Free Power

Another investment; a solar pannle, also a wind turbine.  Thexe devices should be all O need to power the aquaponics, so long as I can charge up batteries automatically.

Now I just need to work out how to get them started.

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poly tunnels

Here are my first two prototype poly tunnels and the water tank for my first Aquaponic prototype system.

I am having a bit of difficulty finding a dealer who will send Talapia fry to the UK and am considering doing a crop of Trout instead, in the tank.

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My New Toy

Investments

Investments are very important for any business, but especially for a new business.  It is crucial to invest well and provide a young company or organisation, with what it needs, to increase it's likleyhood of succes.

This is my first major investment: A film camera.  The main potential money earner, for any business nowadays; is it's website.

A camera like this will give me a far greater ability to design a good, intetesting and original website, to bring the potential punters in.

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Living in a Field

Moving on a full Moon

I did not plan to move on a full moon, but it is interesting that I did, since people do say that 'things come to a head, at full moons'.  Yes, and all the crazies come out!

                    

Living in a field, not being connected to any utilities is quite strange and nice.  Having to gather wood, so that I can make a coffee, is a novelty, which I'm sure will soon ware off.

It is very peacefully and I can play music as loud as I want, because there is nobody else in my immediate vicinity.  Genny, Fresh ground water and canister gas, oh and a shovel!

I now must recover from the jet-lag of moving house and look for some land to do some Aquaponics on.

 

Free Working Hollidays

WWOOFS
World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms

The above named organisation WWOOFS provides free workers, to work on organic farms and in return the farmer must provide these workers with food and accommodation.
wwoofs are a global organisation. 

Aquaponics is organic and I think I could provide food and accommodation for the wwoofs workers, probably nothing too glamorous though, but something that would be both comfortable and memorable.

I think I shall apply to be a wwoofs host, as soon as I get my first poly tunnel up.

Thanks to my mate Laura for telling me about them.

Here is a link to their site -wwoofs Link

A cool place to come and stay

The authentic hippy experience couldn't be more perfect than working in some organic aquaponic poly tunnels and sleeping in a communal tee-pee.

I think about four hours work a day ought to cover the workers for food and accommodation.  Especially considering that most of the food will be grown on site.  The rest of the time, they could do what they wanted and then they really would feel like they were on Holiday.

Apparently allot of the wwoofs workers travel around the world doing this, so it sounds a very good thing to get involved with.

Aquaponic Methods

Three Main Methods of Aquaponics

There are potentially unlimited methods of setting up an aquaponic system.  But there are three main ones and those; I am going to focus on here.

Setting up any system, which works and aligns to all of Aquaponics main principals, will give you an Aquaponic System, so there is great scope for inventions here, but for most, this choice of three, should be quite adequate:

Flood and Drain

This method is the most commonly used form, mainly for non commercial or small-scale growers.  It is sometimes known as the ‘ebb and flow system’.

You have a pond or reservoir of water and 6-8” (20cm) deep trays of your growing medium, which can be something like aggregate type gravel or expanded clay pebbles, but there are many different things you can use.

Water is pumped up on a timer system for about 15 minutes, four times a day.  Flooding the grow trays, but not above the surface area of the growing medium, as this will rot the plants, unless you are growing semi aquatic plants such as Water Cress, in which case you would be advised to flood about 2 inches/5cm above the surface of your medium.

Water drains back into your water reservoir and the system is operational.

Some growers sow sees directly into the medium, but more success is usually achieved by germinating them in conventional seed trays first, washing off the compost from the young plants and then planting them in the medium.  The surface can often get a bit too dry for tiny seeds to get established and some tiny seeds, like Lettuce, will just get lost between the bits of medium.

Some growers actually stand pots of medium half buried in the medium of the grow tray.  This might be beneficial if the crop you are growing is prone to rotting, such as Courgettes, as it will lift them off the wettest area.  But for most stuff; I would dismiss such as an unnecessary extra cost.

Raft

This method is mainly used by big commercial growers.

Usually employing long flat bottomed grow trays, often the whole length of the poly tunnel or green house, with the reservoir of water and fish underneath.

In this system the lower parts of the plant’s roots sit continuously in the water.

Floating rafts of Styrofoam or floating board, cut to fit the trays; floats on the water, as it flows continuously through the system.

The plants are put in pots of medium and sat down in holes in the floating board, so that the lower part of the pot sits in the water.

For this set up; Coconut fibre is a good medium to use as it is buoyant and light weight.  Often growers use the kind of pots that are used for growing pond plants, as the roots have more exit points and crops seem to prefer this.   Whatever pots you use; they must be plastic and/or light weight and buoyant, as otherwise they would sink and sit on the bottom of the tray, restricting both root growth and the flow of water around the whole grow tray.

This method allows the grower to lift up whole sections to inspect them also to remove or replace individual plants.

NFT

Nutrient Film Technique

Used by large and small scale (back garden) growers.

Basically something like plastic guttering us used and a thin trickle of water goes through it.  Plants in pots of light weight medium or blocks of rock-wool cubes are sat in the water and light is prevented from getting to the roots by something like horticultural plastic.