Death Stairs

Picnic and Aquaponics Tank

So here is the test-aquaponics system altogether! It floods twice a day, which reduces Fish's water to a 'couple cm. It's a little bit hairy, but I'll try to get a bigger tank for him soon. The plants are stressed out, too, from the multiple re-pottings and some base-construction mishaps. I'm not sure if they'll survive the week. But if not, I'll scrap them and re-work out the grow bed. Right now, it's a plastic bin I cut a hole in the bottom of to fit some sort of PVC dangle I found at Kent. It's shaped like a T from the side, and an O from the top, if you can visualize that. I tried using bathroom caulking to seal up the cracks I made when cutting the hole, but I was playing the design by ear, and the weight of the rocks broke the seal. So then I got the wooden board for the base, some 4x1 to support it, and the 2x2 for legs.

I then discovered that the cracks still leaked (big surprise...) so that's where the blue bag comes in. Now it mostly all drains back into Fish's tank, with only a little leakage. If the plants all die, I think I'll clean it out and try re-caulking the plastic bin.

I used some streachy mesh-like fabric from my value-village-finds box to make the rock-filter. It worked out that I just tied their ends together and put them over the top of the T like an elastic bedsheet. It's not perfect, but it keeps most of the small rocks out. The rocks I used are some driveway gravel for the bottom, to fill it in better, and then I bought some (really expensive) aquarium plant gravel, because I was too impatient to plan a trip out to find some river gravel and (ironically) too cheap to order the clay things online.


Here's Fish. He's a lonely calico Goldfish, the only one the Petcetera had at the time, and recovering from his fin-rot quite nicely. I'll get him a friend soon. I've heard that the food-fish sometimes kill and eat the koi and goldies, if they're mixed, so I think I'll keep his aquaculture as an indoor system permanently. And I'm not going to eat him. >.>
He's got the smallest sub-pump I could find (one made for bird-bath fountains), a length of pvc tubing, a water-airator, and a fake water plant to hide behind. Waste used to collect between the rocks, but now that 3/4 of the water is pumped up twice a day, the tank has been a lot cleaner. It would be interesting to see if the plants suffer malnuitrition because of this, but I think at this point I'll only notice if the plants recover. Oh well, the exact balance between fish and plant health will have to be discovered in further experiments.

The Picnic!
Tristan decided to do a 2-day fast. The morning when he was allowed to eat again, he decided to make crepes. I made some blueberry sauce, then asked if he wanted whipped cream. I went to the grocery store, and it escalated. So this was the end result: baguette, bre, sliced fruit, blueberry and apricot sauce, crepes and whipped cream, sliced oranges, and orange-aid with lemon slices. It ended up more of a brunch then a breakfast, after making it all and setting up the chairs and outdoor table. Beautiful day, though, and I used the last of the fruit in a smoothy the other day. :)

Here's the whole scene. The box-table has since disintegrated in the monsoon rain this week, and I used the top-board for the aquaponics bed above. But it's still a nice spot. I bought some skewers and a fire-pit grate last week, and am in the process of carving skewer-handles. Hopefully we can invite some people over and have a roast-vegetable BBQ sometime.

Next post: The Greenhouse and Vegitable Garden!

Aquaponics

Okay, so I think it's about time for a brief explanation of Aquaponics! We've pretty much decided to use this type of farming over traditional plants-in-dirt type farming because of the water-efficiency, ease of pest-control and fertilization, and the fish-bonus. So, here's how it works:
You have aquaculture tanks filled with fish, and hydroponics beds with plants. The fish pollute their water with Ammonia, and nutrient-rich excrements, which would eventually reach toxic levels in basic aquaculture. The plants on the other side, suck nutrients from the water, while oxygenating it. Aquaponics, the combination of both agricultural techniques, is basically just pumping the fertilizer-rich fish-water through the hydroponics bed. This purifies the fish water, while feeding the plants. Where it gets tricky is in temperature ranges. The food crops, the fish, and the essential nitrifying and nitrafying bacteria that convert the Ammonia, all have to be in a range above 0 degrees C, and only really grow in a range around 20 degrees. Hence, Greenhouses will be necessary in Nova Scotia, if we want to continue eating in the winter. ;P

Anyway, cool property for sale down the coast about 4hrs. MLS # 60369147. It's got Ocean-front (for A), woods for the rest of us, already established Aquaponics infrastructure, and pre-existing living quarters. Cons: Only 3 acres...

The Eco-Community

Purpose: This Blogspot has been created for family and friends to follow us on our Woofing adventure around Europe. But it is also intended to be a recorded ledger of information we obtain, which could help us in our quest to catalyst an Eco-community of our very own. Our journey begins October 2010.

Eco-Community? We were first inspired by Transitional Towns, towns in Europe that, fearing the oil-crash that has already begun to be felt there, make efforts to ensure their continued survival. Among other things, the communities band together to grow local crops, and procure solar panels and wind turbines for future energy and food needs. They intend to 'transition' into being mainly self-sufficient. No such major efforts are being executed here in Canada. So we decided that we would try to copy this idea by making a so-called 'Transitioned Community.' A community built ground-up around the idea of self-sufficiency, Independence from the Grid, with the same benefits that modern society enjoys.
We later learned that this was generally called an Eco-community, and the Eco-communities network of Canada detailed a few such other groups around the country. By this time, however, we had already solidified the mission statements and goals that would make our community unique from others of the same class.
We intend to set an example of a step foreword for human society, not promote a regression to 'simpler times.' We will participate in technological advances, while still 're-skilling' our members in trades like pottery, carpentry, and weaving. We will be a group of people, without a leader or doctrine, working under the Canadian constitution and laws, and focused first on the happiness of the individual, and a close second on the cohesiveness of the community. And how we'll accomplish this, we have no idea. Yet. Idealistic? Probably, but if you're going to aim for the stars, you'll at least hit the sky.
So stay tuned for further posts, as we discover How to Start an Eco-Community!