Episode 78: A Beginner's View of Aquaponics

Today, I want to share with you a beginner's perspective on Aquaponics. At the LFTN Spring Workshop, two awesome guys installed an Aquaponics system here, so I got to witness first hand how to install something right the first time, AND we have been using it for a week now. One of the things that has kept me from doing aquaponics here has been how hard it sounds to set something up, so having this in place is a big deal. So for those of you out there thinking about aquaponics, or even those who are not sure it is a good idea, I want to let you know what it is like as a beginner to launch and learn about Aquaponics.

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What Mother Nature is providing

• Watercress is winding up
• Hairy vetch, chickweed and deadnettle
• Stinging nettle is blooming here and will die back until fall, unless we get rainy/cooling in the next month or so
• Asparagus
• Goldenseal, a plant rife with medicinal uses
• Tea time: lemon balm, blackberry and raspberry leaves. There should be bee balm, but I must have managed to kill my patch of it.

Tales from the Prepper Pantry

• Putting up dried herbs and tea makings - both for flavor and medicinal. Creek mint is ready to harvest.
• Beeswax
• Story: the swarming bees - when 2 hives become 4, plus 2 off site

Harvest Bounty

• Aquaponics are in and we are setting strategies for where/how we will run vines.
• Garlic should scape out in the next few weeks.

Stretching meals

• Workshop leftovers

Operation Independence

• Mama Sauce came and helped do another round of get rid of the clutter - which frees us to focus on the important rather than the urgent
• Spring Workshop ROCKED and is a foundation in our walk toward independence.
• Taxes are back on the todo list right after carnegie hall.

Speaking of Carnegie: May 12th, 2pm meet up in New York at a pub near Carnegie Hall. The Irish Pub: 837 7th Ave, New York, NY 10019. DO check on our Facebook page and website though because if it is full, we will adjust our plans. Just look for the chick with the cowboy hat.

Why Aquaponics: Things grow too well in Tennessee - by which I mean the wrong things grow too well and with the coffee business, I wanted to have time to devote to coffee.

Project goal: Aquaponics that looks great in front of the house so Mark does not make me remove it, pays for itself or even earns money, runs itself when I am away in case Mark is out working on the paper.

Lesson 1: Aquaponic is much easier than it seems when you start learning about it.

Lesson 2: Installation can be cheap and hard work, or more expensive and quick and easy

Lesson 3: It is frightening how fast things grow

Lesson 4: You can plant things closer together - and kill things fast.

Lesson 5: It's not about the fish

Make it a great week!

Song: Special by Sauce