Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

no i only have the one 1000g as of now but the others
are 339.00 each or less

they are made by behlen and are called fun pools. the one i have now was my cattle watering tank long ago and the silly brahmas i had would all climb into it.

so i know for sure they are tough tanks for low bucks.

ill know wednesday after noon time what the deal is. i do know they are anxious for me to get something going.he also told me that might AP might work for other sight challenged and/or blind clients also. i figure if they sprung to retrain me, which i have balked at due to, as lesia needs constant care and meds
on say a pc and set that up asistively with jaws reader. im guessing that would cost 3 to 5k. just the program is like 1200 dollars.

i think he might be looking at a bigger picture than just me, which is way cool with me. ill be the test swine.
im driven to do this and make it work. and imho thats what its going to take

if they do desire to set other blind/sc clients up in AP
i hope they can secure a pro consultant that will stress
stock well being and good practices, maybe even someday develope AP systems for differently abled peoples no mater whats going on with them.

only probs i have encountered is reading water temps
on smallish thermometer. im sure ill have probs reading water quality tests but lesia can see very well

i have a talking watch, maybe there is other talking devices somewhere?

if theres a will theres a way i always heard...

I'm sure there is a type of thermometer that could work for you if you can find it.

The water quality tests are another matter that usually require some one to see. There might be fancy meters that could monitor that sort of thing but then you are talking big money just for the sensors and big money again to hook them up to something that can understand them.

Then again, if a completely blind man (blind enough to need a string to guide him to the hives) can take care of bees. Then I'm sure now days a blind person can (if they want to) figure out ways to take care of fish and plants.

My hearing tells me much about my AP system, like is the pump running, when beds are draining, etc.

agreed TCL, we can all adapt and yes our other senses will tell us much (if we will listen) i know already my hearing and touch is much better refined.

of course it does make our bell ring that much louder when stepping on that garden rake or hoe, that we forgot and left laying about

see thats another thing. for sight challenged ppl, the darn tripping hazard is immense. dogs, children, garden hoses and that evil rake. the list is endless.

i dont tap yet but i do have the red/white cane and will sometimes take it to my mailbox. 99% of all traffic and drivers will squash you. only police, rescue and sometimes schoolbus will stop or even slow down.

i not only have much to learn about AP , i have huge amount to learn about being sight challeged and still doing things that need done.

a lot of it is fear of unknown that is overcome but only with time.
everytime a success happens it lets us know things will
work themselves out.

first thing is to realize that things take much much longer to do them. saws and things that bite are best left alone. on my GH all cuts were with chopsaw type machine so a lot of butt joints and overlapping. very crude but it worked and i still have all my fingers i started with working with salvaged stuff makes any task that much more difficult too. but all that more rewarding if it does work out.


im prettysure any AP system other than a barrellponics setup will require a well sighted person at very the least, to monitor at regular intervals.

on the other hand i also think at an institution like florida school for the deaf and blind that AP would be a blessing.

i had planned to run an ad on craigslist and freecycle
for some local retiree or teen or maybe even a homeless person that might want to help me in exchange for some veggies and the joy of AP

ok back to work on my proposal to FBS

bright blessings, johnny

Johnny,
Since you have the property and the logistical Idea... perhaps you could possibly get a working partner... many people would love to work a garden or such, but do not have the space. People in mobile home parks and retirement parks. Some have money and are on retirement funds or respectfully fixed incomes and can spend the time and some money...

It's a resource to check out and solve multiple ills with one pill. A small note on the bulletin board in several of those parks could work, or a small ad in the local paper. Many people are down for the winter months only, but, some are here year round.

Half a loaf is better than none! Also, the loaf could even be bigger with the appropriate association.

Respectfully,
Pete

thank you pete, thats great advice like the others have given to me and im sure greatful to all of you AP brothers and sisters

if things keep going like they are now. ill need more than just partner/helper

tomatillo tomatoes are 2.89 per pound here now in the cheapest grocery store. and surely dont look very good at all

i dont think ill have any problems finding someone willing to have half a loaf(especially with costs of groceries like they have gotten). i was hoping my friend that lives here could be it but she is so sickly that she cannot be regular enough even though she wants to help

a retiree snowbird might just be best. i could even offer a free RV space as i do have the room. now to just ride thru the RV parks and look for those that plants things

thanks again all, johnnyH

As to taking in an RV for the winter, I've had to do just that. My mom migrates and is parking her RV in my drive this winter since she couldn't afford to go all the way out to California and park in my Uncle's (her brother) drive this year. Unfortunately with the economy being so poor this year, most of the art shows she has gone to exhibit at have been less than good.

Ah well.

I guess as you have some surplus produce (tomatoes, eggs, fresh basil, etc) you will just have to put a sign out at the gate and see if you stop much traffic. Might need a big loud bell to warn you of visitors/potential customers.

good luck, at least gate sales are generally unregulated and you don't have to pay rent for a market stall.

TCL - "Might need a big loud bell to warn you of visitors/potential customers."



i thought about the honor system like my lother used to do here neighborhood egg sales. but im not so sure there is much honor left around here

here is what i have done so far with GH , its a lot warmer inside with the sun shining thru the glass even without covering attached. i still have a whole end to install and frame out the end you see in this pic. but ill get there sooner or later

in this next pic , that broke glass is a blind guy swinging the maul. sure dont want to hold any nails for me


about 1 minute later that glass fang and finger collided in a bloody mess. even mr. boots said ouch!

not being a formally trained dog he really has become asisitve to me. and has actually helped by bringing things i tell him to get. a very intelligent loyal helper that one.

ok coffee break is over back to the addiciton hehe

That greenhouse is looking really awesome, especially for mostly building from scrap. Better than most of what I've done and I can see.

Keep up the good work and be as careful as you can!

i got the other end sorta pieced together. almost forgot to leave access for my piping to escape. and had to tear out some i had done and had one of the oh no moments



hanging these big windows by ones self is no joy.
really need that second set of arms and hands but i got them up there finally. i wish it was done as we are supposed to have low teens tonight with wind chill possibly in single digits. extreme cold for florida.

i got a very crude biz plan down on paper for the FBS agent that comes this morning. so ill let you
all know what transipres

either way im still doing AP as hard and fast as i can get there. im also locating markets besides gate sales. i touched base with a faith based food coop that sells discounted food locally here. the pastor leader is very interested in adding fresh veggies to their menu.

if FBS helps me, then ill expand with their help. if they dont ill expand on my own however i can find including parting with assets. i found seed packs at wallyworld for .20 each so i purchased all i could mostly leafys though for now.

oh and i might also have a new twist on pickle barrells. my pipe laying estimator friend says he can get a coupling that will allow them to thread into a pair and maybe even a 4way junction block. might be cool to have a 4 way horizontal pickle/olive barrell we can use as FT or GB?

regards and respect, johnny

When you talk of pickle barrels, are you talking about blue plastic barrels? If so, they are actually really easy to plumb together pretty cheap so don't go spending much money on fancy threaded fittings when a uniseal and some pvc pipe might do exactly the same thing for a few bucks. Heck, on the barrel ponics system, I found that sometimes just drilling the right size hole and screwing a threaded pvc fitting through it with a little heat, thread tape, and aquarium silicone will work too.

Hope your meeting is going well this morning!

hi all, well my meeting was positive if nothing else.
my counselor loves the AP concept and also thinks its the very best plan i could be doing for myself.

FBS wants biz plan for any funding loan of course. far better plan than i have been able to compose or maybe will be able to compose

my counselor brought me a cool device a braille measuring tape i did not know they even existed
but now i have one and it should make my wood cuts some better.

i got a freeware dl of ultimate biz paln and its a guided plan compiler so ill be working on it at night while i go ahead on my AP system just like i have been doing.

it was 16 degrees here last night and is still 23
so im now thinking some GH heater is in order
when the GH is completed.

counselor also brought me 2 asistive wares that do screenreading , magnifying of text. its called "zoomtext" and is very very nice proggie and has been really helpful so far.

TCL - im meaning the screw top plastic barrells. my friend thinks he has a junction box that will fit them and also couplings. depending on thread pitch . ill know soon...

best regards and respects, johnny

how great that they have so much support available for you

Yep... great news that they're going to assist...

the counselor is going to try to help me but in reality
the way their system is , i doubt they will do much. its been 5 years now and yes something is far superior to nothing

but im in very rural area. its my home and almost paid for. ssi and also partly blind services answer is for me to move to some city where there are more centralized services likes trans and groups of sight challenged and even employment.im not going to be warehoused or ever go into some group type home. never

for their paln to happen i would lose my own home, be subjected to the extortion of renting or have to incur major debt if i was to purchase again. this place i have is worth very little except to me and my sick friend. i cant put a price on sanctuary so i will decline if they push for me to relocate. as flawed as our social security and support system is, plus the way the economy has gotten ill dig in here as there is little else i can do but that. i sure cannot travel without a driver and there are none.

now if i was an addict or drunk or depressed or morbidly obese i would get the help but im just almost blind and have extreme pain from MY john deere loader hurting me. but NOT blind enough to meet their criteria. as both my counselor and also 2 separate attorneys have said. an administrative law judge for ssi will go into this huge book of every job in america and find something i can do. it does not matter that said job might be in alaska and im in florida, nor that im not trained for said job, the fact is the job exists and i could do it with retraining. its my burden to make that happen. these judges do not live in the real world imho.

paying into our system for 36 years means nothing except that i was a fool and have been duped.

ill just fund my own AP rig and just do gate sales
and expand as i can. me and the crippled girl have done well on 5-6k income per year for the last 5 years and actually are moving forward. so thats exactly what we will keep doing except this time we have a niche with AP. i feel like i have found the answer to many prayers.

and it does not matter at all what it looks like (especially to a poorly sighted self) it matters how it performs and what i can figure out to do with this blessing to help myself and my friend.

thats what matters. i respect and so much appreciate you brothers and sisters.
/signed

Aloha Johnny

I'm really impressed with your progress and determination to do aquaponics. My wife Susanne and I would like to reward it, if you'll accept a gift. We have a business plan that got us $100,000 US to build an aquaponics farm with, and we'll share this plan with you.

This business plan is included as part of our regular commercial aquaponics training, (see our web page: http://www.friendlyaquaponics.com/doitmyself.html), which we'd be happy to donate to you personally if you can cover the $50 or so costs of printing and mailing it to you. It includes everything we've learned about aquaponics in 1-1/2 years of running a commercial-scale aquaponics farm; we normally sell it for $895 on our website. If this is of use to you, send an email direct to me at training@friendlyaquaponics.com, send us a check for $50, and we will mail it right off. We would love to donate the whole thing including mailing, but this winter has been awful and we have no spare cash.

We're currently doing a contract with our local Costco for 600 lbs of organic lettuce mix per week. My wife and I had never farmed before a year and a half ago, and regularly killed houseplants. IF you get the business aspects handled, aquaponics grows more stuff with less work and less energy costs than any other food production technology we're aware of. If you have any questions, please email me direct. I don't often have time to spend on the forum, as much as I would like to, I'm too busy helping build and run the farm.