Aquaponics--almost a dirty word
The last posting was September 2018. WOW is all I can say. So much has happened since then.
When I last wrote, I had just put fish in system and I had lost almost all of my fish due to the vinegar adjustment for pH--at least that is what I have attributed that fish loss to. The next consideration in the greenhouse (GH) was the high humidity. Even though there is a floor vent open 24/7, so some air is coming in, the humidity reached 100% in the greenhouse. I thought if humidity could get that high, I should be seeing rain in the greenhouse. No rain. However, high humidity causes issues for the plants as they stay wet/damp continuously and this is not a good condition as I am not trying to grow rainforest plants. I ordered a fan and a thermostat, so the fan would come on when temps in GH got too high or I could run the fan continuously to keep the plants dryer, which I wound up doing.
The system was cycling and chemical levels were good for most everything except for the nitrite. High nitrite levels are deadly for the fish for their breathing. I added more salt to the system to help the fish out, but had to be careful with levels as too much salt is bad for the plants--a balancing act here.
On September 28th, I went to Gastonia and bought more fish from a different supplier, Southeast Pond Restocking. This company is located near the coast but the owner travels most of North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina delivering fish to local Tractor Supplies throughout the year so people can restock their ponds. The owner has a degree in Marine Biology and is certified in Aquaculture--great person to know/ask questions.
I also switched over the fish food from local Tractor Supply food or Walmart goldfish food to Aquaponics fish food from an online supplier. The food is more expensive and shipping was too, however, in my readings I discovered that quality food in, means quality poop out. And quality poop matters. Fish excrete wastes two ways and both need to be dealt with. One waste is a liquid and the other is a solid. Fish take in water via their gills and excrete ammonia out via their gills--liquid waste. The ammonia gets converted to the nitrite (by bacteria), then nitrate (by a different bacteria) and then the plants take up the nitrate for nutrition. The solid waste goes into the plant grow bed and is dealt with by the earthworms and some bacteria. Too big of solid waste can clog intake valves and become sludge that is difficult to remove. Solid waste is best to be small so bacteria can get to it better and deal with it.
Nitrite levels have climbed during this time and I have had to change water volume out, by about half just to lower the levels. Fish seemed okay with this. In the design of my system, I added a plastic milk crate so the minnows would have a safe place to be and not always be available for fish food (they are fish food, but I was hoping to breed them.) The milk crate was placed upside down and weighted down so it stayed at the bottom. Well, I discovered that fish can be curious. I watched a panfish--turn totally sideways so he could swim in the small slit opening of the upside down milkcrate and get inside of it. I gave him a day or so to see if he could get out but he could not and so he died in there. I then tried letting the milk crate float on top for minnows to swim in and out through the small holes but discovered the panfish jumping in and out of the floating milk crate. Needless to say, creating a haven for the minnows seemed fruitless. I bought more minnows from the petstore and that is an experience I will not ever do again. Initially the minnows swam in a school and looked so pretty. Hours later when I checked on them, many were missing and they were swimming frantically. I knew the fish would eat them, but I did not expect to see the minnows swimming around in terror--I really believe that they experienced that type of fear. Needless to say, the minnows were all eaten. Over 200 minnows gone in less than 48 hours by about 50 fish.
The prawns I ordered arrived and so I introduced them into the system. They were so tiny--about 1/2 inch long if that. The duckweed plant that I ordered also arrived and the fish loved it. I tried growing it in a separate container that floated on top of the tank but it kept getting under the vertical towers and would flood out and spill the teeny tiny plants into the tank.
The plants are growing and a squash plant was flowering. The plants were a bit leggier than I expected but maybe this is how things will grow during this time frame in the GH.
Now it was getting into October and temps were cooling down. I plugged in the two heaters for the fish tank. In my readings, as long as the water temp was within a certain range, the plants would be fine as it was mainly their roots that needed to have the proper temp. However, I learned that my plants would flower but I did not get fruit so, ambient air temp is important too--something to work on next winter. Most of the time, the GH was about a degree or two away from outside temperature. I figured maybe having that vent open 24/7 was a bad idea so I blocked it off. WELL, the humidity got to be awful in the GH. It was actually 'raining' in the GH due to the condensation of water. I decided that vent needed to be open no matter what. Also, I went and bought more fish as chemical levels were good and system could be fully stocked now. Still having to tweak pumps for the water levels, even with the dual siphons. This is the 3rd stocking of tank now. However, another fish loss occurred. Not truly sure why/due to what.
Also noticed white fungus growing on a few plants. I read up how to deal with and tried using baking soda dissolved in water and sprayed on plants to deal with the fungus. I noticed a yellowing of plants and thought iron levels were low, so added chelated iron to system. My strawberry plants and asparagus plants arrived. I planted the asparagus in the horizontal plant grow bed and the strawberry plants in the vertical towers. The strawberry plants had dirt on their roots, but was easy to remove most of the dirt. The asparagus were bare root plants. I planted spinach that I had grown from seed into the vertical towers as well.
Now we are into November, and I have lost more fish, so another fish stocking was done (number 4). The plants in the vertical towers are growing super well, such that they are root bound in the 1 1/2 inch PVC double wyes. I ordered 3 inch PVC double wyes to change them out for more room. Then catastrophe--a freak ice storm in November before Thanksgiving. I lost power for 36 hours and lost most of my fish. I had not ordered my backup generator as I was waiting until after Christmas and I had the money. I used credit card to buy the back up generator (worry about paying off later I figured.) I also ordered a good book written by David H. Dudley called Aquaponics Design Plans. Basically I knew most of the info however, he offered a few things I did not know, ideas to implement if I ever wanted to redo system.
December saw a major snowfall, almost 18 inches. It was beautiful and fun until it wasn't. In October I had tried to pull my left arm (and I am a lefty) out of its socket (dog tripped me and I gripped fence to keep myself from falling, however, I still fell but arm stayed attached to fence) and it wasn't until 6 weeks later that it was discovered I had broken my upper arm--chunk of bone had been pulled away slightly--and so, I had been one arming things mostly since Oct. 20. Once break was discovered, I was totally one arming things as any movement of left arm caused the bone fragment to be pulled slightly (not moved thank goodness as pain was such a good indicator to stop what I was doing.). However, before break was discovered, I was trying to use left arm when I could.
Another fish delivery/restocking was possible so I went ahead and got more fish--5th time. Fish loss occurred sporadically as issues with system. Plant grow bed pumping system somehow came apart and water wasnt being pumped well into Fish tank and so water volumes off and overflowing occurred. Using PVC pipes for system is great as simple to use and lots of parts to create many angle and things. However, tubing and such cannot be glued together as it is a living system and glue can be toxic for the fish so all things are just put together, mostly me jamming them together. However, I learned that that is not always the best way, using a rubber mallet to assist is better. But then you run the risk of attaching pieces together too tightly such that they won't ever come apart. Another balancing act. Finally had to rebuild the vertical towers. I had bought the 3 inch double wyes in October but could not use both arms to build but now it was necessary to redo them as the water was just flowing every which way but properly--the plants were so root bound that the water could not properly drain. Many choice words were uttered that day.
Now we are into the New Year (2019) and I am just maintaining the system and suffering periodic fish loss. Periodic fish loss can be normal as it is a sensitive system--maintaining chemical levels, adding properly treated city water, proper feeding, proper temperature, etc. There were a few days that the overnight outside temps were so cold that the GH door was frozen shut. I just looked in and hoped that all was well.
Now we are into February and a new problem has developed. During the initial running of system, there were many times that the water overflowed and wet the wood frames. I discovered that the wood frames were not as stable as needed and had to buttress them with 4x4's or screw in very long screws to keep the frames together. At one point, system was so bad that when I had lost most of the water, I redid the framing with 5 inch screws and thought I had fixed the problem. HA! The high humidity in the GH was keeping the cedar wood damp and damp wood does not have the same structural integrity as dry wood--who knew? Maybe experienced wood people, but not me. The frames of the fish tank were still separating despite all of the screws and 4x4's. And then I noticed something even worse--the outside walls of the greenhouse were starting to separate. The pressure of both the fish tank and the plant grow bed were forcing the GH walls to move--panic set in. My lovely design was a failure and I didn't know what to do. I had researched plastic tanks and all, but my GH was 10x12 and the best plastic tanks were available in Asia or Australia--too expensive to ship to the USA. Well, I had to figure something out and I went looking again. After using graph paper and playing "tetris" with the possible plastic tanks available in the USA and with the limited space I had, I went with the biggest tanks I could buy knowing this was the last time I would redo the system (first and last as I had not thought I would need to redo.) Charge cards are such a lovely thing. I ordered tanks and had to wait as one had to be made as there is not a big need for that size. I even had to go to a metal fabricator and get a shelf made that could hold my new plant grow bed tank. So, what did I order you wonder? I ordered a 300 gallon plant grow bed--better designs for plant grow beds are many smaller ones so it is easier to change out without upsetting the balance of system, however, I could not fit many smaller ones in my GH. And I ordered a 450 gallon fish tank.
Well, it took about a month for tanks to arrive. During the wait, I ordered more expanded clay pellets, which this time around was easier, no limits on the number of bags at any time. And I watched my GH walls further separate/bulge outward. The tanks arrived in March. The welder adjusted the metal shelf to fit plant grow bed properly and I painted the steel structure with marine epoxy paint. The shelf is about as long as my motorcycle--see picture and weighs about 200 pounds. I had castors put on it so I could roll it. It was designed to hold about 1800 pounds--tank weighs about 100 pounds and the clay pellets plus water would be the rest of potential weight.
Changing out the system would be a challenge if i wanted to keep my fish and plants alive. I had a handy man friend who I hired to assist this difficult process--Louis. Below are two pictures that show the first system. Things look pretty damn good in my opinion. However, looks can be deceiving. Everything in the GH would have to be dismantled and quickly.
When I last wrote, I had just put fish in system and I had lost almost all of my fish due to the vinegar adjustment for pH--at least that is what I have attributed that fish loss to. The next consideration in the greenhouse (GH) was the high humidity. Even though there is a floor vent open 24/7, so some air is coming in, the humidity reached 100% in the greenhouse. I thought if humidity could get that high, I should be seeing rain in the greenhouse. No rain. However, high humidity causes issues for the plants as they stay wet/damp continuously and this is not a good condition as I am not trying to grow rainforest plants. I ordered a fan and a thermostat, so the fan would come on when temps in GH got too high or I could run the fan continuously to keep the plants dryer, which I wound up doing.
The system was cycling and chemical levels were good for most everything except for the nitrite. High nitrite levels are deadly for the fish for their breathing. I added more salt to the system to help the fish out, but had to be careful with levels as too much salt is bad for the plants--a balancing act here.
On September 28th, I went to Gastonia and bought more fish from a different supplier, Southeast Pond Restocking. This company is located near the coast but the owner travels most of North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina delivering fish to local Tractor Supplies throughout the year so people can restock their ponds. The owner has a degree in Marine Biology and is certified in Aquaculture--great person to know/ask questions.
I also switched over the fish food from local Tractor Supply food or Walmart goldfish food to Aquaponics fish food from an online supplier. The food is more expensive and shipping was too, however, in my readings I discovered that quality food in, means quality poop out. And quality poop matters. Fish excrete wastes two ways and both need to be dealt with. One waste is a liquid and the other is a solid. Fish take in water via their gills and excrete ammonia out via their gills--liquid waste. The ammonia gets converted to the nitrite (by bacteria), then nitrate (by a different bacteria) and then the plants take up the nitrate for nutrition. The solid waste goes into the plant grow bed and is dealt with by the earthworms and some bacteria. Too big of solid waste can clog intake valves and become sludge that is difficult to remove. Solid waste is best to be small so bacteria can get to it better and deal with it.
Nitrite levels have climbed during this time and I have had to change water volume out, by about half just to lower the levels. Fish seemed okay with this. In the design of my system, I added a plastic milk crate so the minnows would have a safe place to be and not always be available for fish food (they are fish food, but I was hoping to breed them.) The milk crate was placed upside down and weighted down so it stayed at the bottom. Well, I discovered that fish can be curious. I watched a panfish--turn totally sideways so he could swim in the small slit opening of the upside down milkcrate and get inside of it. I gave him a day or so to see if he could get out but he could not and so he died in there. I then tried letting the milk crate float on top for minnows to swim in and out through the small holes but discovered the panfish jumping in and out of the floating milk crate. Needless to say, creating a haven for the minnows seemed fruitless. I bought more minnows from the petstore and that is an experience I will not ever do again. Initially the minnows swam in a school and looked so pretty. Hours later when I checked on them, many were missing and they were swimming frantically. I knew the fish would eat them, but I did not expect to see the minnows swimming around in terror--I really believe that they experienced that type of fear. Needless to say, the minnows were all eaten. Over 200 minnows gone in less than 48 hours by about 50 fish.
The prawns I ordered arrived and so I introduced them into the system. They were so tiny--about 1/2 inch long if that. The duckweed plant that I ordered also arrived and the fish loved it. I tried growing it in a separate container that floated on top of the tank but it kept getting under the vertical towers and would flood out and spill the teeny tiny plants into the tank.
The plants are growing and a squash plant was flowering. The plants were a bit leggier than I expected but maybe this is how things will grow during this time frame in the GH.
Now it was getting into October and temps were cooling down. I plugged in the two heaters for the fish tank. In my readings, as long as the water temp was within a certain range, the plants would be fine as it was mainly their roots that needed to have the proper temp. However, I learned that my plants would flower but I did not get fruit so, ambient air temp is important too--something to work on next winter. Most of the time, the GH was about a degree or two away from outside temperature. I figured maybe having that vent open 24/7 was a bad idea so I blocked it off. WELL, the humidity got to be awful in the GH. It was actually 'raining' in the GH due to the condensation of water. I decided that vent needed to be open no matter what. Also, I went and bought more fish as chemical levels were good and system could be fully stocked now. Still having to tweak pumps for the water levels, even with the dual siphons. This is the 3rd stocking of tank now. However, another fish loss occurred. Not truly sure why/due to what.
Also noticed white fungus growing on a few plants. I read up how to deal with and tried using baking soda dissolved in water and sprayed on plants to deal with the fungus. I noticed a yellowing of plants and thought iron levels were low, so added chelated iron to system. My strawberry plants and asparagus plants arrived. I planted the asparagus in the horizontal plant grow bed and the strawberry plants in the vertical towers. The strawberry plants had dirt on their roots, but was easy to remove most of the dirt. The asparagus were bare root plants. I planted spinach that I had grown from seed into the vertical towers as well.
Now we are into November, and I have lost more fish, so another fish stocking was done (number 4). The plants in the vertical towers are growing super well, such that they are root bound in the 1 1/2 inch PVC double wyes. I ordered 3 inch PVC double wyes to change them out for more room. Then catastrophe--a freak ice storm in November before Thanksgiving. I lost power for 36 hours and lost most of my fish. I had not ordered my backup generator as I was waiting until after Christmas and I had the money. I used credit card to buy the back up generator (worry about paying off later I figured.) I also ordered a good book written by David H. Dudley called Aquaponics Design Plans. Basically I knew most of the info however, he offered a few things I did not know, ideas to implement if I ever wanted to redo system.
December saw a major snowfall, almost 18 inches. It was beautiful and fun until it wasn't. In October I had tried to pull my left arm (and I am a lefty) out of its socket (dog tripped me and I gripped fence to keep myself from falling, however, I still fell but arm stayed attached to fence) and it wasn't until 6 weeks later that it was discovered I had broken my upper arm--chunk of bone had been pulled away slightly--and so, I had been one arming things mostly since Oct. 20. Once break was discovered, I was totally one arming things as any movement of left arm caused the bone fragment to be pulled slightly (not moved thank goodness as pain was such a good indicator to stop what I was doing.). However, before break was discovered, I was trying to use left arm when I could.
Another fish delivery/restocking was possible so I went ahead and got more fish--5th time. Fish loss occurred sporadically as issues with system. Plant grow bed pumping system somehow came apart and water wasnt being pumped well into Fish tank and so water volumes off and overflowing occurred. Using PVC pipes for system is great as simple to use and lots of parts to create many angle and things. However, tubing and such cannot be glued together as it is a living system and glue can be toxic for the fish so all things are just put together, mostly me jamming them together. However, I learned that that is not always the best way, using a rubber mallet to assist is better. But then you run the risk of attaching pieces together too tightly such that they won't ever come apart. Another balancing act. Finally had to rebuild the vertical towers. I had bought the 3 inch double wyes in October but could not use both arms to build but now it was necessary to redo them as the water was just flowing every which way but properly--the plants were so root bound that the water could not properly drain. Many choice words were uttered that day.
Now we are into the New Year (2019) and I am just maintaining the system and suffering periodic fish loss. Periodic fish loss can be normal as it is a sensitive system--maintaining chemical levels, adding properly treated city water, proper feeding, proper temperature, etc. There were a few days that the overnight outside temps were so cold that the GH door was frozen shut. I just looked in and hoped that all was well.
Now we are into February and a new problem has developed. During the initial running of system, there were many times that the water overflowed and wet the wood frames. I discovered that the wood frames were not as stable as needed and had to buttress them with 4x4's or screw in very long screws to keep the frames together. At one point, system was so bad that when I had lost most of the water, I redid the framing with 5 inch screws and thought I had fixed the problem. HA! The high humidity in the GH was keeping the cedar wood damp and damp wood does not have the same structural integrity as dry wood--who knew? Maybe experienced wood people, but not me. The frames of the fish tank were still separating despite all of the screws and 4x4's. And then I noticed something even worse--the outside walls of the greenhouse were starting to separate. The pressure of both the fish tank and the plant grow bed were forcing the GH walls to move--panic set in. My lovely design was a failure and I didn't know what to do. I had researched plastic tanks and all, but my GH was 10x12 and the best plastic tanks were available in Asia or Australia--too expensive to ship to the USA. Well, I had to figure something out and I went looking again. After using graph paper and playing "tetris" with the possible plastic tanks available in the USA and with the limited space I had, I went with the biggest tanks I could buy knowing this was the last time I would redo the system (first and last as I had not thought I would need to redo.) Charge cards are such a lovely thing. I ordered tanks and had to wait as one had to be made as there is not a big need for that size. I even had to go to a metal fabricator and get a shelf made that could hold my new plant grow bed tank. So, what did I order you wonder? I ordered a 300 gallon plant grow bed--better designs for plant grow beds are many smaller ones so it is easier to change out without upsetting the balance of system, however, I could not fit many smaller ones in my GH. And I ordered a 450 gallon fish tank.
Well, it took about a month for tanks to arrive. During the wait, I ordered more expanded clay pellets, which this time around was easier, no limits on the number of bags at any time. And I watched my GH walls further separate/bulge outward. The tanks arrived in March. The welder adjusted the metal shelf to fit plant grow bed properly and I painted the steel structure with marine epoxy paint. The shelf is about as long as my motorcycle--see picture and weighs about 200 pounds. I had castors put on it so I could roll it. It was designed to hold about 1800 pounds--tank weighs about 100 pounds and the clay pellets plus water would be the rest of potential weight.
Changing out the system would be a challenge if i wanted to keep my fish and plants alive. I had a handy man friend who I hired to assist this difficult process--Louis. Below are two pictures that show the first system. Things look pretty damn good in my opinion. However, looks can be deceiving. Everything in the GH would have to be dismantled and quickly.
The dismantling was done in a certain order. The plant grow bed was done first with the plants being put in a large plastic container and set in the garage because overnight temps still cold. During dismantling, more discoveries made. The water levels in plant grow bed stayed too high and many crops could not handle that and I could see root rot issues. I also discovered that the water was NASTY--too high levels and so the worms and bacteria could not properly degrade the solid matter--possible reason for the fish losses I experienced continually throughout the running of this system. The picture below shows stage one of change over. I pumped some fish water into the black tank--it was the future plant grow bed but was to be temporary fish tank until old tank dismantled and new tank brought in.
During the dismantling of the fish tank, we discovered that some screws had sheared or broken due to the pressure being exerted at those points. The fish tank was just waiting to burst open and break.
Catching the remaining fish was an interesting process. The water levels were quite low but even still, the fish did not want to get into the net. Go figure. I eventually got the fish into the temporary tank and another cool discovery was made--my panfish had been able to breed in the tank. I was told that this would probably not be able to happen as conditions were not really good for breeding. I wound up loosing many of the babies as I could not get those little guys--barely an inch long or so.
Now we have the proper set up--fish still in the temporary black tank. A new problem was discovered though. With this minimal weight, the metal shelf too difficult to move on the brick floor of the GH and too much weight on individual bricks such that the brick floor was caving in. Back to metal fabricator for metal pads to rest the castors on--Louis' idea, thank goodness. However, had to wait another day for the metal pads to be painted and for paint to dry. Epoxy paint stinks and was like marshmallow fluff to paint and I was probably high for a few days because of painting--even with proper ventilation in the garage. ASAP I filled the blue tank with water and treated the water and got all systems to run, cycling the water just back into the blue tank. Bubbler was only thing running in the temp tank and I had a time frame--fish could not be in temp tank more than 48 hours before issues/build up of ammonia or nitrites.
I tried netting the fish again--what a dumb idea. So, I drilled the two holes needed in the black tank and then watched the water drain into the blue tank below while the fish fought to stay in the black tank. Pan fish are tall and narrow and it was funny to watch them try and swim sideways, tilted almost 90 degrees. I was able to get them out much easier than the catfish. The catfish did just fine in very low water levels, they just 'walked' away from the net or flipped out of the net. Eventually after much effort and cussing, all fish in new blue tank. Time to work on new plant grow bed and get it set up properly. I chose to do the gravity drain method as it is the most successful and easiest to do. I started putting the clay pellets back in and had to test that system. Adjusting the water levels was tricky and took time. However, I felt I had them correct and decided to add the plants. Amazingly the plants were doing okay in the garage and handled transplanting pretty well. The system fits rather tightly in the GH but I can move around to the back of the system (avoiding spider webs as I do so) and get to stuff in the back. I have to use a step stool to reach the center of the plant grow bed though.
System was running and water was cycling properly. Time to work on the vertical towers--far left in picture. I had to figure new way for them to drain back into the fish tank as old way not possible. Trips to Lowes and Tractor Supply to just walk the aisles and think outside of the box. I eventually came up with a cool design and implemented it. Had to adjust water flow to the towers but things seemed to run well.
Now we are into April and another fish delivery/restocking. I was only able to get catfish but was okay with that.
May saw few changes and some fish loss. It appeared that every time I added water to the system, due to evaporation/condensation or just loss--vertical towers causing me a problem for return flow--I would lose a catfish or two. My method of adding water to the system was to crush the chewable vitamin C and add to the plant grow bed--the black tank. I would then add the city water to the plant grow bed as well and let it all sit for 90 minutes before cycling into the fish tank. I usually added a little crushed vitamin C to the fish tank as an extra measure. But inevitably, I would lose at least one catfish--suckers are not as hardy as the panfish I am discovering. I wondered if the vitamin C was dissolving okay--nowhere in my readings that I could recall discussed that the vitamin C should be dissolved prior to adding. I changed and started making a slurry of the crushed vitamin C and then did like I always did. Lo and behold, catfish loss decreased or non existent. Crushed vitamin C needed to be dissolved first as it seems to take a while to dissolve in cool water. I used hot water to dissolve it.
I did discover during this time that the water level in plant grow bed getting too high before siphon drain system kicked in. So, I had to remove plants, and clay pellets and cut piping down some. Root crops--carrots and beets were actually rotting in the plant grow bed due to too much water staying even for the 30 minute time frame. The pumps were set to run for 30 minutes, filling the plant grow bed and then eventually draining out via the two white tubes seen in front. Then the pumps would be off for 90 minutes. However, too much water or I transplanted plants too deeply.
And after much thinking of trying to figure how to work the water flow into the vertical towers--it was on a series method and I just could not adjust rate for all towers to get water, nor could I figure how to reconfigure. It dawned on me to just add another drain for the two towers that had issues. And another lo and behold, the water flows back into the fish tank just perfectly without any overflowing out of the system from the towers. I will admit, it is not pleasing to this OCD mind of mine, but no more major water loss is better.
So, now, June/July and system running smoothly. I still have to figure out how to move the solid matter in the fish tank around better so it can go into the plant grow bed and be digested by the worms. And the small solid matter that stays in solution is another problem--I have to figure out how to add a filter to the tubes that feed the grow bed and to the tubes that return the water to the fish tank without slowing the water flow down--those answers are still eluding me. The plant harvest is not as productive as I would hope. I have had some strawberries, spinach and tomatoes. Next week I should get an okra or two. I have asparagus growing and a squash of unknown type--I planted seeds and threw away the packaging. I have discovered that the water level in the plant grow bed still gets too high and causes too much floating of the clay pellets, which causes the plants to rise and fall too much. I shall work on that problem after I start harvesting fish so the fish waste levels start to diminish as their numbers decrease. This water level issue does cause problems with planting in the grow bed as the plant roots need to be properly established to rise and fall with the water level. So direct sowing into the grow bed is the best method for seed germination and survivability. Once fixed, I should be able to start seedlings in the rock wool cubes and put plants exactly where I want them to grow.
I was able to repurpose the old plant grow bed and fish tank--they are my new outside herb bed and veggie garden. They are much higher off the ground and so far the chickens seem to ignore the beds as long as I don't focus too much on the beds. Chickens are very curious and they follow me around the yard as I have occasionally thrown worms or food at them. I have learned NOT to feed them things that I don't want them to develop a taste for--little buggers then will eat what I am growing.
I had issues with chickens during this time--lost some due to a friend's dog going on a killing spree. Lost one due to her laying the biggest eggs I'd ever seen. She must have suffered internal injuries due to that problem and had to be put down. Below is picture of the biggest egg I have ever seen--it actually is wrinkled but the wrinkle is hardened. My friend Sam, nicknamed the egg, "Andre" after Andre the Giant who was a wrestler. The egg was a double yolk. I had quite a few double yolked eggs, but once I lost that chicken, I have not had anymore. I went from 18 chickens to 12 now. I think that is an okay number and I shall stay there.
I apologize for such a lengthy blog but it was not an easy time for me. I have to admit that I experienced some personal issues as well and there were many days that just taking care of the minifarm was all I could handle. This new path/journey in my life has not been easy. Even though I am working towards fulfilling a dream of mine, it is not easy peasy and I am doing it by myself. The small town I live in is a great place and I am glad I chose to stay here, but finding a male friend--someone who is mentally and physically attractive to me is hard. The minifarm, its work, my family, friends and my pets keep me going, along with my knitting, swimming, going to church and being with my motorcycle riding club. There are some days I do laugh and you would too if you could see me and the critters--the dogs, my stray cat and chickens all get along well and follow me around the yard. I am the 'pied piper'. I am finding my way but it is a bit lonely, however, my pets make sure that I am never alone, either indoors or out. So that does help some. Even the chickens wait on me to come outside and be with them--actually they want their evening treat and so can be a bit demanding.
And it is official too--my daughter, Skye made the sign for the minifarm--
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