Something Fishy Going On…

On Friday, August 7th our chlorine level had reached zero so I started to make preparations for us to go get the tilapia that we’d need to get the system started. I lashed a garbage can into the front corner of the truck bed. I borrowed an electric and battery air pump, from my brother that he usually uses in his minnow buckets to keep the fish alive. He had a nice sized air stone that worked great in the bottom of the garbage can. On Sunday we drove to Allenwood (about 75 minutes away) and met Rob, who has an indoor aquaponic system and LOTS of tilapia. His system is a little different in that he has a solids filtration system to take out a good majority of the waste so it doesn’t overwhelm his system with ammonia. The Friendly style systems don’t use a solids tank so it requires a more precise calculation on how much fish you need to keep your system in balance. Our system doesn’t require dumping or changing our water ever (unless you had a system start-up failure) where he needs to change his water out periodically (he was in the process of doing it when we were there).

Not knowing if our can might have a tiny crack or hole in it, we lined it with a garbage liner (the kind with the flaps). We filled it about 3/4 full with water from his well plus a bucket of his system water and then tied the flaps to keep the whole ball of water intact so it couldn’t slosh around. The sloshing is one of the biggest stressors to the fish. We ran the air line in through the tied bag and turned on the air pump and inverter, that was inside the cab of the truck. We drove home and gently transferred the fish to the tanks. When he scooped them out of his tank and put them into a bucket, we weren’t sure how many fish he had gotten (hard to count with lots of flapping fish in a bucket). Turns out we have 21 of assorted sizes, ranging from 2” to probably 5”. Remember that “precise” calculation of fish that our type of system requires? Well for start-up we needed 10-20% of what the mature system would need or 2.6 pounds of fish. He just looked at me when I told him I needed an amount not to exceed 2.6#. Since fish excrete ammonia through their gills and their waste, keeping the ammonia levels low is one of the big things to getting off on the right foot. Too high of ammonia and the nitrifying bacteria won’t start. We need to keep it less than 3 in order for everything to get off to a good start. So far we’re at zero so that is good. Yesterday our nitrates (the plant fertilizer) were at 1 so I started putting plants over into the rafts, from the sprouting table. Since we have a lot of plants that were started in early July and we’re starting to lose them, due to lack of nutrients, we have nothing to lose at this point by moving them over. If anything the roots of the plants provide space for the nitrifying bacteria to attach themselves to, which is a good thing. We’re testing and charting all of our numbers and comparing it to what our training manual says and so far everything looks good. It will take several weeks to get through start-up.

Elsewhere on the farm the blueberry plants are doing great.

(Here are the plants when we picked them up. They looked like sticks with a couple of leaves on them).

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Here they are 3 months later….)

 

 

 

My brother bought a new ATV for his place so we purchased his old one, the bush hog and snow plow.  Most of our land is in a government conservation program called CREP. It provides a habitat for wildlife and only allows you to mow 30% of the field in the month of August. That bush hog has sure come in handy. The August mowing is intended to let you get a handle on invasive species and get the grass to a manageable length but not mow the whole plot down. We wanted to get rid of the thorny bushes that seem to have taken over the hillside so we’ve done a“strategic extraction” on these bushes. As my daughter described it, “It looks like a drunken person mowed the side hill”

We wanted to use our 30% to try and eliminate as many of these bushes as we could.

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s what they look like when the bush hog gets done with them. The side hill is pretty steep so we have to be really careful. It’s looking so much better though. The picture above is the after shot. I forgot to take a picture before we started giving it a haircut.

Life is busy on the farm. We got 1” of rain the other night, which we desperately needed. We could still use a bunch more, as the ground is cracked open in some places. We’ll keep you posted on the system start-up. Oh, here’s a picture of some of the fish in their new home (it’s hard to get them to hold still for a picture).

LiveJournal Tags: tilapia,chorine,nitrites,nitrates,aquaponics,ammonia,system start-up,fish,troughs,rafts,CREP

Can you believe it’s August?

		System Progress VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I went back to see when the last time I put a blog post up and it was at the end of June. Yikes! Where has the summer gone? Our goal, when we started building the troughs and putting the system together…was to have it done and seeds planted by July 1. We got alllllmost all of the system done by that date. We ordered the water and air pump, tubing, air stones, etc. in mid June and all but two really important items came in. We got everything put together except for the air lines (the air stones and the barbs that connect the air stones to the tubing didn’t come in with the rest of the order). So we waited….Pentair would tell us that they were shipping them (via e-mail) and after a week and no order we’d call them and they said they were still waiting for them. It took 5 weeks for us to receive these two really important items.

Not knowing that it would take 5 weeks for those items to arrive, as planned, we planted our first batch of seeds on July 1 and continued to plant small amounts of seeds, every few days, to get data on what grows in our area, how quick do they germinate, etc. We also need to get plants ready so that there will be roots in the system to uptake the nutrients and “clean” the water for the fish. We are charting all of this info but not being able to get the plants right into the water, has taken a toll on some of the plants that were planted in those early days. They need the nutrients that the fish provide to really thrive.

As soon as the last parts arrived, we put them in right away and got the air lines set up. Ordered a tanker full of water from our local fire company and that arrived on July 25. We had put some water, from our rainwater collection system, into the two fish tanks and partially filled one trough so we only needed another 3000 +/- gallons to finish filling the system up. We started the water and air pump and something wasn’t right with the flow. The water was returning to the fish tank faster than it was going out. After a day or two of pondering over it, “B” decided to change out the elbow, where the water exits the fish tank. Somehow when we were putting the 3” PVC between the two fish tanks (to regulate the water level between the two tanks), the elbow got tipped up a little bit. Linda felt that was the issue and since our trainer didn’t have any ideas, we didn’t have much to lose. Sure enough, she cut off the old elbow and male adaptor and connected the line with a flexible connector and the water flowed perfectly out of the fish tank. The outflow matched the inflow and halleluiah. What a smart cookie she is! With the flow problem resolved, we were ready to shock the system to get rid of any “funk” so the water would be ready for the fish. Knowing that the municipal water was chlorinated, I knew that we only needed to add bleach for the 800 or so gallons of water that had come from our rainwater tank. Now you might think…rainwater….pure, no need to sterilize it. But if you look in the tank, there is a bunch of algae that lives at the bottom of the tank and you can’t risk having any of that in your system. So I pulled out my notes from training and followed what I thought he had told us was the proper dilution rate of 1 gallon of bleach per 600 gallons of water. In reading the manual later that evening (for the umpteenth time), I read where it’s 1 quart per 600 gallons. Holy fudge nugget! That’s a big difference. Usually it only takes 2-3 days to blow off the chlorine in the system so it’s ready. We’ve been blowing off the chlorine since filling it on 7/25 and we’re thrilled to report that tonight when we checked, it is at 2….which is amazing considering that over the weekend it was at 10. It is coming down quickly and we hope to be ready to get the fish in a few days. Sigh…..I gotta tell you that some days it feels like I’m having my third child. It’s been almost eight months since we started construction on the greenhouse. It’s been like giving birth and not for the faint of heart. We can see the finish line….we’re almost there. Preparing for what we’ll need to do to bring the fish safely home. Luckily another local aquaponist told us about a tilapia hatchery in Allenwood, which is only about 1.5 hours from us. Looking forward to getting our tilapia and bringing them to their new home.

In other news, Pumpkin Hill is taking over the side yard (and the sign). We’ve got lots of baby pumpkins growing and some are already the size of basketballs. We timed their maturity to coincide with breast cancer awareness month, since they are Porcelain Doll pumpkins (they turn bright pink and part of the proceeds from seed sales go to breast cancer research).  The plants are loaded with blossoms so hoping for a great pumpkin harvest.

 

 

 

 

 

The chickens are growing into beautiful girls with great personalities. Today I got their nesting boxes ready for them. In about a month they should start laying eggs. I found this chicken material on sale at Wal-Mart for $3….isn’t it cute. Now you’re probably wondering (as “B” did), why their nesting boxes should have curtains on them. There are many reasons and they are all listed here. I got the info from the Chicken chick blog, which is where we got the idea for the tube feeders and poop board. She’s a pretty smart lady with lots of clever insight into chickens. So yes, our curtains may be a fashion statement but they serve a much broader purpose. 

Oh yes, I almost forgot….for six weeks I had a boot on my left leg (from my foot to my knee) due to a micro fracture in my ankle. It happened while building the chicken coop. The boot is off and I am now mobile again. I had it on while we built the system and it wasn’t any fun on those really hot, humid days. Trying to take it a little easy so it heals fully. But lots to do around the farm. It’s August…that means it’s time to mow the 30% that we’re allowed to mow. We bought my brother’s ATV, plow and bush hog and have started doing some “precision cutting” of the invasive bushes that have grown up over the many years of non-use that the fields have seen.  The CREP program will be up for renewal next fall but we won’t be renewing. Looking forward to getting the land back in shape and ready for some pastures and animals.

Exciting times ahead….stick around for more news on what’s happening around the farm.

LiveJournal Tags: Porcelain Doll pumpkins,pumpkins,chickens,nesting boxes,CREP,bush hog,pasture,aquaponics,organic,breast cancer research,October,micro fracture,coop

Rafts, Roughing In and Run-off

It’s been a super busy week for us. Last Sunday we attended a workshop about 3.5 hours from us that dealt with setting up a farmer’s market stand for the best presentation. The workshop was put on by a program assistant with the Penn State Extention office out of Allentown. After going through the powerpoint program, we then split into two teams and were given veggie props and signage and competed against each other to see who could come up with the best looking table display. It was interesting to see what ideas each team came up with and how each team used the items in a little different way to give visual interest to their table. After the workshop, we went to the Emmaus farmer’s market, ten minutes away, and we each had to critique one of the vendors. While at the workshop we got to meet another aquaponic farmer who has also been to the Friendly Aquaponic training in Tennessee. What are the odds of meeting someone that specialized, with the same information that we have for doing aquaponics in Emmaus? We got to swap info with her and will continue to stay in touch with her as our project progresses.

We got all of the growing rafts painted and cut this week. Each raft needs two coats of Benjamin Moore MoorGlo. After getting the 15 sheets painted, then we were ready to move on to cutting them. First we created a template of the 32 and 55 hole rafts, using the measurements from the Friendly Aquaponic manual. Then, you used a cordless drill and hole saw to cut out the holes. The saw doesn’t go the whole way through the 2” foam board so you have to flip the board and using the drill bit hole, finish the cut. It’s really messy work and is really tedious but after “plugging” away for most of the week, we got them done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Wednesday we attended a workshop on “Raising Chickens, from birth to Processing”. This workshop was only two hours away and a day full of great info. This workshop was put on by PASA (Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture) and was held at a Mennonite farm in Mifflinburg. At the end of the day we watched him process chickens at his on-farm processing center. It was a great opportunity to learn about all things related to chickens.

This week the excavator got started correcting a lot of the drainage issues that the original excavator ignored or created. What a difference a few days, several pieces of equipment and a knowledgeable eye can do to a landscape.

		Excavation Work at New View Farm VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

He worked about three days, installing a drain tile along the length of the greenhouse, swales on contour (with berms on each swale) behind the barn and a ditch behind the barn. Once he finished the work, we went and got some old hay, that my brother had, and mulched all of the swales. This will keep them weed-free until we can get them planted. We also got the 6 mil plastic and geo-fabric down along the length of the greenhouse. It will allow water to penetrate it so it will reach the drain tile and provides a nice level area for our outside trough. We’ve already stubbed out the air line for the outside trough so that is ready to go. The outside trough will allow sprawling plants like beans, tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers to run out on the ground. The fabric will provide a weed-free environment for them to spread out and grow plus the black color will give this trough an early jump on growing, by absorbing the spring sunshine. We are so happy with the work that Rob McClure did for us. He was very willing to learn about the permaculture practices that we wanted to put in place.

I went outside a little while ago to see how all of the areas are doing, with all of the rain that we’ve had today. The swales are holding water. The top swale is holding water where it is on contour….at the point where we want excess water to drain, it runs off to the adjacent pasture or over behind another large mound that we have planted. It’s so great to see all of the systems working together.

 

 

 

 

 

With permaculture practices, you want to capture and use every drop of water before it exits your property (remember what we said about “the problem IS the solution?). These swales do exactly that while providing moisture to the items planted in the mounds. If we had any type of livestock in the fields above the plantings, that would create more “nutrient flow”. We can’t have any animals in those fields right now, since we have one more year to go in our CREP contract.

We’re now working on installing the water and air pump systems in the greenhouse for the aquaponic system. Hoping to have that complete within the next week. We will get seeds started in the sprouting table very soon so that they will be ready to go in the rafts when the whole system is ready. Lots going on….it’s getting exciting. Oh and look at our potatoes and squash go…they’re starting to blossom.

 

LiveJournal Tags: aquaponics,organic,squash,potatoes,sprouting table,air pump,permaculture,swales,Friendly Aquaponics,chickens,excavator,trough,PASA,Benjamin Moore Moorglo