Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Am curious as to how people are finding their AP produce.

What grows best in your system?

What tastes best in your system?

I'm finding tomatoes are the easiest to grow (to be entirely honest cannabis was easiest with ballistic growth but I'm not doing that now)

As for taste, the snap peas are SOOOOO nice I can't get enough, not growing the best, but definately a winner for taste.

I have put in some dwarf beans and they taste superb and seem to grow quite well.

The system is pretty new, but the early successes are wasabi and snow peas. We ate pea shoots (the tender tips of the leaf growth) the other night in the salad. Yum!

Is that plant what they make the green past from (for sushi). Is it like a radish?

Yes, sorta. Wasabi is what the green sushi paste is supposed to be made of. Chances are that any you've eaten has been mostly horseradish. Wasabi is actually more closely related to broccoli. It grows a taproot like a carrot, and sends out little side-shoots that can be broken off and planted for propigation purposes. It grows in Japan in cool mountain streambeds. It's a bit of an experiment to see if I can grow it. I wasn't sure if it would like an AP system, but thought it was a good bet. If I could grow it, there's even commercial potential...it retails for US$70/lb (If I'm converting right, that's about AU$200/KG)

bugger basil right off.

Jeez - we will have to see if we can do it here heh Steve. What sort of conditions is it meant to like Janet?

wet lol

I think wasabi could be much more profitable than many plants people could grow in an AP system. And much more legal. I come up with these hare-brained schemes to retire early. I research, contemplate, and run little experiments to see if it would actually be a) something I enjoy, b) something I could live off. So far, my best plan is just to keep saving up the pennies. In "retirement" though, I could see having a little AP greenhouse "Janet's Jungle", growing fresh Asian greens, wasabi, and tilapia. Target the Asian markets around Philadelphia who like really fresh quality food.

I have found that the taste of all the vegies are better than anything that we are used to in the stores. But, hey, why wouldn't they be. Tomatoes are such a premium from my system, they (the people I live with) are quartering them so everybody gets a taste. (Lots of people, need more growbeds) The broccoli has a sweet taste and even those that say they don't like the green stuff have scarfed up every morsel. I have my eye on some great strawberry plants at Ace Hardware. As soon as I get my system changed around, some of the plants come home with me.
The green peppers were stronger in taste and the hot peppers, well they were hot and oh so good.

Sounds good Janet.

Joyce, go wake that bloke up that has the digital camera

He should be in the staff meeting now. But I agree, I have lots of new pictures that need to be put here. I am so computer illiterate, but willing to learn. Talk about control, he keeps saying I'll do it, and I say show me how.

wake him up progressivly earlier each day for picture, he'll learn to show you how. LOL

Wasabi is supposed to like lots of shade, lots of water/humidity, and cooler summer temperatures. A little sulfur in the 'soil' will increase pungency. It can take winter temperatures down to 20F/-6C. Here's some info from New Zealand.
http://www.wasabi.co.nz/meet.html