Hatching Eggs / Paypal CHAT Thread

[NotAFarm]

Quote:

I picked-up a case of Bundaberg Ginger Beer at Costco this week. Never had any before but sounded good, so I thought I'd give it a try.........I love it! I keep my "rootbeer" mug in the freezer, pop the top of the cool little brown bottle, pour and it is delish and refreshing!

 

[tdhenson86]

Quote:
So, do you plant the plants where roots can reach into the water? How do you keep water in there with the plastic without preventing the roots of the plants from getting in there?

 

[ProfTi]

So of you guys wanted pictures......







Isn't it the picture of backyard fertility!!!!

The "woo-ville" structure on the left is actually my chicken run, it is made of chicken wire!!! Now is it a wall of snow and ice.

BTW: If you look really close, some of your starts are under there somewhere!

 

[ProfTi]

So, do you plant the plants where roots can reach into the water? How do you keep water in there with the plastic without preventing the roots of the plants from getting in there?

You support the growing part of the plant on the grate on top of the pond and the roots hang down into the moving water. Aquaponic roots can't grab into the plastics like dirt roots can so they don't tear up the plastic. Also, pond liners are designed to hold up to that.

 

[tdhenson86]

Quote:
Interesting... That sounds like a really cool project!

So of you guys wanted pictures......







Isn't it the picture of backyard fertility!!!!

The "woo-ville" structure on the left is actually my chicken run, it is made of chicken wire!!! Now is it a wall of snow and ice.

BTW: If you look really close, some of your starts are under there somewhere!

And I was complaining that it snowed and then melted...

 

[chiqita]

We have a simple hoop house for a greenhouse. Actually, I used hog paneling to make the basic shape and built a wood door on the end. It was super cheap!!! And we cover it with 2-3 sheets of heavy clear greenhouse plastic. The Greenhouse is 10X24. Our plan is to dig a square pond right down the middle of the greenhouse and double line it with pond lining. The square pond is more like a trench 4X18 in the very middle of the greenhouse. In MN, it has to be a minimum of 4 feet deep to not freeze. I will probably try to shoot for 4 1/2. I would like to do 5, but at some point I am sure I will need to get into the pond itself and that is pretty deep. You put a grate over the pond and grow things on the sides in the dirt and in pots on top and the chickens can run around on top of the pond while it still gets air. You can also do a the true hydroponic root growing right in the water. Fill the pond with Talapia to filter water and for eating. In the winter, the pond will act as a heat sink keeping the greenhouse warmer during the night. The chickens also keep it really warm, but eat the plants so I am working on that. We usually keep them in the greenhouse in January to turn over all the dirt for the next year. We will need a pretty heavy duty areration system to keep the water moving, but I think we can avoid heating it. I am really trying to only use passive solar heat. I have put my foot down on this, because heating and lighting a greenhouse in the with defeats the purpose of our eco-friendly choices in general. Really. really efficient model. It should keep the greenhouse above 60 even in the fridgid winter. My goal is to grow tropicals and citrus in there!

OK, just as a warning, I don't know that you will be able to do tilipa in the winter. I guess it depends on what kind. We had to move ours inside over the winter. ( yes, we had a trash can of fish in the bathroom in January and February, was a talking point for guests, lol) They are not in the ground, but they don't like cold cold, and it was getting too low for them to grow. And if they don't grow they don't poop, and the cycle goes downward. Our tilipia also do not like chicken poo so we had to feed em anyway. they DO like duckweed and watercress roots and algae, however, so that helps.

We have a black fish tank outside where it gets about 6 hrs of sun ( most we can get around here we are on a hill) and use flood trays and pipes for our plants. They grow great, the watercress has gone INSANE. We don't have perfect sun however, so its not a jungle down there. We are trying to add a greenhouse this year with shrimp, chickens and peppers, but its not built yet, so we will see what happens.

This will be our second year with aquaponics. Mario Is really into it and likes the whole bio-dynamic system aspect. we could not get the water up to 80 last year long enough for them to breed however, and they grew slooowly. This year we are going to heat it for long enough to get fry and see what happens. They are eating better and growing more already so we are doing something right! we have a local aquaponics expert around here Mario is friends with who he has been training with. I call him crazy fish guy. he has been having people from all over the country come down to learn from him. He is on the state board that is trying to redo all the fish regulations in California since they make no sense, so hopefully it will be less illegal to keep some of the fish that are good for this stuff. ( there is a fish that is both on the state recommended for hobbyist AND illegal list.. how do you do that??)

Its exciting to see more people putting systems together!

 

[ProfTi]

OK, just as a warning, I don't know that you will be able to do tilipa in the winter. I guess it depends on what kind. We had to move ours inside over the winter. ( yes, we had a trash can of fish in the bathroom in January and February, was a talking point for guests, lol) They are not in the ground, but they don't like cold cold, and it was getting too low for them to grow. And if they don't grow they don't poop, and the cycle goes downward. Our tilipia also do not like chicken poo so we had to feed em anyway. they DO like duckweed and watercress roots and algae, however, so that helps.

We have a black fish tank outside where it gets about 6 hrs of sun ( most we can get around here we are on a hill) and use flood trays and pipes for our plants. They grow great, the watercress has gone INSANE. We don't have perfect sun however, so its not a jungle down there. We are trying to add a greenhouse this year with shrimp, chickens and peppers, but its not built yet, so we will see what happens.

This will be our second year with aquaponics. Mario Is really into it and likes the whole bio-dynamic system aspect. we could not get the water up to 80 last year long enough for them to breed however, and they grew slooowly. This year we are going to heat it for long enough to get fry and see what happens. They are eating better and growing more already so we are doing something right! we have a local aquaponics expert around here Mario is friends with who he has been training with. I call him crazy fish guy. he has been having people from all over the country come down to learn from him. He is on the state board that is trying to redo all the fish regulations in California since they make no sense, so hopefully it will be less illegal to keep some of the fish that are good for this stuff. ( there is a fish that is both on the state recommended for hobbyist AND illegal list.. how do you do that??)

Its exciting to see more people putting systems together!

That is really good to know about the Talapia! It is what another Urban Farmer I know is using, but he is really new to this! Talapia grow pretty slow anyway. Any suggestions?? I would LOVE smelt, but I don't think that would work in a tank.

 

[chiqita]

It could be the type of talipia . Do you know what breed he is working with? Ours did not die when the water was in the 30's but it got close. Of course they need less air too so its easier then some other fishies. We had blues, we didn't get Hawaiian golds because they are hotter iirc.
he says bluegill or catfish, but bluegill are more fun.

 

[allsummedup]

So of you guys wanted pictures...... Isn't it the picture of backyard fertility!!!! The "woo-ville" structure on the left is actually my chicken run, it is made of chicken wire!!! Now is it a wall of snow and ice. BTW: If you look really close, some of your starts are under there somewhere!

You live in Alaska too?

 

[pysankigirl]

I adore ginger ale....

a friend I was visiting today demonstrated her juicer for me and one thing that went in was ginger...so good!!!!

So of you guys wanted pictures......







Isn't it the picture of backyard fertility!!!!

The "woo-ville" structure on the left is actually my chicken run, it is made of chicken wire!!! Now is it a wall of snow and ice.

BTW: If you look really close, some of your starts are under there somewhere!

omg you would kill me if I showed you a pic of what it looks like here today...lovely!!!