixing tote with the right plumbing saves hours per week in a small commercial hydroponic operation. Layout, pump sizing, and the wash-out protocol between batches.
Riley Marchetti · April 21, 2025
Greenhouse Passive Solar Heat Sinks Using Black-Painted Totes
A row of water-filled totes painted flat black extends the growing season by 4 to 6 weeks on either end. The thermal math and the layout we send to greenhouse builders.
Priya Sundaresan · December 17, 2024
Aquaponics Cascade Designs: 2-, 3-, and 6-Tote Builds
Three real cascade designs for backyard and small-commercial aquaponics, with flow rates, head loss notes, and the part list we hand to first-time builders by email.
Riley Marchetti · August 30, 2024
Modular Raised Garden Beds from Half-Cut Totes: Full Build Guide
Cut a 275 in half horizontally and you get two raised beds at exactly the right ergonomic height. Cutting plan, drainage, soil mix, and the part list we send by email.
Riley Marchetti · July 4, 2024
Sizing a Multi-Tote Rainwater System for a 2,400 sq ft Roof
A worked example for a typical mid-Missouri farmhouse roof: how many 275s you actually need, where the overflow goes, and why most home systems are sized too small by a factor of two.
Riley Marchetti · June 22, 2024
Aquaculture: Koi Pond Filtration with Cascade Totes
A three-tote cascade can biofilter a 4,000-gallon koi pond reliably year-round. The flow rates, media choices, and winterization details that take builders three seasons to learn.
Riley Marchetti · March 22, 2024
Building a 1,000-Gallon Emergency Potable Water Reserve at Home
Four food-grade 275s, a covered pad, and a rotation plan give a household roughly 60 days of full potable supply for under $900. A practical build guide.
Riley Marchetti · February 15, 2024
Biofilter Housings from IBC Totes for Small-Farm Wastewater
On-farm wastewater from milking parlors and produce-wash operations can be biofiltered through a tote-based system at a fraction of engineered-system cost.
Priya Sundaresan · January 9, 2024
What we publish, what we don't.
We publish what we've learned in the yard. Not SEO bait, not link-trade filler, not AI-generated "ultimate guides" to topics we don't actually know. Every post here is written by someone whose name is on it — usually one of the three operators, sometimes a guest who knows something we don't.
The frequency is irregular on purpose. Some months see three posts; some months see none because nothing in the yard surprised us. If a post goes up, it's because we thought it would actually help someone. If we're wrong about something we've written, we add a dated correction at the bottom and credit the reader who caught it.
The blog, in a stat row.
Who writes here.
Riley Marchetti
Writes about specs, grades, and the manufacturing side. 8 posts.
Theo Branham
Writes about buying, the freight side, and the things that break in year three. 8 posts.
Priya Sundaresan
Writes about carbon math, recycling chain-of-custody, and the politics of HDPE. Joined the company in 2021. 8 posts.
Asher Tomé
Long-form pieces on industry-wide topics — usually the kind that take a month of research. 6 posts.
Ines Vogel
Field notes on reconditioning and wash-bay process, often co-edited with the operators. 8 posts.
Every post has a name.
No house bylines, no "by the team," no ghost-written guest spots. If a name is on it, that person wrote it.
What each category covers.
Sustainability
Carbon math, recycling endpoints, ESG reporting, the difference between "reused" and "recycled." The longest-running thread on the blog — Priya's beat, but everyone contributes.
Buying Guide
How to read a quote, what to look for in person, when to walk away. Practical pieces for first-time and repeat buyers. Usually Theo or Asher.
Use Cases
Application notes — rainwater, ag spray, brewery, hot tubs, hugelkultur. What works, what doesn't, what we wish someone had told us. Often Riley with photos from the yard.
How-To
Step-by-step pieces: valve swap, gasket selection, cage straightening, painting for UV protection. Short. Practical. Usually Theo.
Reconditioning
What hot-wash actually does. Reading a wash record. Detergent chemistry. Mostly Ines, the occasional guest piece from operators in adjacent industries.
Industry News
Regulatory updates, big-picture sector shifts, the occasional rant about something published elsewhere we disagree with. Rare — we'd rather write evergreen than chase news.
Behind the Scenes
The yard, the trucks, the people. Mistakes we made, decisions we changed. The most-read pieces are almost always in this category.
Filter by category.
The chips at the top of the page filter the article list. This section is the content-only summary of what lives in each.
Wrote about it because.
A post gets written when one of three things happens. One: the same question hits the inbox three or four times in a quarter, and we'd rather link than re-type the answer. Two: we learn something in the wash bay or on a route that contradicts what the industry says. Three: a regulator changes a rule and someone needs to translate the change into something operators can use.
We don't have a content calendar. We don't commission listicles. The bar for "publish" is "would this have saved past-us an hour, a dollar, or a mistake?" If yes, it goes up. If no, it stays in the Notes app where it belongs.