Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So, Perhaps it's a bit backwards, but our Aquaponics has had us out in the yard a lot more and so inspired us to do more with the rest of the yard. So, today, after we finished throwing a whole bunch of accumulated clutter from the garage into a skip, and moving our garden shed off the dirt and onto a concrete slab that we couldn't be bothered breaking up, we decided to make some raised garden beds for things like spuds and onions and stuff (I just feel like those particulare things should grow in dirt).

They're going to end up a bit higher, but we ran out of left-over pergola, so we'll need to get some more timber, and we got some mulch too, to hopefully keep the weeds down... Our yard grows magical weeds, every time we get rid of them all, two weeks later its waist-high full of a completely different kind of weed, recently it's started producing things I've never even seen before....

Here it is!



I'm also hoping to get a dwarf lemon tree in a half wine barrel or something to go in the corner there, my mum has one and it's cute and bears heaps of fruit. Tasty with the AP fish!

Weeds die really thoroughly if you nuke them with a LPG burner.

Lots of weeds need to be killed a zillion times before they actually decide to lie down forever and go to weed heaven.

7 years (ie removing the visible growth above the soil line for 7 years in a row to kill the chance of the plants bulbs doing its thing) for sour sobs comes to mind, but may well be total fiction*.

Scorching the earth kills the top bit and the roots and bulbs without adding chemicals and might be a method to consider.

It's also revengefully satisfying, and probably a bit safer than spraying chemicals or letting your dog/kids see just how much destructive fun digging really is as you pull up weeds. Dogs think your new rose bush is just another weed that should be dug up and brought into the lounge room to proudly display as a heroic kill, to prove their worth to their human brethren.


*yep, that's right, I don't really know but continue to spread rumour based on something I heard on radio or at the pub or something.

lol, Charl said he'd considered throwing petrol all over it and lighting, but didn't want to attract too much unwanted attention

Embrace the weeds,they are your hard working friends.
Their roots are mining minerals from deep down and bringing it to the surface for free with no effort from you.
Mulch them and this will be released for what you want to grow.
I love weeds.

Nice outlook Snags!

You might be able to eat your weeds. There are lots of them that are suitable for human consumption apparently. Our local council recently ran an edible weed walk in our local area. Not that I have tried eating any weeds myself yet. My chooks take care of the weeds in my backyard - non left for me. I get nice eggs though.

Once I lovingly transplanted a weed that had grow in a growbed into a different growbed where the other lettuce were, because I thought it was a lettuce

I heared a guy on youtube talking about embracing his weeds once "Weeds are just plants you don't want... so I decided I wanted them."

I have plans for a compost bin in the future, but so far haven't gotten around to it. I did try putting them all in a pile and waiting for them to decompose, but they just grew even better in the pile....

anyways, finished building the raised beds (I keep going to call them growbeds now...)

Here they are:


Annnd... Here's a strawberry I have growing in a pot:

Tried the gas bath and match solution to weeds... Doesn't work too hot since most of the fuel soaks into the dirt instead of sticking to the weeds where it doesn't get enough air to light.

If the earth is soft enough (rare in my neck of the woods), a stirrup hoe does a great job of kicking the weeds down if they're small enough. Doesn't keep them from coming back, but since it takes a fraction of the time to pull them out, I think you still come out ahead even if you have to use the hoe 4 or 5 times per year (only 2 for me). I was even able to get the weeds out of my gravel front yard in just a few minutes.

Hello Everyone!! Long time no see!!

Sorry for my extended absence, I got sick for a while and my garden all went to hell, but I'm feeling a little better now and we've started working on it again.

Our little dog is still yet to figure out the difference between stuff and food, and she likes to dig holes, mostly in the part of the yard that wants to be the veggie patch, so this is what we've been up to this weekend to keep her out of it:









I'm going to grow a verticle pumpkin patch here:


and this:


We've also started digging a hole to sink our AP system in, I'll post pics in our AP thread when we've done that :-)

Got a little more done in here today, planted some pumpkin seeds, built a potato tower and planted some spuds, planted a few peas, finished filling the raised beds, and made some worm tubes for them.

Spud tower (well, the first layer):


Peas planted in the bottom of one of the fence pallets:


worm tubes:


Raised beds complete with worm tubes:

Very nice work there you guys. You have been very busy. Love the whiteboard.

Thanks Faye!

Um, I've just noticed the backyard farming forum... was that always there? if someone wants to move this thread over there (if that's possible) I'd be ok with that

Best way we've found to combat weeds organically is to lay wet newspaper or cardboard on top of the soil, then cover it with mulch (straw, leaf mulch, bark chips etc). Doesn't matter if there are weeds already, just chop and drop them (if they haven't gone to seed) and lay the cardboard on top.

Weeds have a very hard time getting through cardboard. But they will quickly find their way through plain straw, even if you mulch thick. Then to to plant through the cardboard, just punch a hole through it with your spade.

It will last for a couple of months then break down into the soil creating a lovely rich humus.

It's not hard to find a supply of cardboard boxes out the back of supermarkets etc, just ask nicely and most business's will be happy for you to take them away. Most printers are using soy inks now which are biodegradble and safe.

We're farming 3.5 acres here by this method and it works a treat

If you must spray (eg between cracks in pavement), good non toxic sprays we've trialled are 100% vinegar (works), or 10% hydrochloric acid 90% water (works much better)

edit: woops, realised just realised i'm replying to an old post

I've done a bit more work this week, Charl hasn't helped cuz he's hurt his sholder from digging a hole for the AP last weekend, oops!

I planted some heirloom beetroot seedlings, and some carrot and onion seeds in here:

We'll see how that turns out, I don't have much luck with seeds, most likely because I use the instructions on the pack more like guidelines than actual rules........

more seeds in here.... same applies:


Planted some marrigolds in the fence:


and one over by the pumpkins:


*edited to correct error*