Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Thanks! Patience is paying off!

Low PH for lettuce?
I seem to do well also with low PH. I've had troubles with other veges because of low PH.
Love your photo's

LOL low ph is 8 for me. Dang thing eats water faster than I can replace/wait for acid to work. I pick out limestone from the expanded shale that was mixed in when I bought it all the time...and my well water is just high in carbonates. It's never going to come down on it's own I have a feeling.

Photo's are the only way I can pay back what I learned here....otherwise I just ramble on and don't make sense! Get's me lookers but no comments...maybe it will help someone IDK. Really easy the way I have phone setup.

Last falls run
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I miss living in MI. Use to chase steelies on the Ausable and lake MI side. Our IN steelies are not bad. The scenery sucks and you have to watch out for used needles. Only a true steelheader is happy with 3 of 10.

Yeah that one came from allegan dam. Biggest of the 4 we kept. 7 netted 25 hooked into. Was a really good day our arms were dead for 2 days afterward

We need more rain so I can stock up on these.

Hmm, morel mushroom season, forgot about that, I better start looking around here. Thanks for the reminder RD.

Our season was too dry. I had to really look into deep shady spots.


It's always a bummer to find the big yellows cause it's near the end.



Got the dirt garden planted out and the rain has been just enough to keep it going without watering. 22 tomato plant of 8 varieties, cucs, cantelope, lettuce, spinach, strawberries, onions...a crap load of stuff!


I had so many tomato starts left over I threw some in the common area in front of house in effort to get a community garden going. Imagine 6 acres of natural wicking bed with near 2 feet of river bottom top soil. The neighborhood teens will probably tear them up but at least I tried.

May 9th


The transformation
March 25th


April 5th

It's that time of year also to clean out the freezer. I made a big batch of smoked venison salami to go with the fried mushrooms.

Venison stew with AP veggies. I did add store bought flour, oil, salt and pepper.

That looks tasty.

Got a recipe>?

Whats that white mushroom called?

Very pretty pics btw.

Those be morels. About 40$ a pound retail hereabouts or free if your lucky enough to know a spot where they grow. They need an average temp in the 50's and some good rain before they make an appearance for a brief 2-3 weeks

I only found a couple pounds of morels this year . Now the rain is here everyday and a week late.

Jayendra, did you want the salami recipe? Here is my basic mix but it all depends on what's in the spice cabinet. You can use any red meat but it needs to have 20 to 30 percent fat or it's very dry. I follow the meat/fat/curing salt ratio and add whatever spice/herb is in the rack. I always use the black pepper, mustard seed and some sort of wine/red vinegar.

Smokey Venison Salami

5 lbs. venison (with 25% fat)
5 tsp. Curing Salt (make sure you follow the meat to cure salt ratio for whatever cure you have)
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
2 1/2 Tbsp. whole black pepper
2 Tbsp. whole mustard seed
2 Tbsp. brown sugar (optional)
3 Tbsp. dry red wine


You can add to your taste;
red pepper
cumin
thyme
oregano
sage
basil
parmesan cheese
high temp cheese
fennel seed
caraway seed

Mix all ingredients thoroughly then cover and chill 24 hours or more. Pull it out and mix occasionally. Fresh meat I will go up to 3 days. Old freezer meat only a day
Divide into 4 to 5 portions.
Roll portions into 2 1/3" diameter rolls.
Place in smoker 8-12 hours(140 to 160 f) and smoke with 6-8 panfuls of wood chips( any cherry, alder, hickory, apple) It really depends on the smoker. If I have pork fat I will finish in the oven to get safe temp especially when cold out. Hot charcoal/wood smokers don't take as much time to get to 160 internal temp.


Remove from smoker or oven and pat with paper towel to remove fat drippings. It will last a couple weeks in fridge or you can freeze it for up to 6 months. We ate 5 lbs in 5 days between Melissa, myself and our girl. It goes great in green beans with potatoes, salads, soups and stews when you had enough on crackers with cheese and mustard.