Aquaponics

[bae]

As to aqua phonics, whenever the vendors show up at our county fair, it is clear to me that their goal is to sell you expensive filters, pumps, tanks, and fish food produced non-sustainably, while trying to convince you that you are boldly leaping into a sustainable, low-energy, food-secure future.

[The Storyteller]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. I don't know if my project will be successful, but it will be fun trying, I think. Puglogic, I learned from growing meat birds that it is a good idea to start slow and make sure you know what you are doing before going beyond providing food for yourself. My first couple of crops were disasters because though I read everything I could and watched lots of videos and had raised some heritage breeds, I found I still wasn't really as prepared as I thought. Experience is still the best teacher.

I already have some of my materials from around the farm. I have a couple of stock tanks I can use for grow beds and fish tanks, and can use the florescent lights from our seed starter room for grow lights. That isn't a long term solution, but it will help with my learning curve. Then there is the worm farm, which we hope will supplement the fish food. I figure all the additional supplies I need to get started is a pump (no heater... catfish are fairly cold hardy), grow media, and the plumbing.

Oh, and fish.

As to sustainable, I have found that to be a relative term. There is no such thing as a system that is 100% sustainable in agriculture, not that I have seen. But some systems are more sustainable than others. If done right, I think this can be sustainable in the long term.

Relatively.

[creaker]

I don't receive any significant subsidies for my "real" farm. I do pay a heavy cost in complying with foolish regulations though. I suppose that is an anti-subsidy.

I meant "real" farmers (sarcastically) - the ones with the big factory farms that get huge subsidies even when they sometimes don't grow anything.

It's one of my buttons, we have wonderful smaller scale and family farms here in NE are actually making inroads into the local food chain that the factory farmers are trying legislate out of business - lobbying money provided in part by the government subsidies they receive.

[The Storyteller]

Here's a link to a simple system designed especially to be easy to build with items readily available...

http://www.fastonline.org/images/man...ics_manual.pdf

Using food grade, second hand 55 gallon barrels, the originator created it especially for use in third world countries and calls it Barrelponics.

[The Storyteller]

Still researching the subject, I came on this interesting vid something like the sort of system I would like to grow into...