Chicks, Again

OK, I'm starting over with chicks again.  The spring chicks had just started to lay eggs when all but two of them were killed off.  Now we'll have to wait another 2-3 months before the new ones will start laying eggs.

I got a few Americauna, Black Astralorpe, one Rhode Island Red, and that grey one on the right is a Blue Andalusian.

The aquaponics cabbage has grown a lot, but still hasn't put on a head.  Pumpkin and watermelon seedlings are growing pretty good and Tom planted a few broccoli that have sprouted.  

Strawberry Boat

This is my future strawberry patch.

I've been looking for a free old boat for about a year now.  Would have preferred a vintage wooden one just because it would have looked good, but as Tom pointed out, a wooden one would rot.  So, aluminum it is.  Turns out, a friend of ours had three of these languishing on his property and when he found out I wanted one, he offered it to us and we gladly took it.

It's upside down right now because we're going to drill some drainage holes in it, then I'm going to paint it.  After that, we'll turn it over and fill it with dirt, then I'll plant strawberries in it.

Very cool.

Update on the aquaponics...

Having the guineas perched over the water tank for a couple of weeks really perked up the aquaponics system.  The birds pooped in the water which, apparently, was good fertilizer.  In the background are the same cabbage plants that were started in the beginning, but would never grow.  They had a growth spurt since the guinea poop.  In the foreground are some pumpkin and watermelon plants that sprouted two days after Tom put them in there.  I argued that it's too late in the season to plant them because even if they grow a vine, they won't produce any fruit.  And, if they did, I'm all pumpkined out anyway.  He should have planted something useful like broccoli or lettuce that will produce in cooler weather and not take up so much room.

Unimpressive Aquaponics

I was expecting great things, but the aquaponics has been a bit disappointing.  The only veggie that survived from Tom's original planting was the cabbage.

They're growing ever so slowly.  But, I planted several cabbage seeds (in the ground) at the beginning of the season and only one survived.  It has yet to make a head.  So, I've learned by now that gardening is sort of hit or miss sometimes.

Because I read that cilantro and carrots were veggies that can be planted in July, I went ahead and tossed a few seeds in the side abandoned by the other seeds.  It's hard to see the tiny seedlings, but there are several carrots coming up and, so far, one cilantro.  I use a lot of cilantro, so I wish I could grow it continually.

I planted the same seeds in my regular garden on the same day and none of them have come up.  I guess we could call the aquaponics a success when it comes to germination.

On another note, I'm so excited about this...

We hired a brick mason to rebuild the entryway columns that Tom and Jordan tore down.

He's doing a great job.  One down, five to go.

It's 102 degrees out there today.  I don't envy the brick layer's job.

Aquaponics Update

The plants in the aquaponics garden seemed to have stalled.  A couple of weeks have passed and they are still just tiny seedlings.

Well, they have gotten just a little bigger, but not much.  According to the material Tom has read, they're supposed to grow faster than plants grown conventionally, but that's not happening.

Tom emailed the professor who wrote the book that Tom is getting his information from.  He wrote back that he thought the plants looked like they should look at this stage, but that we needed to go ahead and add our fish.

Tom looked on Craigslist and found someone who was selling out their stock of Mozambique Tilapia and they live just around the corner from us.  Convenient, huh?  So, Tom ran over and got them.

They're busily swimming around in our tank now.  We have an albino one.  

It'll be interesting to see if this will make a difference in the growth of the plants.

Aquaponics, Day Five

Leaves on the sprouts!

This is pretty cool.

And easy for me.

And this is why I wonder why I bother to plant a garden at all.  As soon as the tomatoes are ripening, the chickens are getting in there and eating them.  They don't even have the decency to eat the whole thing, fill up on one, then leave the rest alone.  They just ruin all of them.  At least in the aquaponics garden, the chickens won't be able to easily reach the produce.

Aquaponics, Day Four

We have sprouts!

 See the dot right in the middle?  It's a sprout.  I wasn't sure at first, but I looked very closely and there are actually little roots on it.

And the little red ones in the middle of this picture.  Yes, sprouts.

Aquaponics by Tom

Tom got a wild hair and decided to create an aquaponics garden.  I don't know much about it, except that I'm all for it because it takes some of the gardening burden off of my shoulders.  This was right up Tom's alley because it involves research and engineering.  I've enjoyed watching him put it together and I've especially enjoyed being just along for the ride.

Basically, aquaponics is a way to grow fish (that you can eat, if you choose) and veggies all in the same environment and they feed off of one another.  That's about the best explanation that I can give, but if you want more, you can read Wikipedia's explanation here.

Anyway, I chronicled Tom's adventure in photos.

 First, he bought this container called a tote.  It's a big plastic bucket that comes in a steel crate.  It must be "food grade", meaning that it hadn't previously carried something non-edible in it.  This one happened to have transported maple syrup at one point.  There's a big screw on lid on top and another spout at the bottom (which will later be used to drain the tank when necessary).

The first step was to cut the top off of the plastic container, then the solid bottom portion of the steel cage.  Tom wore out his saw blades on the steel, so it's a pretty hefty contraption.  He flipped the top upside down and put it in the bottom that he cut off.

This is what it looks like assembled.  The bottom of the steel cage holds the top of the plastic tote, which has become the container for the plants to grow in.  The top of the steel cage holds the bottom of the tote, which is filled with water for the fish.  The lid is set on top of the water tank, offset several inches so that there is access to the fish when they are introduced into the system in about six weeks.  This also allows for bugs to land in the water and get eaten by the fish.

Tom made this filter/drain thing out of PVC pipe.  It fits into the hole where the top lid was screwed on.  It's a double layer thing so that the middle white pipe can be lifted out and cleaned without having rocks  fall through into the water tank.

Apparently, the plants are supposed to grow in rock rather than dirt.  We scoured the area looking for rock that was not caustic.  Crushed granite and expanded shale are recommended.  We couldn't find any crushed granite, but we did find a couple of bags of expanded shale.  Tom researched a little more and found that lava rock works, as well.  So he put a mixture of the shale and lava rock into his system.  Tip:  caustic rock (such as limestone) will bubble and fizz when vinegar is poured on it.  We carried a bottle of vinegar with us to test various rocks and some stone yards that we visited.

Into the water tank, he placed a small water pump, which is attached to the hose.

It pumps the water (which is fertilized by the fish) up into pipes on top, which carry the water, dispersing it evenly throughout the tray full of rocks.

If you look closely (or enlarge the picture by clicking on it) you can see the water dribbling out through the holes in the pipes.

After circulating through the rock and the (future) plant roots, the water is cleaned and pours back down through the drain in the middle into the fish tank.  The water also carries nutrients from the plants back to the fish.

Tom has planted some seeds in the rocks, so now we wait.   He's supposed to wait about six weeks to allow the plants time to prepare the water for the fish.