Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So Glad to hear the recipe worked well for you too Bndybear. Yeah I thought they were a real winner. I have been doing a lot more experimenting in the kitchen of late and got a dehydrator and a canning/ bottling kit to preserve more of our harvests for the off season. I have had great success with home made yoghurt, cheeses -like cream cheese, ricotta and mascarpone. My breadmaking has impressed the family and we are saving heaps of money making our own icecream, smoothies, mayonnaise and even condensed milk. I even had to get another fridge to accomodate all my science projects.
Chilidude and Martin don't worry about me having a great time in Borneo, it will be lots of work hehe - Climbing through the jungle getting the right angle and lighting for the shot. This trip won't include any diving and underwater photography Charlie as it is monsoon season apparently, but perhaps when I go back in October, maybe?
Thanks for the replies guys, nice to keep in touch. Glad you still care

Look what I found this morning. The first decent sized spear of asparagus and the system is running continuously flooded.

Whoot - I've got one plant in a growbed so maybe this year! It did great last year more than 40 spears but all the spears were tiny. I could see where this might be an ideal crop for AP (or a nightmare to remove ). I may have move some from the dirt garden.

Great going Faye.

What a beautiful system! I have been going through all the posts over the last week. I am planning to setup something this spring, doing a lot of research. And by far, this is the most inspiring information I have found on why I should go ahead with it! I've learned a lot about AP, fish recipes, plants, and all kinds of critters! It is also just amazing how well the worms thrive in the beds. My mind associates worms with dirt, but obviously this ecosystem thrives without dirt--plants and worms alike!

We grow a lot of our own food (meat & veggies), but still buy a lot of fish and that's what led my research to AP. Wow, look at the possibilities! I love to see all your harvests. The food saver is a great device. We use it a lot here at our house. Great investment for anyone.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I like the irrigation piping system your growbeds use. What do you like or not like about them? I think they make a lot of sense for the flow of nutrients through the beds. But of course I have no practical experience on them. Obviously, they work for you! Do they require a lot of maintenance to keep them from clogging? How big are the holes and what is the spacing in the pipes? What are the diameter of the pipes?

I am more of a DIY type, but if I had the money I would definitely save the bother and get the BYAP system! It really looks well worth it for those who might be considering it. And so simple and proven. I say go for it!

Just beautiful! Thanks again!

Thanks Faye.

Regards, Martin.

Ah, just think of the aquaponic media bed as a dirt bed only the dirt is rather more like very super gravely soil with lots of sub surface irrigation!!!!

We grow much the same bacteria as grows in very good soil and the worms are a big part of the symbiotic relationship between the organic matter (fish poo, uneaten feed AND dieing plant roots) and turning it into something plant usable with the help of all those good bacteria.

Aquaponics regular supply of moisture, good bacterial slime and avoidance of any harsh chemicals or fertilizers is generally very worm friendly.

Well I went shopping this morning and will top up my system when that rain arrives because I can work undercover. Got to split the sydtem of which 2 beds have been turned off for some weeks, doesn't stop the tomatoes growing, the canna edulis or the self sewn lettuce which does get a splash when I top up the tank.

Hope those nasty bush fires haven't affected anyone.

We were safe from the fires however a friend 6km away lost their front native bush and the water bombers saved their house fortunately.

Faye,

Question on how the pineapple you put into the system a while ago is doing. My understanding is, they uptake a lot of nutrients through the leaves and not so much through the roots. Wondered how that affected things in AP. We got to taste our first dirt grown pineapple last month after 21 months of waiting and it was well worth the wait. Great system, it's given me ideas for my own, which is why I hope most people post their stuff here.

swflcpl

Pineapples (being bromeliads) actually have little roots between their leaves so they can take up water and nutrients that fall into the cups of their leaves as well as a little bit from the roots that grow out the bottom of the plants.

I've got lots of pineapples planted in my system but so far only the tiny little ornamental ones have produced any fruit.

Not a lot to report in the growing stakes as this is the first summer I haven't done barramundi. I still had a few perch in the system and knew I was not going to be around a lot this summer so kept things pretty light on. I have been trekking through the jungles of Borneo and then my annual vacation on the sunny Isle of Rottnest snorkelling. We did not win the trip to the Chelsea flower show but we did win tickets to the Melbourne Flower show as winners of the sustainable garden category for House and Garden magazine. Photos will be in next months magazine. I came back from holidays to deal with my own jungle hehe. As you guys would know the tomatoes just keep producing and my pumpkins in the dirt are growing crazy and we also have watermelons, chilacayote and luffas. My fig tree is awesome and I have been making lots of jam and dried figs. I am challenging myself to eat from the garden and am up to day 4/7. We made our own pasta the other night and a lovely basil pesto to go with it, today was smoked trout pizza with pesto and pickled nasturtium seeds grown in the ap system last summer. Looks like we might have more kids, when Eddy builds a goat pen haha. I will leave you a photo of yesterdays lunch which is on a bed of ap lettuce, hidden below homegrown veges and the hickory smoked trout from November last year.

Hi Fay love your work, that salad looks suspiciously like the one i made for myself today, most of mine was bought though lol.
Hey do you freeze your smoked trout???
I just pulled Luffas out of my AP, they were too wild and i thought they didn't taste so good?

Thankyou Kitacooch, we vacuum seal the smoked trout in lots of about 2 or three. It is quite surprising how far the flesh of one fish can go. I have used them on pizza, in this mornings omelette, they make a great dip and the beauty of it is that most of the messy work is already done by the time they are defrosted.
Did you eat the luffah? I want them to get big enough so I can use them to set soaps in as they are great exfoliators. I am patiently waiting for my vine to grow and it's flowers are up through my 3 metre mandarin tree, so it is a little hard to keep tabs on, but exciting nevertheless.

Wow Faye. Your travels must have been awesome.