Over the years I have been asked many times about what crops I think are best for aquaponic gardens. At the end of the day I figure it comes down to two key factors. First would be, how established is your garden and second would, of course, be what do you like to eat. Since the second is entirely personal I will focus on the first for the sake of this discussion.
From what I have seen in my own aquaponic garden trials, the first year should be devoted to favorite herbs & leafy greens. Mint, for example, can be an ideal starter plant simply because it is so hardy but basically any small leaved plant is a solid choice for the first few months. Larger leafy greens are also usually somewhat successful during the first year while the system develops & grows. Many gardeners will choose a type of lettuce at this stage but I have switched to kale for a couple of reasons. Number 1 being that it's so darn healthy, when grown safely, and number 2 being that it will grow in my greenhouse during the cold Canadian winter and the heat of our crazy summers. If you simply can't resist planting something that will produce fruit in that first year then I would recommend strawberries. Easy to grow, hard to kill and nothing beats a fresh picked aquaponic strawberry.
By year two an aquaponic garden usually has a much more developed internal ecosystem and should be prepared to host a different set of plants. Now you can start to think about crops like peppers & tomatoes that will produce fruit, but there is a warning here as well. These plants are greedy and can be quite good at removing any & all micro-nutrients from the system. For sustained success with fruit & flower producing plants you may need to find safe ways to reintroduce elements such as calcium and magnesium but fear not, nature has answers for all of it. A little research as to what your crop requires will keep your plants producing & your fish healthy. It is worth mentioning however that if you start adding things to boost fruit production it is wise to move herbs & leafy greens into a different system so that they don't go to seed and loose their true flavor.
Well, I hope this helps to point you in the right direction and has answered a few questions for you. Thanks for your time & best of luck on your aquaponic adventure!
Showing posts with label #AquaponicGarden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #AquaponicGarden. Show all posts
Saturday, August 08, 2015
Monday, June 29, 2015
Expanding the No Power Aquaponic Garden for Larger Settings
The idea of the no power aquaponic garden is a lot of fun to play around with but the basic truth that needs to be stated up front is that when you are saying no power you are committing to personally do a lot more work. Not a real problem for some of us, when I got started I was not working anywhere at the time so that left plenty of time available to me, but when it is a problem it is a big one. If you can’t get to your garden every few hours during the day, more often during the heat of summer, this might not be an option for you. Remember, if you have access to steady electricity I STRONGLY recommend a more advanced system with a pond pump. You’ll thank me for that later on …
Let’s take a look at what needs to happen in an aquaponic garden for everything to keep on living, growing and producing for you. Obviously the plants need to be watered, that’s a given, and the fish need to be fed. Regular feeding of fish produces waste products that will build up over time and kill your fish. It’s not pretty or fun to see. So the first big problem that needs to be solved is removing the waste from the water to keep those little critters happy, or at the very least … alive.
Now, if you’ve even looked into aquaponics at all you’re probably saying to yourself, ‘well, don’t the plants do that?’, or some variation on that theme anyway. If you are, then you’re right but there’s more to it than that. Successful aquaponic gardens are populated with a few naturally occurring bacteria that are essential to that success. These tiny workers need somewhere to call home and conditions that benefit their reproduction. Just like everybody else, they are looking for a safe place to call home & a steady food supply. Providing them a home is the easy part. Anything non toxic with surface area in the water will do quite well for them, mine love it! This is why you will see so many different things being used in aquaponic systems that are all generally referred to as the bio filter. I’ve seen everything from lava rocks to lego, clay pellets to river rocks and even some fancy scientifically engineered stuff to be ‘better than nature’. That’s a bad joke but we’ll just push past that issue for now. Building a basic bio filter into a no power aquaponic garden isn’t that difficult, but it does need to be done. I could make a whole playlist of video options for this but just be creative and it will probably work for you as a starting point.
So now that we have a bio filter in our garden the fish will be safe right? Nope. With a completely no power garden your fish face a few other dangers that all need to be looked after as well, or they will die. I’m not going to sugar coat this for you, that’s just how it is. Some of the other concerns include, but are not limited to: dissolved oxygen levels in the water, pH imbalances, ammonia spikes from low bacteria levels, greater risk of water borne diseases such as ich plus a few other issues I’m probably forgetting at the moment. Some of that is as easy as the bio filter, in fact if your bio filter is almost always getting a ‘fresh’ supply of dirty water it will take care of a few of those for you. Dissolved oxygen and ammonia spikes at any rate. So here is the next big question. How do we keep water flowing without electricity?
It can be easily said that there are vast numbers of ways to make this happen but they are all varying degrees of annoying, unreliable or just plain hard work. One of the first solutions that comes to my mind is some form of a water tower to do the trick. This adds its own difficulties and challenges but hey, we’re building a large scale no power aquaponic small farm here so it’s not going to be quick or easy. Just saying. To avoid the water tower one could perhaps make use of a very basic wind turbine and use that to drive a rope pump. Another solution with its own unique issues and challenges. Let’s take a better look at both of those options, shall we?
What are some of the issues with the first option of a water tower? Well, as a tower that suggests it will need to be built to some height and moving water uphill is a problem for nature. Gravity doesn’t really play that game. Another issue is the large amount of water that it removes from the fish tank all at once. Rapid raising and lowering of the water level can cause the fish huge amounts of stress and stress is a killer. Best to avoid it whenever possible. Good life strategy right there but back to the topic. Creating an overflow drain in the fish tank, more on this later on, that goes to a secondary sump tank can solve this problem if done correctly. I would think a sump tank that holds at least as much water as the tower plus half again would be about the right size. This will ensure that your fish have a steady ceiling height at all times and keep them a little happier. Happy fish are healthy fish! The height of the water tower is basically easy enough to deal with as well, just make sure the bottom of the water storage on your tower is above the top of your growing beds and make sure they are taller than your fish tank that has it’s sump tank even lower down. Gravity will do everything but put the water into the tower for you, not bad. Just make sure you build that tower base strong, water is a lot heavier than most people think. Options for getting the water from the sump to the tower are unlimited. Buckets, rope pump, DIY piston pump, cast iron cistern pump (old west style can pull water up 25 feet!), water screw … I could go on here but I think you get the point. Next!
The other solution mentioned was the use of a wind turbine and a rope pump. Again, any style of hand pump can be made to work here with some creativity. While there is a very typical picture that comes to mind when we think of windmills or wind turbines that doesn’t mean they are the only ones, or even the best ones for that matter. In my library of previously loved books I have a copy of ‘Practical Projects for the Handy Man’ that was first published back in 1913 by the editors of Popular Mechanics Press. In this gem of a book is a simple windmill that works no matter which way the wind is blowing but doesn’t swing around like ‘standard’ wind turbines do. I’m not going to explain how to build one here but if you’re interested you should definitely look into them, very cool & super basic. 1913, enough said! If you build something along those lines it would become fairly simple to attach a pulley for a rope pump and let the wind do the work for you. Wind moves the water up & gravity moves it down. Excellent, no electricity so far!
Next we need to get that water moving into, and out of, those aquaponic garden beds or why are we building all of this?!? This is a good time to start thinking about installing the bio filter. As the water leaves the tower and runs into the garden is a GREAT time to make sure that it’s been converted from fish waste into plant food! Now is also a good time to figure out what style of grow bed you will be using since that will make a big difference to how you want to deliver the water to the plants. For a floating bed or raft system simply allowing the tower to drain, through the bio filter, into the beds at a set rate would be fine. Adjust it as needed to keep the water moving all day, or at least in between times you can refill the tower, and you’re good to grow! More or less, we’ve still got a couple of important points to go over so don’t run away just yet. If you are growing with a flood and drain bed in mind then water control will be your personal nightmare from here on out, just my opinion. The easiest way out of that trap is a quick fill with a slow drain. Our three main goals with the water are to keep the plants hydrated, but not swamped, and to keep oxygen levels up while keeping the waste levels down. With a quick fill of the beds the water gets plenty of oxygen as it rushes through all of the grow media, and it gets even more with the slow drain out as it will always keep the top of the fish tank in motion. Waves = oxygen for the fish. This type of bed also provides a second area for bacteria to live which will help prevent those evil ammonia spikes.
Getting back to the overflow drain in the fish tank for a moment here if I can. These sound more difficult to make than they really are. There are many great videos out there on exactly how to make them but the basics of it are simple enough to cover here in the blog. The goal is to collect all of the solid waste from the fish, the poo if you prefer, and to draw it away from the main tank. A good goal, after all nobody wants to swim around in poo. Some aquaponic gardeners have attached various fittings to aid in the collection at the bottom so explore your options and see what you like. Since my fish are all fairly large I simply leave the bottom of my drain pipe open and it seems to collect most of the waste. The top end of this pipe needs to be attached to a ‘T’ fitting so that the water can be directed through the sidewall of the tank and into the sump while still leaving the top of the drain open. As for getting the pipe through your fish tank sidewall I prefer the rigid nature of bulkhead fittings while others seem very fond of Uniseals. Whatever you can find that’s non toxic and does the trick … works! If this is setup correctly, it should create an overflow that draws the water and debris from the bottom of the tank while not making the vacuum suction that would drain the fish tank entirely. VERY important that the top of that upright drain pipe is open, that’s not a fun mistake to make.
The last couple of things I should mention here are water changes and fish food. Both of these are often overlooked in many aquaponic systems but vital to the overall health of your garden. In the case of a ‘No Power’ style aquaponic garden, your fish are basically in a fishbowl and as the water evaporates not only do levels of the fish waste become more concentrated but so do the levels of assorted hormones that the fish release into the water as part of living day to day life. Not a problem if you are trying to keep your fish small but it can become an issue if you want significant growth from them. Sure, a top up of the fish tank will thin things out again but none of it is removed so ultimately it just keeps adding up. As often as your water supply will allow for, you should remove at least 10% of the overall systems water BEFORE adding more fresh water into the system. If you must use tap water, try to allow it to sit in the open for 24 hours first to naturally remove the chlorine. That stuff can wipe out your bacterial colony so fast it will make your head spin, avoid whenever possible. The final thing is, as I stated above, fish food. Let me just leave you with this thought about your choice in fish food. What they eat becomes what feeds the plants that you eat. Anything that goes into that water could make it’s way into your food …
Thanks for taking the time to check out my thoughts on a larger NPAG for small farms. I hope it helps or at least entertained you! Blessed be & many happy harvests to you!
JT Bear
Let’s take a look at what needs to happen in an aquaponic garden for everything to keep on living, growing and producing for you. Obviously the plants need to be watered, that’s a given, and the fish need to be fed. Regular feeding of fish produces waste products that will build up over time and kill your fish. It’s not pretty or fun to see. So the first big problem that needs to be solved is removing the waste from the water to keep those little critters happy, or at the very least … alive.
Now, if you’ve even looked into aquaponics at all you’re probably saying to yourself, ‘well, don’t the plants do that?’, or some variation on that theme anyway. If you are, then you’re right but there’s more to it than that. Successful aquaponic gardens are populated with a few naturally occurring bacteria that are essential to that success. These tiny workers need somewhere to call home and conditions that benefit their reproduction. Just like everybody else, they are looking for a safe place to call home & a steady food supply. Providing them a home is the easy part. Anything non toxic with surface area in the water will do quite well for them, mine love it! This is why you will see so many different things being used in aquaponic systems that are all generally referred to as the bio filter. I’ve seen everything from lava rocks to lego, clay pellets to river rocks and even some fancy scientifically engineered stuff to be ‘better than nature’. That’s a bad joke but we’ll just push past that issue for now. Building a basic bio filter into a no power aquaponic garden isn’t that difficult, but it does need to be done. I could make a whole playlist of video options for this but just be creative and it will probably work for you as a starting point.
So now that we have a bio filter in our garden the fish will be safe right? Nope. With a completely no power garden your fish face a few other dangers that all need to be looked after as well, or they will die. I’m not going to sugar coat this for you, that’s just how it is. Some of the other concerns include, but are not limited to: dissolved oxygen levels in the water, pH imbalances, ammonia spikes from low bacteria levels, greater risk of water borne diseases such as ich plus a few other issues I’m probably forgetting at the moment. Some of that is as easy as the bio filter, in fact if your bio filter is almost always getting a ‘fresh’ supply of dirty water it will take care of a few of those for you. Dissolved oxygen and ammonia spikes at any rate. So here is the next big question. How do we keep water flowing without electricity?
It can be easily said that there are vast numbers of ways to make this happen but they are all varying degrees of annoying, unreliable or just plain hard work. One of the first solutions that comes to my mind is some form of a water tower to do the trick. This adds its own difficulties and challenges but hey, we’re building a large scale no power aquaponic small farm here so it’s not going to be quick or easy. Just saying. To avoid the water tower one could perhaps make use of a very basic wind turbine and use that to drive a rope pump. Another solution with its own unique issues and challenges. Let’s take a better look at both of those options, shall we?
What are some of the issues with the first option of a water tower? Well, as a tower that suggests it will need to be built to some height and moving water uphill is a problem for nature. Gravity doesn’t really play that game. Another issue is the large amount of water that it removes from the fish tank all at once. Rapid raising and lowering of the water level can cause the fish huge amounts of stress and stress is a killer. Best to avoid it whenever possible. Good life strategy right there but back to the topic. Creating an overflow drain in the fish tank, more on this later on, that goes to a secondary sump tank can solve this problem if done correctly. I would think a sump tank that holds at least as much water as the tower plus half again would be about the right size. This will ensure that your fish have a steady ceiling height at all times and keep them a little happier. Happy fish are healthy fish! The height of the water tower is basically easy enough to deal with as well, just make sure the bottom of the water storage on your tower is above the top of your growing beds and make sure they are taller than your fish tank that has it’s sump tank even lower down. Gravity will do everything but put the water into the tower for you, not bad. Just make sure you build that tower base strong, water is a lot heavier than most people think. Options for getting the water from the sump to the tower are unlimited. Buckets, rope pump, DIY piston pump, cast iron cistern pump (old west style can pull water up 25 feet!), water screw … I could go on here but I think you get the point. Next!
The other solution mentioned was the use of a wind turbine and a rope pump. Again, any style of hand pump can be made to work here with some creativity. While there is a very typical picture that comes to mind when we think of windmills or wind turbines that doesn’t mean they are the only ones, or even the best ones for that matter. In my library of previously loved books I have a copy of ‘Practical Projects for the Handy Man’ that was first published back in 1913 by the editors of Popular Mechanics Press. In this gem of a book is a simple windmill that works no matter which way the wind is blowing but doesn’t swing around like ‘standard’ wind turbines do. I’m not going to explain how to build one here but if you’re interested you should definitely look into them, very cool & super basic. 1913, enough said! If you build something along those lines it would become fairly simple to attach a pulley for a rope pump and let the wind do the work for you. Wind moves the water up & gravity moves it down. Excellent, no electricity so far!
Next we need to get that water moving into, and out of, those aquaponic garden beds or why are we building all of this?!? This is a good time to start thinking about installing the bio filter. As the water leaves the tower and runs into the garden is a GREAT time to make sure that it’s been converted from fish waste into plant food! Now is also a good time to figure out what style of grow bed you will be using since that will make a big difference to how you want to deliver the water to the plants. For a floating bed or raft system simply allowing the tower to drain, through the bio filter, into the beds at a set rate would be fine. Adjust it as needed to keep the water moving all day, or at least in between times you can refill the tower, and you’re good to grow! More or less, we’ve still got a couple of important points to go over so don’t run away just yet. If you are growing with a flood and drain bed in mind then water control will be your personal nightmare from here on out, just my opinion. The easiest way out of that trap is a quick fill with a slow drain. Our three main goals with the water are to keep the plants hydrated, but not swamped, and to keep oxygen levels up while keeping the waste levels down. With a quick fill of the beds the water gets plenty of oxygen as it rushes through all of the grow media, and it gets even more with the slow drain out as it will always keep the top of the fish tank in motion. Waves = oxygen for the fish. This type of bed also provides a second area for bacteria to live which will help prevent those evil ammonia spikes.
Getting back to the overflow drain in the fish tank for a moment here if I can. These sound more difficult to make than they really are. There are many great videos out there on exactly how to make them but the basics of it are simple enough to cover here in the blog. The goal is to collect all of the solid waste from the fish, the poo if you prefer, and to draw it away from the main tank. A good goal, after all nobody wants to swim around in poo. Some aquaponic gardeners have attached various fittings to aid in the collection at the bottom so explore your options and see what you like. Since my fish are all fairly large I simply leave the bottom of my drain pipe open and it seems to collect most of the waste. The top end of this pipe needs to be attached to a ‘T’ fitting so that the water can be directed through the sidewall of the tank and into the sump while still leaving the top of the drain open. As for getting the pipe through your fish tank sidewall I prefer the rigid nature of bulkhead fittings while others seem very fond of Uniseals. Whatever you can find that’s non toxic and does the trick … works! If this is setup correctly, it should create an overflow that draws the water and debris from the bottom of the tank while not making the vacuum suction that would drain the fish tank entirely. VERY important that the top of that upright drain pipe is open, that’s not a fun mistake to make.
The last couple of things I should mention here are water changes and fish food. Both of these are often overlooked in many aquaponic systems but vital to the overall health of your garden. In the case of a ‘No Power’ style aquaponic garden, your fish are basically in a fishbowl and as the water evaporates not only do levels of the fish waste become more concentrated but so do the levels of assorted hormones that the fish release into the water as part of living day to day life. Not a problem if you are trying to keep your fish small but it can become an issue if you want significant growth from them. Sure, a top up of the fish tank will thin things out again but none of it is removed so ultimately it just keeps adding up. As often as your water supply will allow for, you should remove at least 10% of the overall systems water BEFORE adding more fresh water into the system. If you must use tap water, try to allow it to sit in the open for 24 hours first to naturally remove the chlorine. That stuff can wipe out your bacterial colony so fast it will make your head spin, avoid whenever possible. The final thing is, as I stated above, fish food. Let me just leave you with this thought about your choice in fish food. What they eat becomes what feeds the plants that you eat. Anything that goes into that water could make it’s way into your food …
Thanks for taking the time to check out my thoughts on a larger NPAG for small farms. I hope it helps or at least entertained you! Blessed be & many happy harvests to you!
JT Bear
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Assessing the Cost of my Aquaponic Greenhouse Garden as a Hobby
Wow, I can honestly say that I'm quite shocked by what this worked out to show!
There are lot’s of different hobbies that I have gotten involved in over the years and they've all been fun but most of them were eventually set aside because they were just getting to expensive to continue with. The RC trucks for example got way out of hand, as did the paintball equipment before it. For the most part we've gotten rid of most of the clutter from those pastimes but there are still a couple of pretty sweet RC trucks in the attic that I’ve been thinking about getting down lately …
As some of you who follow my outdoor channel & blog are aware I have recently gotten back into more ‘manly’ hobbies like fishing & hunting. Although to be honest there are a LOT of women that are taking an interest in these activities now as well so … sweet. Anyway, equipment for either or both of these hobbies is kind of costly as well but it’s different because these both provide meat for dinner.
Aquaponics falls into that same sort of ‘grey area’ of spending as a hobby because it has that same bonus. There are costs to setting up an aquaponic garden but as it turns out they really don’t have to be that much. Please keep in mind that prices will be different for EVERYBODY building an aquaponic garden because we all shop in different stores and have different levels of urban foraging skills but basically here we go.
What I most commonly refer to as my greenhouse is, in fact, just a poly tunnel hoop house with delusions of grandeur. Since it’s not heated, or really environmentally controlled at all, it sadly doesn't count as a proper greenhouse. Well, not in my thinking anyway but I want to have something more like a conservatory anyway. Ideally. For now, I have built this little hoop house and it cost about $60 so far. I’m okay with that compared to say several hundred for a smaller, but premade, garden greenhouse. DIY is fine by me and Chox doesn't seem to mind either so … perfect!
Inside my little hoop house I am currently running two separate aquaponic gardens, as I discuss in the video on YouTube Assessing the Cost of my Aquaponic Greenhouse Garden as a Hobby. The first garden has some of the older & more expensive pieces in it so it totalled out at $244 as I recall, the second garden was built with a little more experience and I was able to put it together for $168. So the total cost of this is some $472. Not bad.
Now, as I already said, the price of setting up your aquaponic garden will probably be different from that. I was brought up to salvage lumber & reuse the nails, things like that tend to lower costs somewhat. If you look around I’m sure that you can put an aquaponic garden together for WAY less than that.
So, for less than $500 I've been able to keep myself busy in the back yard growing herbs, fruit & vegetables for my family that are clean, fresh and healthy for them to eat. Nice. How many wives would gladly pay more than that to keep their hubbies happy and within eyeshot? I feel confident to say that with all of the better than organic herbs we have stored away in the house from that garden, the countless green salads we've eaten, the heaping bowls of tomatoes that have come in and that Malabar spinach that was so excellent for sandwiches that we've gotten WAY more than our money back from this little garden. What’s even better is that it will just keep on growing more food for us, all year round, year after year … oh ya.
What do I think after assessing the cost of my aquaponic garden in the greenhouse? I think that money was darn well spent and if I had the space I’d double my greenhouse!
There are lot’s of different hobbies that I have gotten involved in over the years and they've all been fun but most of them were eventually set aside because they were just getting to expensive to continue with. The RC trucks for example got way out of hand, as did the paintball equipment before it. For the most part we've gotten rid of most of the clutter from those pastimes but there are still a couple of pretty sweet RC trucks in the attic that I’ve been thinking about getting down lately …
As some of you who follow my outdoor channel & blog are aware I have recently gotten back into more ‘manly’ hobbies like fishing & hunting. Although to be honest there are a LOT of women that are taking an interest in these activities now as well so … sweet. Anyway, equipment for either or both of these hobbies is kind of costly as well but it’s different because these both provide meat for dinner.
Aquaponics falls into that same sort of ‘grey area’ of spending as a hobby because it has that same bonus. There are costs to setting up an aquaponic garden but as it turns out they really don’t have to be that much. Please keep in mind that prices will be different for EVERYBODY building an aquaponic garden because we all shop in different stores and have different levels of urban foraging skills but basically here we go.
What I most commonly refer to as my greenhouse is, in fact, just a poly tunnel hoop house with delusions of grandeur. Since it’s not heated, or really environmentally controlled at all, it sadly doesn't count as a proper greenhouse. Well, not in my thinking anyway but I want to have something more like a conservatory anyway. Ideally. For now, I have built this little hoop house and it cost about $60 so far. I’m okay with that compared to say several hundred for a smaller, but premade, garden greenhouse. DIY is fine by me and Chox doesn't seem to mind either so … perfect!
Inside my little hoop house I am currently running two separate aquaponic gardens, as I discuss in the video on YouTube Assessing the Cost of my Aquaponic Greenhouse Garden as a Hobby. The first garden has some of the older & more expensive pieces in it so it totalled out at $244 as I recall, the second garden was built with a little more experience and I was able to put it together for $168. So the total cost of this is some $472. Not bad.
Now, as I already said, the price of setting up your aquaponic garden will probably be different from that. I was brought up to salvage lumber & reuse the nails, things like that tend to lower costs somewhat. If you look around I’m sure that you can put an aquaponic garden together for WAY less than that.
So, for less than $500 I've been able to keep myself busy in the back yard growing herbs, fruit & vegetables for my family that are clean, fresh and healthy for them to eat. Nice. How many wives would gladly pay more than that to keep their hubbies happy and within eyeshot? I feel confident to say that with all of the better than organic herbs we have stored away in the house from that garden, the countless green salads we've eaten, the heaping bowls of tomatoes that have come in and that Malabar spinach that was so excellent for sandwiches that we've gotten WAY more than our money back from this little garden. What’s even better is that it will just keep on growing more food for us, all year round, year after year … oh ya.
What do I think after assessing the cost of my aquaponic garden in the greenhouse? I think that money was darn well spent and if I had the space I’d double my greenhouse!
Saturday, August 23, 2014
3 Years into the Aquaponic Garden Experiment
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After 3 years of gardening with aquaponics I am so completely beyond hooked on the idea it’s a little bit nuts. Everything’s going to be just fine though, we know what to call it so therefore … we can find a cure!Obsessive Compulsive Aquaponic Disorder, it’s real and I have it. Okay maybe it’s not really real type real but it’s pretty real all the same. If it holds water I will, at one time or another, ask myself how it would work for an aquaponic garden. Is it deep enough? Does it hold enough water? Would the fish like it? Oh ya, I've got O.C.A.D. and I'm proud to say it! Have you got O.C.A.D. yet? Go ahead, it’s just gardening … just give it a try!
Seriously though, after these last 3 years of testing theories and trying new and different foods just because they would grow in the system, I really think there is something to this aquaponics thing. My garden is not the biggest or prettiest or fanciest or most expensive or any of that crap but you know what it is? It’s proof that anyone who really wants to garden with aquaponics can do it with very little expense or knowledge.
.JPG) |
| From about 1 year into Aquaponic Gardens (the fish pump was a bad idea) |
As primitive as that system sounds, it worked. It worked well enough I have spent the next 3 years finding out just how much I could grow and how little I could spend. In that time, this little aquaponic garden has produced foods I can't even pronounce and herbs with flavour depths I'd never imagined from what I was used to.
The truth is, the experiment is over and now things are getting a little more serious. Hard to believe from me I know but all the same I’m gonna try. I set out to find out if it works and it does. Simple as that really. What now?
Now it becomes about getting other people into aquaponic gardening & spreading the word. Now it’s about bringing back the idea of ‘Victory Gardens’ which so many of us all over the world would benefit from. Now it’s about inspiring others to find new places to turn into aquaponic farmland when it was just industrial wasteland before. Now things are just getting started to get growing. Now it’s about insuring that as many families as possible start their own little aquaponic gardens and feel the freedom that growing your own food can provide.
What now for you?
Best regards,
JT Bear.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
What is Aquaponics?
Here is a quick look at the introduction to aquaponics that I have in the beginning of my little eBook. I hope to have a version I am happy to post on the FundRazr campaign as a 'perk' for peoples kind donations. How does this look to you? Please feel free to share any thoughts on writing style or general content. Thanks for your time!
What is Aquaponics?
Basically, aquaponic gardens and farms are attempting to re-create the system that nature uses. In an environmentally controlled area, such as a greenhouse, these systems are used with great success to raise both fish and plants in a closed loop waterway. As the fish live, breathe, eat and make waste their water can become quite toxic to them if left untreated.
Aquaponic gardens, however, clean and filter that water for the fish before it returns to them. As the water is pumped through a system, it will travel through both bio-filters and plant roots, each having a very important part in keeping those fish healthy.
The biofilter, aka your happy bacterial colony in the growing media, are a two part team. The first part converts the raw ammonias from the fish pollutants into nitrites and then the second part finally converts those into nitrates. Once these previously toxic elements have been naturally converted they become a healthy source of nutrients for the plants that are growing in the aquaponic garden bed. The plant roots are eager to get any source of extra nutrients that they can find, and as such, they will rapidly deplete them from the water rushing by.
It is by taking advantage of this natural bacterial cycle that aquaponic gardens are able to do so well for food production almost regardless of the gardeners personal skill level. It is my opinion, that aquaponic gardens might just be the much needed answer to providing food security for individuals as well as for entire communities.
When edible fish and plants are used they can provide more than enough food in return to cover the initial cost of setting it up. If you think of your garden as an investment, it’s the best returns you can find on the market without breaking the laws. Think about the price of a packet of seeds when compared to the price of some produce! It’s even more when you use the price of ‘Organic’ foods for your math and I feel that aquaponic foods are probably better for you anyway. Did you know that ‘Organic farms’ can still use fertilizers and pesticides as long as those products are ‘certified’? Using anything like that in an aquaponic system would cause massive damage because they are designed to use technology to simulate nature.
Nature doesn’t have those type of products … just saying.
What is Aquaponics?
Basically, aquaponic gardens and farms are attempting to re-create the system that nature uses. In an environmentally controlled area, such as a greenhouse, these systems are used with great success to raise both fish and plants in a closed loop waterway. As the fish live, breathe, eat and make waste their water can become quite toxic to them if left untreated.
Aquaponic gardens, however, clean and filter that water for the fish before it returns to them. As the water is pumped through a system, it will travel through both bio-filters and plant roots, each having a very important part in keeping those fish healthy.
The biofilter, aka your happy bacterial colony in the growing media, are a two part team. The first part converts the raw ammonias from the fish pollutants into nitrites and then the second part finally converts those into nitrates. Once these previously toxic elements have been naturally converted they become a healthy source of nutrients for the plants that are growing in the aquaponic garden bed. The plant roots are eager to get any source of extra nutrients that they can find, and as such, they will rapidly deplete them from the water rushing by.
It is by taking advantage of this natural bacterial cycle that aquaponic gardens are able to do so well for food production almost regardless of the gardeners personal skill level. It is my opinion, that aquaponic gardens might just be the much needed answer to providing food security for individuals as well as for entire communities.
When edible fish and plants are used they can provide more than enough food in return to cover the initial cost of setting it up. If you think of your garden as an investment, it’s the best returns you can find on the market without breaking the laws. Think about the price of a packet of seeds when compared to the price of some produce! It’s even more when you use the price of ‘Organic’ foods for your math and I feel that aquaponic foods are probably better for you anyway. Did you know that ‘Organic farms’ can still use fertilizers and pesticides as long as those products are ‘certified’? Using anything like that in an aquaponic system would cause massive damage because they are designed to use technology to simulate nature.
Nature doesn’t have those type of products … just saying.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Avoid these 3 Easy to Make Aquaponic Mistakes
The easiest mistake to make with a new, or an old, aquaponic garden is over planting. What’s that? I hear you asking about how that can be if one of the advantages of aquaponics is it can grow so many more plants? Here, let me explain this thought a little better. Plants need a few basic things besides just water and nutrients. Light and air flow are great examples of this. Even though you CAN grow 50 plants in 16 square feet of garden, really doesn't mean that you should. Based on my own personal experiences, I would recommend using something similar to the square foot gardening method when it comes time to plant your aquaponic garden bed. Yes, it’s less plants but it’s also more nutrients for each plant so think about the potential for a bumper crop of whatever you plant in there.
 |
| Over Planted Much JT? |
The second super easy to make mistake is shallow garden beds. I have two grow beds that are each only 6 inches deep and I can honestly tell you, it’s not deep enough. Sure, I saved a few dollars buying the shallow bed and sure I saved a few more when I made the second one at that same depth. However, it’s just not a good idea. It may work, but it’s not a good idea. I think that ideally an aquaponic garden bed should be at least 12 inches deep to allow for proper water flow and bacterial function. Plus deeper beds allow for adding worms to help with any solids that might sneak past your filters.
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| An Excellent Example of a Bad Drain, sadly taken in my greenhouse today. |
So here you go, learn from my mistakes … don't repeat them.
Now go out there and get growing!
JT Bear
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Growing the Aquaponic Community aka Sharing My Passion
In society today, it has become so easy to be completely disconnected with our food supply that many of us don't even know what country it came from. That scares me a little bit. I would have to say that my passion is getting others involved in creating their own aquaponic gardens.
Knowing that all over the world, people are starting to grow food for themselves and re-establishing that connection is what drives me forward every day! I am delighted every time someone new asks me how to get started and I can't even pronounce the names of some of the countries ALL OVER THE WORLD where I have helped people to do just that. My friends, that truly is a happy feeling deep down inside.
Let’s face facts. The world today is so completely nuts that it will take something massive to make an impact at this point. Let’s take a quick look at how aquaponic gardens are beginning to make their mark, shall we? Every day thousands of trucks, trains, airplanes and cargo ships carry untold amounts of food, all over the world. On the surface this seems like a wonderful thing! We can grow food halfway around the world and still have it on our dinner plates. Great! Right? In some ways, sure … it’s an amazing thing that mankind can do that now, wonderful.
How much fuel goes into transporting those crops thousands of miles around the globe? How much time do those crops spend slowly decomposing once they have been picked? That’s okay though because we have all kinds of chemicals we can spray on it to ‘keep it fresh’ for the journey. Fact is, NO! IT”S NOT OKAY!
Aside from those chemicals seeping into our food supply, building up over time in our bodies and generally taking away our sense of good health & aside from all the fuel being consumed in the process, it’s not so bad right? Well, there is all the food that get destroyed because it doesn't ‘look’ good enough for the grocery stores once it gets there, and there is all the food that gets thrown into dumpsters because it sat too long on the shelves. Oh, let’s not forget all the ‘amazing’ stuff they put into those foods before they hit the shelf too! (so they can last longer…)
Why am I passionate about sharing how simple aquaponic gardening can be? If you really need to ask that still, I suggest you reread the last couple of paragraphs. Why aquaponics over soil gardening? Well, that’s a whole different topic.
What I hope to do, is to help grow the global aquaponic community, so that we can all have healthier foods, grown locally. The amount of water required for an aquaponic garden is only 2-10 percent of what it takes for soil based crops, that means fresh food for a lot of dry areas where people right now are starving. ANYONE can grow crops with aquaponics, I know because I've made a lot of mistakes along the way and it still works! Sure, maybe you don't have a big yard and can't grow all of your own food, so what? I don’t grow all of what I eat yet, but when I eat what I grow … I feel pretty darn good about it!
I personally have made an aquaponic garden as small as 18 inches across by 32 inches in length and it still grows. It’s great when we can afford the time, cash & space to build a really large and beautiful aquaponic greenhouse but don't wait until that point to get started. Make a garden from a storage tote, make one out of from a 18 gallon water bottle, convert an old fish tank, run garden beds to filter that old koi pond out back … just get started!
If you need any advice, I’m always happy to lend a hand. Subscribe to me on YouTube @ JT Bear and check out the video library. If you still have any questions just send me a message or comment under one of the videos and I‘ll get back to you as soon as I can! Blessed be & many happy harvests to you!
Friday, June 06, 2014
Are Aquaponic Gardens the Answer for Sustainable Living?
First off let me just say that anybody involved in gardening for food production gets a big ‘thumbs up!’ in my books. Taking that first step towards producing your own food is, in my way of thinking, one of the most important steps for anyone to take on the journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle.
Now, you may life in a tiny flat or apartment and be reading this saying, ‘JT, I’d love to but I just don't have the room…’ Believe me, I feel your pain. Not too long ago however I built a super basic aquaponic garden for a friend of mine to keep in his tiny apartment. Sure, it’s not going to produce all the vegetables that he needs but it will save him a fortune in fresh herbs for the kitchen!
Steps towards sustainable living don't need to be huge, as long as you are making progress towards your goal it’s still progress! So, how does aquaponics fit into all of this? Well my friend, it’s quite simple really. As with my friend from the last paragraph an aquaponic garden can be made to fit almost anywhere. Every day people from all over the world are getting involved and adding their own way of doing things and solving problems. Not only is this helping to create a friendlier global community based on helping each other to succeed, it’s also providing us with new and better ways to build our aquaponic gardens. Ways that use even less power and water than ever before. That’s what this is all about really. Water.
Do you have any idea just how much fresh water goes into the growing of a single days worth of food? It’s really quite staggering just how much is required. It’s even more if you wish to enjoy meat in any of your meals. With aquaponic gardening, the water use is cut down to a range of anywhere from 2 to 10 percent of traditional farming. That means up to 98% less freshwater could be used to produce that same amount of food! Imagine that on a global scale … it’s truly awe inspiring.
With aquaponic gardens comes another food source as well though. It’s not just fruit and vegetables anymore! Once you switch to aquaponics you have the chance to begin growing your own fresh, clean & healthy freshwater fish. I know plenty of fisherman who will only eat fish if it’s less than 10 minutes out of the lake, I think this would solve that problem! How could you get fresher fish than from your own backyard? Not to mention the bonus of stocking your favorite fish & being guaranteed a catch every time out! The wild fisheries just aren't what they used to be anymore. Our worlds lakes, rivers & oceans are getting more polluted every day and those fish are just not that safe to eat anymore. It’s sad, but a fact all the same. Anyway …
When you are growing your own fruits and vegetables, no matter how you garden, you are helping to reduce your overall carbon footprint as well. How endless are the miles travelled by the vast majority of grocery foods? How much fuel is used? How about all that packing for shipping? Wow, it’s disturbing how much of a mess you can see from the produce section going straight into the landfills. Every head of lettuce you grow, every tomato you eat from your own plant, every savoury bite of fresh grown herbs … it all helps to reduce your overall carbon footprint in a pretty massive way once you think about it.
So the question again then was, ‘Are Aquaponic Gardens the Answer for Sustainable living?’ I'm just going to go ahead and say an enthusiastic YES! Let’s summarise shall we? Up to 98% less water used, that’s a good thing. Aquaponic gardens can produce two sources of fresh healthy foods in your backyard, yup … that’s a good thing too! With the added bonus of the overall reduction of fuels consumed & packaging required it seems to me that aquaponics is a clear winner!
Get started on your own aquaponic adventure today! Come visit the YouTube channel and check out some of my assorted videos as I have learned about aquaponic gardens to keep our small family in fresh produce all year long! Now go get growing!
JT Bear
Steps towards sustainable living don't need to be huge, as long as you are making progress towards your goal it’s still progress! So, how does aquaponics fit into all of this? Well my friend, it’s quite simple really. As with my friend from the last paragraph an aquaponic garden can be made to fit almost anywhere. Every day people from all over the world are getting involved and adding their own way of doing things and solving problems. Not only is this helping to create a friendlier global community based on helping each other to succeed, it’s also providing us with new and better ways to build our aquaponic gardens. Ways that use even less power and water than ever before. That’s what this is all about really. Water.
Do you have any idea just how much fresh water goes into the growing of a single days worth of food? It’s really quite staggering just how much is required. It’s even more if you wish to enjoy meat in any of your meals. With aquaponic gardening, the water use is cut down to a range of anywhere from 2 to 10 percent of traditional farming. That means up to 98% less freshwater could be used to produce that same amount of food! Imagine that on a global scale … it’s truly awe inspiring.
With aquaponic gardens comes another food source as well though. It’s not just fruit and vegetables anymore! Once you switch to aquaponics you have the chance to begin growing your own fresh, clean & healthy freshwater fish. I know plenty of fisherman who will only eat fish if it’s less than 10 minutes out of the lake, I think this would solve that problem! How could you get fresher fish than from your own backyard? Not to mention the bonus of stocking your favorite fish & being guaranteed a catch every time out! The wild fisheries just aren't what they used to be anymore. Our worlds lakes, rivers & oceans are getting more polluted every day and those fish are just not that safe to eat anymore. It’s sad, but a fact all the same. Anyway …
When you are growing your own fruits and vegetables, no matter how you garden, you are helping to reduce your overall carbon footprint as well. How endless are the miles travelled by the vast majority of grocery foods? How much fuel is used? How about all that packing for shipping? Wow, it’s disturbing how much of a mess you can see from the produce section going straight into the landfills. Every head of lettuce you grow, every tomato you eat from your own plant, every savoury bite of fresh grown herbs … it all helps to reduce your overall carbon footprint in a pretty massive way once you think about it.
So the question again then was, ‘Are Aquaponic Gardens the Answer for Sustainable living?’ I'm just going to go ahead and say an enthusiastic YES! Let’s summarise shall we? Up to 98% less water used, that’s a good thing. Aquaponic gardens can produce two sources of fresh healthy foods in your backyard, yup … that’s a good thing too! With the added bonus of the overall reduction of fuels consumed & packaging required it seems to me that aquaponics is a clear winner!
Get started on your own aquaponic adventure today! Come visit the YouTube channel and check out some of my assorted videos as I have learned about aquaponic gardens to keep our small family in fresh produce all year long! Now go get growing!
JT Bear
Sunday, June 01, 2014
Are Koi a Good Choice for Aquaponic Gardens?
There are really two reasons to raise fish. The first being, obviously, for food and the second reason being for profit. Regardless of why you are keeping them, fish are an essential part of the aquaponic garden set up. Based on that, there are really two different types of fish that you can raise. Edible and ornamental.
Raising edible fish is a fantastic for of insurance for your food supply. Clean, healthy protein is always a good idea but what if you're not worried about that? Say for example you prefer beef, or maybe you don't even eat meat but you see aquaponics as a great way to grow better than organic fruits and vegetables! What would be the point of edible fish in your garden then?
Raising ornamental fish in your aquaponic garden can be a great way to build a steady, home based, income if you go about it correctly. For example, let’s discuss the four beautiful koi I have added to my system recently. You can check out the quick HD video I posted to YouTube if you would like a look at them.
These four fish cost just over $70 total at their current size. In a year or so, after they have grown 8-12 inches, each of those fish could easily be worth that and more! Pound for pound, my research suggests that koi are one of the most valuable fish that I could fuel my garden with. Once they are between two and three feet in length, any one of those koi could sell for enough to pay for a whole new backyard greenhouse. In time, as they mature enough, these koi could become brood stock for my own breeding program at Clean Valley Farms! Granted, I will be selecting from far more than just four when that time comes but they could easily be in the running with some of the qualities they possess.
We all have our aquaponic gardens for our own reasons. Since I am lucky enough to live between two well stocked freshwater lakes, edible fish is not one of mine. On that note, check out Talkquaponics.com for our coming online koi auction page! The videos will be updated weekly so that bidders can see exactly how their desired koi is doing and know exactly what they are buying. One of these four will soon be listed for bidding so be sure to check often.
Happy harvests everyone & blessed be!
JT Bear
Raising edible fish is a fantastic for of insurance for your food supply. Clean, healthy protein is always a good idea but what if you're not worried about that? Say for example you prefer beef, or maybe you don't even eat meat but you see aquaponics as a great way to grow better than organic fruits and vegetables! What would be the point of edible fish in your garden then?
Raising ornamental fish in your aquaponic garden can be a great way to build a steady, home based, income if you go about it correctly. For example, let’s discuss the four beautiful koi I have added to my system recently. You can check out the quick HD video I posted to YouTube if you would like a look at them.
These four fish cost just over $70 total at their current size. In a year or so, after they have grown 8-12 inches, each of those fish could easily be worth that and more! Pound for pound, my research suggests that koi are one of the most valuable fish that I could fuel my garden with. Once they are between two and three feet in length, any one of those koi could sell for enough to pay for a whole new backyard greenhouse. In time, as they mature enough, these koi could become brood stock for my own breeding program at Clean Valley Farms! Granted, I will be selecting from far more than just four when that time comes but they could easily be in the running with some of the qualities they possess.
We all have our aquaponic gardens for our own reasons. Since I am lucky enough to live between two well stocked freshwater lakes, edible fish is not one of mine. On that note, check out Talkquaponics.com for our coming online koi auction page! The videos will be updated weekly so that bidders can see exactly how their desired koi is doing and know exactly what they are buying. One of these four will soon be listed for bidding so be sure to check often.
Happy harvests everyone & blessed be!
JT Bear
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Testing Liquid Rubber on a Cardboard Box
The box itself did better with the overall pressure from the water weight than I expected as well, due I suspect in no small part to the strength of the Liquid Rubber coating. The product will take on the color of the uncured product when it remains wet for long periods but there are coatings to deal with that.
The only down sides that I could see were a high pH level in the water, which is easy enough to deal with, and when it is in hot wet water, the product can be moved with firm enough pressure. Since the average aquaponic fish tank should never get as hot as the water was in the box, I don't imagine this will be an issue for most aquaponic gardeners.
Based on the results so far, I have decided to build a 2ft x 3ft x 12 inch mini fish tank for the floating aquaponic garden. The tank will be shaded most of the time so warming up the Liquid Rubber shouldn’t be a problem. Don't worry, I'm not building it from a cardboard box … that was just an early stage test. I'm excited to begin on this next stage of testing and will let you all know how it works out!Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Is Liquid Rubber the Answer for Waterproofing Aquaponic Gardens?
Waterproof is something of a keyword when it comes to aquaponic gardening. Waterproof the garden grow bed, waterproof the fish & sump tanks, make sure those water lines are sealed up tight … the list goes on and on.
If, like when I got started, you are happy with using storage totes for pretty much everything then this can still be helpful to you, just not as much. I was happy with my totes for quite some time but as my garden grew, it became obvious that something larger was going to be required. While many people seem able to find IBC tanks practically free, I am not so lucky and they are in fact, rather pricey here. Add to that the fact that while they are very efficient and easy to set up, they aren't terribly pleasing to the eye and some building was going to be needed no matter what.
Building from wood and then finding a way to waterproof it seems like one of the best options. Wood can be shaped into as many forms as the carpenter can imagine so it is somewhat ideal for a garden like these. No matter what you want your garden to look like, it can be shaped with some wood and a skilled woodworker. If your plans are simple enough, even the skilled woodworker becomes somewhat optional. YouTube is filled with videos on how to do pretty much anything you want so …
Traditionally, waterproofing has been done with large rubber sheet liners that are cut and folded into the shapes needed with the waste tossed off to the scrap pile. If it gets a hole, or doesn't fit, or any large number of things goes wrong … the whole thing is a write off. Money wasted and it’s still not done. There are some people that are using Marine fiberglass to waterproof aquariums and such but fibre glass can be quite a pain to work with if you are inexperienced.
Liquid Rubber is the perfect combination of positive qualities in one easy to apply product. 100% VOC free and food safe (I've spoken directly to people at the company about this), Liquid Rubber is a paint on waterproofing product that almost anyone could make use of. Depending on what way it is to be used, 1-4 coats are applied and left for 24-48 hours to cure. Once that’s done, it’s safely water tight. Areas that are exposed to water after curing will turn a brownish color but that has no effect on it’s ability to maintain the ‘waterproof’ status. As an additional bonus, if a hole develops in a Liquid Rubber liner it can be dried off, have another layer painted on, left to cure and then put back into use. No throwing away large sheets of pond or pool liner because of a small hole or being an inch too short!
For those who are concerned about color, Liquid Rubber also sells ‘Texture Coatings’ which can be applied to the surface in a few different colours to suit personal tastes. All of these are available through their online store and they ship just about anywhere in North America!
If, like when I got started, you are happy with using storage totes for pretty much everything then this can still be helpful to you, just not as much. I was happy with my totes for quite some time but as my garden grew, it became obvious that something larger was going to be required. While many people seem able to find IBC tanks practically free, I am not so lucky and they are in fact, rather pricey here. Add to that the fact that while they are very efficient and easy to set up, they aren't terribly pleasing to the eye and some building was going to be needed no matter what.
Building from wood and then finding a way to waterproof it seems like one of the best options. Wood can be shaped into as many forms as the carpenter can imagine so it is somewhat ideal for a garden like these. No matter what you want your garden to look like, it can be shaped with some wood and a skilled woodworker. If your plans are simple enough, even the skilled woodworker becomes somewhat optional. YouTube is filled with videos on how to do pretty much anything you want so …
Traditionally, waterproofing has been done with large rubber sheet liners that are cut and folded into the shapes needed with the waste tossed off to the scrap pile. If it gets a hole, or doesn't fit, or any large number of things goes wrong … the whole thing is a write off. Money wasted and it’s still not done. There are some people that are using Marine fiberglass to waterproof aquariums and such but fibre glass can be quite a pain to work with if you are inexperienced.
Liquid Rubber is the perfect combination of positive qualities in one easy to apply product. 100% VOC free and food safe (I've spoken directly to people at the company about this), Liquid Rubber is a paint on waterproofing product that almost anyone could make use of. Depending on what way it is to be used, 1-4 coats are applied and left for 24-48 hours to cure. Once that’s done, it’s safely water tight. Areas that are exposed to water after curing will turn a brownish color but that has no effect on it’s ability to maintain the ‘waterproof’ status. As an additional bonus, if a hole develops in a Liquid Rubber liner it can be dried off, have another layer painted on, left to cure and then put back into use. No throwing away large sheets of pond or pool liner because of a small hole or being an inch too short!
For those who are concerned about color, Liquid Rubber also sells ‘Texture Coatings’ which can be applied to the surface in a few different colours to suit personal tastes. All of these are available through their online store and they ship just about anywhere in North America!
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Aquaponic Gardens & Cost vs. Benefit
Starting an aquaponic garden is an investment but unlike an investment in the bank, this one takes effort on your part. Just how much effort you ask? Well, just how much do you want back in return?
While there are many things a new aquaponic gardener will need to consider before building their system, cost is something that needs to be worked out in the beginning. These garden systems take time, space and money to work really well. How much of those do you have to spare?
Let’s start with time. It will take time to setup your new garden. It will take more time to get everything flowing ‘just right’. It will take even more time to start producing those veggies that got you excited when you first learned about aquaponics. All of these things take time, so for many people there is very little ‘instant gratification’. If you have some skill with tools or plumbing, then the setup portion will not take too long at all. The time it takes to get things flowing and draining correctly isn't terribly great either it’s just that last one. Growing plants takes time, that’s all there is to it. Sure, aquaponic gardens grow big plants quickly, but it still takes time.
Okay, so let’s talk about space. An aquaponic garden doesn't need to be huge to be productive. At the moment there are only 16 square feet of aquaponic garden in my greenhouse and I assure you, it’s using it’s space VERY well. Unlike a traditional soil based garden, which you basically just need to dig a hole in the ground, aquaponic gardens seem to do better when provided with their own environment. Even if that just means a cover for shade in the summer or a poly tunnel (hoop house) for some extra heat in the winter. Plan accordingly. Do you have enough space for what you want to build as a new garden?
The biggest issue with an aquaponic garden would be the money involved with getting started. A good pump will cost you money, whatever you are going to use to hold your plants and fish will cost money. It takes electricity to run fans and pumps, that costs money. So, how do you decide how much you’re willing to spend on your garden? Well, that’s up to you.
In setting up my garden, I probably spent far more than I would have if I had just planted into the ground … or did I? Seeds cost the same regardless of how you are going to plant them, the same can be said for plant starts. When I think about how much it cost me over all to get my garden up and running I would suspect that my investment of cash is somewhere around $300. So there is the cost part, how about the benefits?
What are YOUR favorite fruits and vegetables? How much do they cost at market? If you run your math with an average price of even only $1 per pound of vegetables you could easily see enough harvests to get your money back in no time at all. In the case of organic vegetables your cost to purchase at market would be MUCH higher. What about herbs? Where we live, fresh organic herbs cost an average of $10 per pound. Which is a lot to spend but since these things are only purchased ¼ lb at a time, it never seems like much. It all adds up though.
How about fruits? At the market here ‘standard’ strawberries will sell for about $5 for 2lb in the summer months. I can honestly say, having eaten a fresh strawberry from my aquaponic garden only minutes ago, that grocery store strawberries do not even come close to the true taste from the ones that grow in the AP gardens. When you consider the price of fresh produce, it is hard to imagine how a reasonable aquaponic garden could be a bad investment.
If you are truly worried about the cost of getting started, use recycled materials where you can, use second hand parts but get started all the same. The longer your garden is growing for you, the more of a return you can enjoy!
Happy harvests!
While there are many things a new aquaponic gardener will need to consider before building their system, cost is something that needs to be worked out in the beginning. These garden systems take time, space and money to work really well. How much of those do you have to spare?
Let’s start with time. It will take time to setup your new garden. It will take more time to get everything flowing ‘just right’. It will take even more time to start producing those veggies that got you excited when you first learned about aquaponics. All of these things take time, so for many people there is very little ‘instant gratification’. If you have some skill with tools or plumbing, then the setup portion will not take too long at all. The time it takes to get things flowing and draining correctly isn't terribly great either it’s just that last one. Growing plants takes time, that’s all there is to it. Sure, aquaponic gardens grow big plants quickly, but it still takes time.
Okay, so let’s talk about space. An aquaponic garden doesn't need to be huge to be productive. At the moment there are only 16 square feet of aquaponic garden in my greenhouse and I assure you, it’s using it’s space VERY well. Unlike a traditional soil based garden, which you basically just need to dig a hole in the ground, aquaponic gardens seem to do better when provided with their own environment. Even if that just means a cover for shade in the summer or a poly tunnel (hoop house) for some extra heat in the winter. Plan accordingly. Do you have enough space for what you want to build as a new garden?
The biggest issue with an aquaponic garden would be the money involved with getting started. A good pump will cost you money, whatever you are going to use to hold your plants and fish will cost money. It takes electricity to run fans and pumps, that costs money. So, how do you decide how much you’re willing to spend on your garden? Well, that’s up to you.
In setting up my garden, I probably spent far more than I would have if I had just planted into the ground … or did I? Seeds cost the same regardless of how you are going to plant them, the same can be said for plant starts. When I think about how much it cost me over all to get my garden up and running I would suspect that my investment of cash is somewhere around $300. So there is the cost part, how about the benefits?
What are YOUR favorite fruits and vegetables? How much do they cost at market? If you run your math with an average price of even only $1 per pound of vegetables you could easily see enough harvests to get your money back in no time at all. In the case of organic vegetables your cost to purchase at market would be MUCH higher. What about herbs? Where we live, fresh organic herbs cost an average of $10 per pound. Which is a lot to spend but since these things are only purchased ¼ lb at a time, it never seems like much. It all adds up though.
How about fruits? At the market here ‘standard’ strawberries will sell for about $5 for 2lb in the summer months. I can honestly say, having eaten a fresh strawberry from my aquaponic garden only minutes ago, that grocery store strawberries do not even come close to the true taste from the ones that grow in the AP gardens. When you consider the price of fresh produce, it is hard to imagine how a reasonable aquaponic garden could be a bad investment.
If you are truly worried about the cost of getting started, use recycled materials where you can, use second hand parts but get started all the same. The longer your garden is growing for you, the more of a return you can enjoy!
Happy harvests!
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