Hi there folks :-) Has been a while since posting an update here so thought I might cheat & post our latest walk around clip ;-) Decided to show a little bit of everything we have on the go this time round to give people a better idea of how our Backyard farm is set up..
Has been a while since I ventured over here to blog land so thought I would do a bit of a catch up post..Think we shall start with he Fish..
Aquaponics...
I did a "What is
Aquaponics" style clip a few weeks ago to help a friend explain aquaponics to her family members.. Not a real in depth one but it will gives a rough idea on how the system works including the relationship between the fish,
bacteria & plants.. It also shows a bit of the growth in the system
if your interested on how it's looking at the moment..
Not much has happened with the aquaponics of late which is a good thing
on one hand but frustrating on the other... The fish are all well
& happy (so they tell me) with the growth in the beds travelling along fine.. The celery is still being picked every couple of days & the strawberries have been fruiting well..
Harvested our first aquaponic pepino last weekend which was great.. There are a load on there with a few easily 50% larger than the fruit above :D
Really hoping to get the grow beds sorted out into their new
positions by the start of spring.. First a wicking bed needs to be
pulled down & the ground levelled to make room for them.. The new configuration should free up some space to try out a few new ways to grow plants with the system..
Hanging with the Chooks...
The chooks are at the top of their game at the moment.. Greedy decided to moult at the start of winter, which was a bit of a concern to us, but grew back back a fine set of feathers just in time for the few cool nights we have had this winter.. Have started to make up 2-3 lots of sprouted wheat a week for the girls.. I think they now recognise the sprouting jar as there is much flapping & excitement when we go wandering down to the pen with it.. Have also had a go at growing them some wheat sprouts as a fodder crop in the aquaponics but have shelved that idea for a little while :)
Hope to make a start on the modified feeder & shall do a bit of a report on that once it is done for those interested..
Wandering the patch...
Have got stuck into a few jobs around the place of late getting the patch ready for the warm season crops.. There are some tomato, eggplant & capsicum seedlings that have just started to germinate which is a great sight to see..
Some water chestnuts have also made it into some small 100mm pots to give them a bit of a head start before going into the sedge bathtub bed that will be set up near the aquaponics..
The yacon are starting to throw up shoots & I think we will have more than enough for our purposes this year.. Have quite a few earmarked for other people & have already given a fair few away..
Made a decent start in setting up the new front yard garden beds as well.. There are now 4 IBC wicking beds along the front retaining wall with another 4 going in over the coming weeks.. The first 2 beds have the asparagus in them with some heirloom corn planed for at least one of the other beds.. Hope to do a post on them by themselves once they are in & growing :)
Garden walk around clips..
Have a couple of clips on what's happening in the patch at the moment... The first is of the front yard last week before the new beds went in..
The pigeon pea still haven't been harvested but when they have I shall post about our attempt at making humus with them...Should be interesting methinks..
The second clip is of the backyard patch with a bit of a quick look at the 2 new pineapple flowers that have just started to form :)
Hope to make a proper start to the insect house extension soon as well (looks at list of jobbies).. After last seasons success with keeping the fruit fly out I think we might finally get a chance at growing some decent tomatoes & capsicums :)
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Well that brings us roughly up to date... Shall post some project updates over the next few days to bring the blog up to speed all proper like ;)
Hope all are well & happy out there & have been having fun in the garden..
Cheers,
Rob..
Backyard Aquaponic update, more plans & jobbies. 29th April 2013 Not much happening with the aquaponics of late other than plants growing & fish swimming.. The radial flow filter is yet to be included into the main feed line to the grow beds.. It needs a few minor alterations so it can be cleaned out more effectively before that can happen though..
Have been inspired to start off a small 2000L/530gal fish farm so am
making plans to clear some space to include it next to the aquaponics..
Hope to make a start on that as soon as I can save up some extra coin :)
Wicking bed & Straw bale garden update.. 1st May 2013 Really love the growth the garden puts on at this time of year but with the milder weather creeping up on us I think I will be wishing it was spring soon enough.. The hay bale bed looks to be working just fine & am looking forward to planting out some spuds soon using Peter Cundall's no-dig potato method ..
Have made a proper start on the hoop house extension & hope to have all the frame up by next weekend so you should see some progress on that in the next update..
For more regular updates & pictures from the patch come visit us on our Bits Out the Back Facebook page.. Have a great one All...
Made up a bit of a clip on Sunday just showing how the aquaponic system is configured for now.. I think it will always be a work in progress as there will always be something to play or experiment with.. Have already got a few ideas on how the new beds will be made, arranged 7 plumbed up.. Just need to wait for some plants to wind down before I can start moving the bed to make some room :)»
For more regular updates & pictures from the patch come visit us on our "Bits Out the Back" Facebook page..
Have a great one All...
Been a few additions to the set up over the past week.. A new air compressor & filter were added to the system... Both are a bit of overkill for now but will come in handy when the system expands..
Had a bit of a scare with the fish the other day.. The water became murky for no apparent reason & all the fish went off the feed for 12 or so hours but they all look to be OK & are feeding well now.. Think they need a break after all the tinkering that has been going on around them..
For more regular updates about the patch come visit on the Bits Out the Back Face Book page..
Have a great one All... : )»
Has been a tad warm here over the past week but nowhere near as bad as some of the southern states.. The garden worms chooks & fish have pulled through just fine with only one casualty (daughters pennyroyal) so happy about that..
Now the weather has cooled off a bit I will be planting out some seedlings & tackling some odd jobs to get the patch ready for Autumn.. Will be pruning the rest of the Chinese elm & some of the mango them running it through the mulcher... This will be mixed with some horse manure & left to compost a bit.. It will eventually become Autumns top up mulch for the beds...
For more regular updates about the patch come visit us at https://www.facebook.com/Bitsouttheback
With the high temperatures we have been having the water in the fish tank has been slowly rising to the 30°C/86°F mark... This is outside the comfort range of the Jade perch & I was getting worried about the amount of dissolved oxygen they had available so needed a quick fix.. Found a very easy fix by doing next to nothing at all..
Might contemplate adding some frozen bottles of water into the tank to try & help reduce the water temperature tomorrow..
Pests & rain...
Has been quite some time since I last posted... No single reason, the holidays came & went, School started back up for the girls.. I think I also became complacent about gardening after loosing most fruiting crops to combination of fruit fly, too much rain & a plague of mini grasshoppers... We still have been harvesting a variety of veggies that didn't get targeted my the grasshoppers or fruit fly.. We did manage to save some fruit by covering them with pest exclusion bags so am thankful for that.. I think we have learnt some valuable lessons & are already planing a defensive strategy to deal with them for next summer...
Plants for the coming months...
We are looking at Autumn & Winter seasons so have put all the pests & deluges behind us.. We sowed a selection of broccoli, cauliflower, as well as some kale, rainbow chard & tatsoi.. The are also a small tray of tansy that will be used to deter the ants that love colonising the wicking beds & barrels.. Some roma tomatoes have been planted into one of the top IBC beds & we also have a tray of unknown variety of tom's needing to be planted out as well..
Barrels have been selected for this years garlic crop as well as the onions sets we grew last year..
Tadpoles/Froglets & Aquaponics...
We have some movement in the tadpole "ponds" with a few metamorphosing
into frogs & disappearing into the garden.. So far we have seen ½ a
dozen advanced tadpoles with legs & 2 that are wee small frogs with
stumpy tails attached like the little feller to the left..
As much as we love watching them grow & change we would really like
the trays free to turn into grow beds for the Aquaponic set up..
The 1 grow bed we have is slowly filling up with strawberry runners which is great as we are looking at trying to build "strawberry wall MKII" in the next month or so.. We still only have the 7 large goldfish & a single Pacific blue eye in the fish tank... We have our name down for 30 Jade perch at one place & have another we still need to check out.. Really want at lest one more grow bed before we put any more fish in just to make sure there is enough medium to filter out the waste...
Below are a couple of the latest clips done of the garden & Tadpoles...
That's about it for now but will be back a lot sooner this time as we have a few little projects on the go...
Just to finish, here is some of the udumalpet, White & Long Asian purple eggplants we have been harvesting over the past few months...
Even though it has been a while since the last post a bit has been going on out the back...
But first, aquick update on the Rust & pest problem from the last Blog post... The beans were removed & disposed of in the garbage in an attempt to get rid of as much infected matter as possible... The garden was then sprayed on the 17th of September with Neem... The White Cabbage Butterfly caterpillar & Colorado Potato beetle populations have nearly disappeared completely so I am very chuffed with that.. I was contemplating purchasing some Dipel powder for the caterpillars as it will be needed for the Aquaponic system as it is Fish friendly but that can wait until the beds are all set up..
Spring sowing's... Seeds...
Since the last post a few seeds & a couple of seedlings have gone in...
Bean, Black seeded Snake, Madagascar/tropical Lima
Purple Vienna Kohlrabi
Mangelwurzel
Beetroot Early Wonder
Cucumber, Muncher Burpless, Lebanese, Mini White
Corn, Baby Pop
Rainbow Chard
Eggplant, Thai, Udumalapet, Large White
Cumin
Tomato, Black Russian, Brandywine Pink
Rockmelon, Minnesota Midget
Cos lettuce & Unidentified Lettuce seedlings from mum Seedlings
Mixed Capsicum
Transplanted unidentified volunteer Brassicas x 2 Bed #2
Transplanted Red salad & Brown onions into Bed's # 1 & 2 form various beds in the patch...
Transplanted the Broad Ripple Yellow currant & Wapsipinicon Peach Tomato seedlings from the Lime Bed into newly prepared Wicking Barrels with cages...
Still waiting for most to sprout & most from the previous batch are yet to sprout but here is a quick look anyway...
Strawberry wall...
As the remaining
Strawberry barrel was cleared out to make way for some Tomatoes so what
was left was put into the Strawberry wall... Was a bit of a squeeze to
get them in but they're all in there now... What surprised us the most
was finding 2 small plants that look like they have sprouted from
seed... Left is a shot before the other plants from the barrel went in... There is a quick look at what they look like now in the clip above..
Happy Harvests...
We are still harvesting the last of the Carrots from the Bath tub bed along with Kohlrabi & Spring onions for coleslaw a few times a week... The last of the Beetroot& Purple Cauli's were harvested for a nice Roast Lamb lunch with guests on Sunday... They all went down a treat... Still getting heaps of tomatoes from the volunteer plants around the yard & the Mangles that had all their sick looking leaves trimmed off are now providing us with some lovely fresh greens...
Most of the tomatoes on the Right are now a very tasty tomato paste in the Freezer...
It's that time again when we start deciding which winter plants are ready to cull, which beds need a good feed & which if any need to be moved or removed... If we don't make a start now we will be behind the 8 ball for the Spring plantings...
This is a rough plan of what we would like to have done by the end of Spring... There are a few more beds I would like to add in the next few months but they will have to wait until the Aquaponics system has been set up.... Have also started to look out for plans to make a Black Solider Fly farm to grow some more food for the Fish & Yabbies to make it easier on the wallet & healthier for them...
Decided to start with the Brussels Sprout barrel as it just wasn't preforming very well... Have also made a tentative start on the IBC Aquaponic system... Well, moved the pavers, levelled off some soil & pondered the layout over an ale with B☼...
Will be laying off the fish feed for a day or so to see what happens to the levels...
Also cut up a few barrels to turn into Wicking barrels but really didn't accomplish as much as I wanted but that's always the way... Such is...
Harvest Shots...
The Swiss Brown Mushrooms have been a tad slow in producing so I am hoping that moving them into a warmer spot might aid in better growth... Have only gotten 300 or so grams in the past 2 weeks...
I might try a method I read about in the Simple Savings forum where you grow your own using chopped up "ripe" Mushies that are dropping their spores to start up another farm... Always up for playing around...
We harvested the last of the Dragon Carrots from Bed #1.. They will be vacuum sealed & frozen.. The lemons are being picked every few days & many a Lemony treat has been made for home & B☼'s work in the past couple of weeks.. Always nice to share with work mates & family... The Sugarsnap Peas are starting to get woody & are not as sweet as the past few harvests so 1 lot was pulled & the second has been left after getting a good feed with Fish, Seaweed & Rock dust fertilisers to see if we can pick them up a bit... A large handful of baby Spuds was taken from a bag
We also got our first bug/maggot free Capsicum!!!!!**DOES BIG HAPPY DANCE** It will go well in a roast Lamb & Quinoa salad me thinks... The Cape Gooseberries are slowing down a bit... We are getting 5-10 every few days so its a race down to the patch to see who can gobble them first at the moment...
Feel free to ask questions or offer advice...
Have a great one all... : )»
Monday walk through...
A bit of a walk through looking at a few bits around the yard that we did on the weekend in the yard & Veggie Patch...
Harvesting the Spice barrels...
We decided to harvest the Galangal, Turmeric & Ginger (GTG) early this year so we could renovate that part of the patch for the Aquaponic system...
We got far more than we thought we would as the soil they were planted in was of very poor quality...The Worm cast & Compost tea's gave the leaves a boost in the last few months so the rhizomes must of benefited as well I think...
I think we got twice the Turmeric (left) than the last crop, about the same from the Galangal (middle)... The Ginger (left) produced a lot more than last years crop that was grown from rhizomes purchased from the supermarket... This crop was grown from rhizomes purchased from Green Harvest & produced about double the amount of better looking ginger... Glad we paid the extra now... The pieces with stalk still on them will be given to others & some will be planted into Bed #9 with the Lemon Grass...
New Barrels & other Bit's...
2 new Wicking Barrels were made up for some seedlings in need of new homes... 2 purple & 1 Thai basil (left) were put in a barrel down in the patch & the Bell Chilli & 2 x of our Banana x Chillies (right) were put in a barrel beside the new Spice barrel by the back stairs...
All the remaining potted veggies were put on a frame around the side of the house with only a few pots & the Bromeliads, including the Pineapple, were left under the stairs with some Aloe & herbs.. The Strawberry wall (left) has had a minor renovation with some more wire cut out to allow for the plants settling down further in the wall & restricting the crown from sprouting more growth...
Have been harvesting a few Broccoli flowers (left) for salads & nibbles while walking around the patch.. Will be saving some seeds once they set..
There is only 1 white Kohlrabi left (right) & B☼ wants to leave it to see how large it will grow...Will be a week or 2 before the Purple ones will be ready.. Planted out 10 others around the patch & plan to sow some more seed when we can find some space...
The Passion fruit barrel has been overrun by feral Tomatoes & Eggplants that have sprouted from the worm cast that was placed under each of the seedlings... Shall have to thin them out soon but am thinking of leaving the Eggplant in just to see what type it turns out to be...
Have also moved bits around the yard & have packed up all the composting barrels until after the reception... I might be able to take out Bed #5 , put in the bedding pebbles, cut down then place the IBC's before the reception is held but it might be a push.. Was hoping to have a little Barrel system up by then but the 2 new Wicking Barrels have taken up the spot next to the stairs where I was going to put them... Such is...
Random Pic's...
Some of the produce we have been picking...
Long early Eggplant, Beans, Kohlrabi, Beans, Beetroot, Lemons, Beans,Mangle Leaves, Snowpeas, Dragon Carrots, Beans, Cape Gooseberries, Raspberries, Beans, Honey snap Peas, Oh & did I mention Beans ???
Have also been trying to get a Celery base to shoot & will try to plant it once the roots come in... We do the same with store bought Shallots/Spring onions (depending on what country you live in).. Have bought a few bunches of them marked down to clear for 50cents & didn't loose any after planting them...
This weekend was meant to be spent getting the back yard ready to hold our reception in it... Saturday morning saw B☼ & I wander around & find some locations to put the migrating Sweet Potato bed & spots for 2 barrels that will have our new Berries in them... This took longer than we thought it would due to grub harvesting from the Brassicas, spending some quality time with our Pumpkin dwelling Lizard friend & general garden maintenance... After that was done with I set about finishing off the Worm harvest from the barrel that had been flooded... Some timber was then routed in preparation to be installed as chair rails in the dining room then ½ a Wicking Barrel was put together & placed down the back to plant the Blueberry bush into... Not a bad days work but still had heaps to do Sunday, before & after a trip to visit the celebrant... That was until I reached for some Muffin trays to make some mini Sticky Date puddings in & sliced open the knuckle of the index finger of my right hand... Not a deep cut but it is in a position that I can't bend my finger for the next 4-6 days so all the little jobs that were planed to be finished during the week like the Wicking Barrels, painting the back stairs & fitting the chair rail & painting the Dining room will now have to be put off until next weekend...
Such is really... At least I have time to sit & blog I suppose... : )»
Worm Barrel...
I started to harvest the worms from the half barrel farm Monday last week but got side tracked with the solar panel installation & painting the back stair area... The idea of the barrel farm was to have no drainage & run it as a "dry farm"... The tower farm was run like this last time as the semi composted horse manure blend that went in there was moist enough... The problem came when we had some heavy rain accompanied with strong wind gust.. Some of the water from when I water blasted the back stairs ended up in there as well but not much...
I finished going through about 3 quarters of it & used the last ¼ to top up the trays in the tower farm... It is a bit hard to gauge how many worms were in there by weight as I probably pulled out five 5-25mm (1/5 - 1inch) long worms for every adult + the hundreds if of eggs as well... Was very slow going as it was basically mud...
Solar Panels...
Just a quick clip on the Solar set up we had installed just over a week ago...
Still need the get the Feed in Meter installed by Energex but it is good to see the meter running backwards...
Wednesday Walk through with Potato & Tomato update by Moo...
Moo took the camera for this one & I only butted in once...
Or ½ a dozen times, but who's counting...
This weeks harvest...
This week we got heaps of green beans, a few Eggplants, a couple Kohlrabi, Mangel leaves, a Mignonette Lettuce, a few handfuls of Snow Peas, A couple of Beetroot, Assorted herbs, & a very small Sugarloaf Cabbage...
B☼ made a great Warm salad last night to go with a roast Leg of Lamb using Our Beetroot, Sweet Potato Kohlrabi, Sweet Basil & Dill... She also added some Asparagus, Capsicum & Red Onion we bought at the shops...
That's about enough nattering from me I think...
Have a great one all... : )»
Walkthrough...
Just a quick one as not a lot has happened this week due to the holidays which meant Visitors & Visiting...
On a sad note...
I think we may be pulling out Bed #5...
On a happier note, Wit is going to be replaced with an Aquaponics set up...
**Does happy dance**
Have been reading up on a lot of information on fish farming & Aquaponics as well as watching the multitude of videos available on the net... It will be good to grow some of our own protein... Due to local regulations meat Chickens are out of the questions... We are hoping to include the worms in the system as food as well as active participants within the grow beds... We purchased 3 IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container) tanks to turn into Fish tanks & Grow beds... I wont be rushing the project due to upcoming nuptials but will be spending most of the honeymoon building the system... Maybe...If I'm allowed...
I could Rabbit on about it for ages but shan't due to the fear of loosing my hairy noggin...
½ the Worms we harvested on the weekend are now in a new home, the ½ barrel we found at the local nature reserve... We are using an old fly screen frame with black builders plastic in place of the screen as a lid... They appear to be happy in there so all is good... The other ½ were put back in the 3 tiered farm...
Transplants & Seeds...
4 Passion fruits were taken out of the old Sweet Potato bed on Sunday, 1 was planted in the new Passion fruit barrel in the Chook yard as a back up & the others were potted out along with some that we planted a while back to give to family members...
A few punnets of Broccoli, Kale & Purple Cauliflowers will be sown out tomorrow just to cover any failures that may happen & for when we clear out Bed #5... Also planting some climbing Beans on the Cucumber trellis as soon as the seed arrives...
Walk through Update...
Had to cut this one up a bit as I was rambling on just a tad... Hopefully I shall get better at this so the clips run a bit smoother...
