Hello, my friends! Yes, it has been a while. What a wonderful summer I had with my family. Many of you may have been asking, "What happened to fishboy?" Nothing. Everything is running wonderful. There were a few hangups and some plant issues but for the most part a successful summer harvest. I am transitioning to the fall harvest and look forward to my new crop. Tomatoes are starting to really take off.
The intention of this blog was to chronicle my journey of building my system and the initial maintenance. I now have minimal maintenance and vegetables are growing. Therefore, the blogging will be very sporadic and less often. I am very happy with my initial run and look forward to continued experimentation and growth. I will give you some updates and pictures and say hasta la pasta for a while.
My goal this fall and into next spring will be to grow these vegetables and perfect them in my system.
lettuce, Swiss Chard, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, and spinach.
CITRUS HILL AQUAPONICS BLOG
I do want to share with you the blog site of our Citrus Hill High School aquaponics site. Things are really beginning to move and the kids are building away. We now have plans for a permanent greenhouse which will house phase II of the project. Please follow and support them.
I have not posted in a while and therefore will include many small updates on the project. I am almost on vacation and although I have had more time, I have not posted to my blog recently. I have found that I work best when I have more things to do. That is why I may never retire, just begin new "adventures," if you will. Anyways, enough rambling, on to the post....(s)
VERTICAL STRUCTURES
I have been meaning to build structures to allow certain plants grow vertical such as, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, etc. I did not intend one my pepper plants to fall over. Therefore, I built one of the structures.
Below you can see the pepper plants that has fallen over it needs support.
I began by painting 1x2x8's and then screwed them together as below.
I then had my helpers assist.
Leveled and screwed into the trough 2x4's
Drilled small holes, ran twine through them, and then tied a washer onto the end to hold.
I then drilled four holes in the top 1x2, tied a washed on the end and then tied the four vertical twines to the horizontal twine at the bottom.
Lastly, I wound the plant around the twine. Now my pepper is supported.
FAILED PEPPER SALSA
I cannot explain what went wrong. The finished Banana pepper salsa was very bitter. I will try again later.
I used thirteen Banana peppers, five Anaheim chilies, four cayenne peppers, one green onion, and cilantro. I broiled the peppers and then put them in our old baby blender (I love this little gadget). I then chopped up the green onion and cilantro added salt and pepper to taste.
Yuk! Too bitter. I tried to balance it by adding vinegar but it did not work.. Bummer. I will try again.
BUT.... all of these ingredients were from my garden!
SPROUTING TABLE PAINTED AND NEW PLANTINGS
I painted the sprouting table white. My son helped. He made a mess as you can imagine. He would just dip the roll with globs of paint dripping on him, the drop cloth, everywhere. Nice....
It looks much better in our backyard. I know my wife love this.
I also planted more tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, pak choi, and spinach,. I have not had much success with efficient sprouting and therefore will continue to try new methods. I need to get the leafy greens sprouting constantly to supply a consistent harvest.
NEW FISH TANK FILTER
This was another project that needed to be tackled. My initial filter design was poor. It was a PVC pipe with holes drilled into it and then a mesh cloth bag placed over it. Problem was that it would get clogged too much. Therefore, I took the mesh bag off and had no filter. Everything was able to run into the plant trough except the fish. I would have fish waste, food, and bigger particles flow into the plant trough. This was unacceptable.
But.... the main reason I needed a new fish tank filter was due to the potential new fish that I may have at anytime. Tilapia take about 8-9 months to mature and begin to have babies. If I left the PVC pipe with holes then many of the new fish would flow down into the trough and then wreak havoc on the plants roots or get stuck in the pump intake. Below is my design. I bought 1/4" metal wire frame and aluminum screen. I then shaped the metal wire frame in a circle around the PVC fittings, wrapped the aluminum screen around, and then fastened it with pipe clamps. It turned out very well. I will use the same material to create a barrier for my new fish fry once they hatch in the tank. More on this later.....
NEW PLANT TROUGH FILTERAND MY FROGGIE DEATHS
To those of you with a faint heart do not read below. I will attempt to be brief. We had frogs living in our plant trough. They would swim in the water and hang out near the base of the plants on the rafts. The frog was so loud at night. My mother-in-law and wife wanted me to move the frog(s) because they were so loud. I said no because they help eat all the bugs and they are a part of my mini ecosystem. I should have listened to them.
My wife called me at work and said that the pump was not normal and that I needed check it out asap. I figured something may have been clogged in the pump due to the fact that there is no filter at the outlet of the trough to the pump. My kids were with me when I assessed that something was indeed clogging the pump. No water was entering the fish tank. I began to take apart the pump assembly and I found the culprits........
Two frogs got stuck inside the tube, died, and then clogged the pump. Not good. I killed the frogs. All of that to say I now have a filter that will stop frogs and other bigger creatures from entering the pump intake.
My bad..... LAST NOTES
I am having problems with my squash and tomatoes. I believe my tomatoes, after further research, were attacked by a bacteria that resulted in little brown spots that eventually took over the plant. I also saw the same spots beginning on another different plant which led me to believe it was not the tomato but a bacterial infection. I destroyed the plants and have began new tomatoes.
I also think that some of the issue was lack of the nutrients iron, calcium, and potassium. I do not have a refined system for adding these nutirents yet but I have added them. All the plants looked better since the addition of the nutrients. More on this topic later... for now....
NOTE: To those that read
this post on your phone, through school, or email you may not see the
pictures in the post. To see the actual blog you need to go to:http://www.theaquaponicsproject.blogspot.com/
UPDATE POST
I needed a sprouting table. So, I built one. It took me about an hour. I used 1x2x8's and small drywall screws. I needed to have an area for my seedling to grow. The ground out back was not cutting it anymore.
My wife now has summer plans for me to build her some inside furniture. No, not with 1x2x8's
The next few pictures are some of the plants at this time. The peppers seem to be doing really well. The zucchini and Swiss chard are doing well. The tomatoes are not. You can see in the picture they have dark brown spots all over them. My preliminary research leads me to a Calcium deficiency. I have placed a small filter with calcium carbonate inside the hole that will slowly diffuse calcium carbonate where the tomato sits to see if there is any change. In order to truly test this I either have to add calcium throughout the system or take the tomato out into a testing area. We will see which direction I go.
Bell Peppers
Anaheim chiles
tomatoes. No bueno
brown spots on tomatoes.
Swiss chard
zucchini
Below is a harvest of some vegetables. I have Swiss chard, Pak Choi, and a tall Romaine lettuce stalk. The Pak Choi were over harvested. The Romaine grew too high due to overcrowding. I have different spacing setting in the rafts and obviously it was too close for the lettuce. Good to know. The Swiss chard I cooked up and added it to one our summer favorites, veggie sandwiches.
Swiss chard, pak choi, romaine, pak choi (left to right)
summer veggie sandwiches
The system is continuing to do well. I have started some other lettuce, pak choi,Swiss chard, leeks, and cucumber seedlings. I am going to try and get down a rotation for lettuce to harvest it constantly. That is my next goal.
PS: The recipe for our summer veggie sandwiches.
Ingredients:
sweet potatoes
zucchini
onions (caramelized)
olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper
dressing to your liking (mustard, hummus, ranch, tapatio, etc..)
Swiss chard (only because we harvested it)
Good heavy bread
Prepare a bowl with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Cut sweet potatoes and zucchini into 1/4 inch thin "steaks." Fire up the barbeque or broiler. Toss the zucchini and sweet potatoes in the oil vinegar medley. Inside begin to reduce the onions to caramelize. Start with the sweet potatoes and grill until soft to touch with tongs. Now the zucchini. Do not overcook the zucchini, they should be on the precipice of soft and firm. Now the bread. I either brush or dip the flat side quickly into the olive oil/vinegar and then toast on the grill. Lastly I cut the chard into small slices and cooked in a frying pan over heat for about five minutes until wilted down.
Build your sandwich. Quick note. My wife is a no fat vegan (tough), therefore with her vegetables and bread I do not toss or brush them in the oil/vinegar mix.
NOTE: To those that read
this post on your phone, through school, or email you may not see the
pictures in the post. To see the actual blog you need to go to:http://www.theaquaponicsproject.blogspot.com/
The Fieldtrip
I want to keep this post short. Last Friday fourteen students (6 high school, 8 middle school) and three teachers stopped by my aquaponics project on the way to their fieldtrip destination. A group of our highschool students are researching a future aquaponics project for our highschool.
They arrived in the morning as I explained the set up I had created. They were taking notes and asking great questions. What an exciting morning! Here are some pictures.
My daughter had crazy hair day at school
Our first harvest of Romaine lettuce for our Vegan tacos
NOTE: To those that read
this post on your phone, through school, or email you may not see the
pictures in the post. To see the actual blog you need to go to:http://www.theaquaponicsproject.blogspot.com/
In my first post, If You Build It They Will Come, I had discussed how this project was possibly starting at our school. The project is in a small momentum phase and has initial elements of a movement.
A group of potentially 20 students, two teachers, and our instructional coach (all whom have played critical roles in helping this project) are heading out to Temecula and San Marcos to begin some preliminary work on the establishment of a test aquaponics system at our high school. The students will be stopping by Sun Pro Solar to research solar capabilities for off-grid growing, a quick stop by my aquaponics system to see the model that they will use, and then on to an aquaponics workshop in San Marcos presented by ECOLIFE Foundation.
The "movement" at our high school reminded me of this video. It is short and well worth it, but it also made me reflect on leadership, following, and movement in general.
As a former coach I have always been intrigued by the study of leaders and movements. I am fortunate in my life that I have so many great friends, colleagues, coaches, and family that help mentor me directly or indirectly towards that goal. This year has challenged every fiber of my being but that is expected when one steps out and wants to lead, follow a leader, or inspire a vision.
I was able to help mentor a good friend as of late in regards to this topic. He has made a decision that many do not understand. He obtained a leadership position that nobody thought he would obtain. He was not a topic of conversation until he put his hand in the air and said, "I want to lead!" We had a tough conversation about things he needed to improve and although grateful that I told him, it rocked his world. A few days later we talked again and he shared about all the different darts and arrows that he feels are flying at him. He feels isolated and one can see in his eyes a mental draining. You could see the questioning of his decision that caused all of this.
He asked me a key question, "Why hasn't anyone said anything to me before?"
I told him the reason was because he decided to step out and lead. Before his decision he was just in the crowd but now he stepped out and put himself out for all to see. Now everyone has something to say, an opinion, a suggestion, recommendation, negative comments, and talk about how he is going to fail. He was in the crowd, insignificant, and now everyone has an opinion. We all do it. It is just a part of the game. He must continue to move forward and trust in his friends to courageously stand up, follow, and teach others around them to follow.
So, as was stated in the video, "leadership is over glorified... when you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to have the courage to stand up and join in......."
NOTE: To those that read
this post on your phone, through school, or email you may not see the
pictures in the post. To see the actual blog you need to go to:http://http://www.theaquaponicsproject.blogspot.com/
Just a few days ago we actually ate our first herb from our system and made a small recording of our fish and how big they are getting and therefore thought it would be a good time to reflect on the journey.
Our first harvest of cilantro
The Start
I came across the aquaponics concepts a few years ago and had determined to build a system, sometime....
My church, Rancho Community, has a working farm in Rainbow, CA that contributes thousands of pounds of produce to the Temecula/Murrieta Rescue Mission and Orange County Rescue Mission. I thought that a commercial aquaponics system on site could provide vegetables and fruit year round to RCC. The farm does not provide produce year round. So before last summer 2011 I felt the Lord put it on my heart to share this with my pastor/friend Don Hallworth.
We had a good meeting and he saw the vision. We left it out there to
see what the Lord would do. Thanks Don for the continued prayer and
support.
Shortly
after I decided to build a family system to test the feasibility of a
full scale project. I decided to blog my adventures mostly for
documentation. At the top of my blog the tab "About" was the initial vision goals and post #1.
Just Do It......
Yes, the title of my
post. That is the idea. Just do it! I believe sometimes we have these
wonderful plans, goals, ideas that never come to fruition because we
hyper analyze the details. Analysis of Paralysis. We never know where a
journey will take us or not take us until we go.
There
has been so much promise and new direction from this initial
idea. Projects at school, potential new business ideas, and just plain mental relaxation Yes, this project and blog helps to release the stress
and exhaustion of my profession.
So,
I encourage all of you... Do not over think, just do it.... Let the
details work themselves out in the process. Do not worry about the end
because it is the journey that SHOULD be most rewarding.
Fish introduced 12/30/2011 (2")
Watch the video below to see how much they have grown.
Video taken on April 22nd, 2012 (big fish at 1:13)
.JPG)
