Bob in Chico

Discussion in 'Introduce Yourself Here' started by Bob Campbell, Oct 4, 2013.

  1. Bob Campbell

    Bob Campbell Junior Member

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    I've been experimenting with aquaponics, bioponics, hydroponics, hugelkulture, wicking beds, earthan beds, biochar, vertical gardens, and the Kratky Method for a couple years. My goal is to find the most productive methods that are sustainable and easy. I'm now converting a lot of my garden space to earthan beds and will use both aquaponics as well as bioponics for nutrients.
    I'm also beginning to experiment with self made fertilizers and soil amendments. N-P-K are pretty easy to produce, but the chelated minerals are a bit more difficult. Grasses may provide a source of chelated iron and zinc.

    Currently I'm feeding my tilapia and catfish commercial fish food but I hope to step up my efforts and find more sustainable methods of feeding the fish. Black soldier flys have not stuck around long enough for me to harvest the larvae, but midge flys have been helping out. I grow water cress around the sides of the fish tank and also provide them with fresh duckweed, but I've got a long way to go before I can stop relying on fish food.
    I've learned enough that I can assist others but I'm not an expert.
    I write two blogs
    Chico Aquaponic
    Chico Gardens
     
  2. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    no idea of where Chico is... welcome. :)

    deep nutrient gatherers like alfalfa are great for using as a green manure source. take that and dry it a bit (in the sun a day or two on box tops works fine for me), i chop it a bit before drying, then feed it to the worms.

    worms are a great food for fishies. they don't take a huge amount of space to raise and can be collected easily (leave the covers off the bins at night and they'll crawl right out, put the bins over the fish tanks and you don't even have to do anything at all other than put the covers back on when you decide you've depleted the worm bins enough).
     
  3. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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    Welcome Bob!
    What a couple of great blogs! So much detail and information, I'll need to spend some quality time checking it all out. Great resources for all of us!

    (songbird, I believe Chico is in California).
     
  4. Bob Campbell

    Bob Campbell Junior Member

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    @Songbird - Thank you for the encouragement and ideas. The reason I'm planning to experiment with siderophores and phytosiderophores derived from fungi, and grasses is to create aquaponic or bioponic systems completely independent of outside resources, or at the very least create my own sources of of every input without resorting to anaerobic sequestration of iron. It's a long shot because I suspect that it will not be practical.

    Worms are a good idea. Besides providing fish food, the bacteria in their guts also has the ability to bind ferric iron with organic molecules as well as many other great benefits.

    I have recently been converting my wicking beds to Earthan beds and this may solve all the nutrient problems found in traditional aquaponics. Going back to Mother Nature is often the best solution to a technical problem. I'm very critical of traditional aquaponics because of the energy required to operate the systems, but I think Earthan beds will find their way into Permaculture very quickly as more people see the results.
     
  5. Bob Campbell

    Bob Campbell Junior Member

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    @9anda1f - Thank you for taking a look at my blogs. There are a lot of really good ideas being shared on the in the forums. I like to experiment with the ones that appeal to me, so a lot of what I blog about simply contains links to the best stuff I've come across and the results of my experiments.
     
  6. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    you're welcome. :)

    i would think that the worms having blood would also be an iron source along with many other nutrients (calcium being one that comes to mind immediately). i seem to recall breeding crickets as being particularly easy too. and then you could also go the route of having guppies and other fast breeders as a supplement.

    good luck with your research efforts.
     

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