Fish Fried

Our aquaponics experiment has been a rather daunting thing. We can't seem to get things to produce, and after a seemingly successful growth spurt, suddenly things droop or drop leaves, or turn brown or don't produce any fruit. Until recently, we had at least been successful in keeping all the fish alive, but even that has changed lately.

A few weeks ago one of the algae eaters decided to take a trip through the drain pipe, and when Ornery discovered him there, he tried to force him out, but ended up having to close the valve to keep him from going further into the works.  The poor thing lost his long tail, but otherwise seems to have escaped unscathed. That evening, one of the larger tilapia was floating on the surface of the tank dead. We have no idea why.

Then, last Tuesday (July 8) I went out to feed the fish and discovered an inch of water all over the floor of the garden room and water splashing over the top of the fish tank onto the floor.  Much work was required to clean up the mess, and Ornery couldn't figure out why the drain was backing up and not allowing the fish tank water to move through the system.  He decided he must need to make a bigger drain pipe, and off to Lowe's he went to gather supplies. 

After he got home, he took the whole thing apart and discovered that another tilapia had gotten adventurous, but he did not get by as easily as the algae eater did.  This one was dead. Nothing like taking out the whole system when you go!  Anyway, he ended up leaving the same drain pipe there, as it had been working fine before a swimmer went wild.  We really have no idea how they are getting in there as there is a cage type affair covering the opening. They must have some sort of super-powers we are unaware of... or something.

Garden Update: Peas Gone Wild!

The aquaponics garden is finally doing great!  We seem to have the ants fairly well under control, and the fish are fertilizing the plants. We are on a regular schedule for adding chelated iron to the system, and we have the lights adjusted (mostly) to accommodate the various heights of the plants.  

This photo is standing in the NW corner of the room in front of the window.  We call this Bed 1.  It has broccoli, carrots, cabbage, onions, chard and zucchini planted in it.  This was the bed with the worst ant infestation.  We still see a few in there, but they are not building a super highway like they were. The weight on the board in the middle of the bed is to hold the media guard in place.  The growstones are VERY lightweight, and when the water fills the beds the stones float, causing the guard to lift from the bottom.  Several stones had migrated into the sump tank before we figured out a workable solution.  The weights were supposed to be a temporary fix while we came up with something a little prettier, but it appears they are permanent fixtures!

We planted more seeds (direct sow) of the same things in this bed on Sunday, and yesterday we already had some sprouts!

This is bed 3 containing lettuce, two tomato plants, three basil, marjoram, stevia, celery and more carrots. The minibell tomato plant has several blooms on it already. The other (gypsy) is pretty flimsy.  I am thinking we may need to put a fan on it to strengthen the stem.  Ornery put a stake in there for the basil and this tomato plant.  These photos were taken on Sunday, and already things are bigger and healthier looking.

These are my blue lake green beans on Sunday.  They are loaded with blooms and already several little beans are popping out!  How fun!!  In the foreground you can see the snow peas we planted first back in March.  We have trimmed them several times to get rid of the bleached out leaves which appear when the iron level drops too low.  They still don't have any blooms, but...

they have grown above the lights and are bumping the ceiling!  Crazy things!

These are garden peas, and there are some very cute little pea pods showing.  If you click on the photo you should be able to see some. :)

These next photos are of some of the outdoor beds.  We have lots of containers on the patio, including this cedar box filled with herbs.  Cilantro, Sage, Oregano, Thyme, Marjoram, Corsican and regular Basil.

In another of those cedar boxes which Ornery built legs for to keep the rabbits out of we planted all the strawberry plants I had in one pot last summer.  They didn't produce last year because of the aforementioned rabbits, but they are loaded with blooms and berries right now, so hopefully we have hit upon a solution!

This next one is a photo of part of the patio. We have hanging baskets and numerous pots, plus the two new raised flower beds along the edge.  It's mixed as to how well things are doing, some are great, some not so hot, but overall, I think once it warms up, we should have a pretty display of a wide variety of colors and textures.  I have mostly planted perennial plants, but there are some annuals mixed in because I just can't seem to pass them up!

This is our columbine from last year.  It did great all year last year, and is almost giddy this year producing even better than last.  It is very happy in this spot on the patio.

Against my better judgment, we piled straw all over the beds to help protect against weeds and keep the moisture in.  Unfortunately, the straw (wheat) has sprouted prodigiously (which happened last time and was the reason I didn't really want to use it for mulch) and has sort of hidden the various plants so I don't really know how they are doing.  It has also provided a haven for the blasted rabbits to hide in, and they have burrowed in two of my vegetable beds. :(  Not a happy gardener.  I have a renewed appreciation for Mr. McGregor of Peter Rabbit fame.  You can be assured we will be waging war on the little furry fiends. They aren't as destructive as some other critters, but it is hard enough to garden while battling the weather without added complications!

End of April, Still Buried!

The end of April is finally here.  National Letter Writing Month has consumed a LOT of my time, but then I knew it would.  I did find a few new pen pals in the group, and also added a few new ones from Instagram, so much of my time has been replying to letters--which is a wonderful thing!

I have done a little bit of art, some gardening, some housework, but no blogging.  My health is dramatically improved, my stamina and interest in life in general is up, and my desire to just sit at the computer or read has almost evaporated!

Here are a few photos of my projects.  I will do a second post in a bit with photos from the aquaponics garden, which is flourishing now that the fish are feeding it! :)

 First up are the two pages I did for a friend in her new traveling art journal.  I used modeling paste, glass bead gel, and a gelli-print.  The flowers are embossed stamped images, words are rubon letters, the mushrooms are freehand cutouts from some scrap papers, the insects are all K&Co embellishments.

The second page is all gelli prints with rubons and sticker.

This is a little heart I did for a friend on Instagram who has made a canvas with 144 squares on it and she asked for people to send hearts, one for each square.   So, I made this one for her.  It is a gelli print with some glass bead gel and silk flowers.  I named it "love letter" :)

This next piece is a new size for me--I have done one other piece in the 4X4" size.  This is for a Swap-bot swap in the Mixed Media group.  It was a challenge, and you were required to use at least three elements from a list of media.

Next, I worked on another journal.  Gelli-print backgrounds, glass bead gel through stencil, book page image (rabbit) stamped tissue paper, and punched images.  The flower was the last remaining one I had in my stash and it just really asked to be included. :)

I recently did a new set of gelli-prints, and this was one of the envelopes I created.  I was pretty pleased with the results of this session.  Each time I think I am getting a bit more creative and I like the results better.

This last piece is the first of two art journal pages I am sending to an IG friend in Scotland.  Just a bunch of scraps from my stash, and a little bit of imagination.  I am going to have a hard time sending this one off...which could be why I have been so slow about making the second page!  Hopefully I will get that done (along with a bunch of other projects) in the next day or two.

That's all for now.  Coming soon: Aquaponics update, garden update, and reorganization post for my studio. I still have a few letters to reply to, and I know other art journals are on their way, so it will be a busy spring!!

An Aquaponics Update

 The peas have grown quite a bit in a week, but we have noted they are turning quite yellow at the top.  Don't know what that is about, but thinking we will have to do some research.  They started out in pots with some dirt, and we rinsed the roots off to plant them.

 This is a lima bean that came up from seed in the bed.  So far he looks quite happy.  This was planted Sunday.

 The seed starting rack has a decided GREEN cast to it! :)  Lots of plants going great guns in there...

Including these that have had to be removed from the rack because they wanted to climb on everything!!

 The plants on the right are scarlet runner beans, and some sort of melon is on the left.

This is the first bed we sowed seeds directly into.  It has chard, cabbage, carrots, three kinds of onions, broccoli and zucchini. The dark green leaf on the left is the first of the three zucchini seeds we planted.

Peas are Planted...

We put the peas from the grow rack into one of the aquaponics garden beds on Thursday night.  Friday I took this photo; some had already grasped the strings we hung for them to climb on.  :)

Dave is plumbing in the last bed this afternoon, and yesterday we planted seeds: in soil, on paper towels for the aquaponics garden, and broadcast into the grow stones. Theoretically they will sprout and come up just like they would in soil.  Here's hoping! :)

Weekend in Review: A Lotta Dirt!

"Look, Ma! The seeds are UP!!"  In fact they are so tall, we had to raise the light a couple of links!  Elizabeth is over the moon excited about how well these little guys are doing.  Even the ones she planted last week are almost all up.  If we end up harvesting 1/2 of what we've planted, we are going to need to find an outlet for the excess!

There are two more trays on the shelf below that are just getting started well.  The seed starting mix she got is amazing, but I am sure things are helped along by her twice daily conversations with them, urging them to "come along, little seedies!" :)

So, here is the report on the indoor garden:  Not much happened there, except the fish tank is now filled.  We had to buy a shower filter to add to the garden hose to filter out the chlorine, and I imagine there are many other substances in the city water that won't be helpful to the occupants of the system--plants or fishies.  

Ornery's mom joined us on Friday for a puzzle working session and to buy me dinner to celebrate my birthday.  She was quite awed by the whole system Ornery has going in the garden room, and told his sister she needed to come see.  So, Saturday morning she and Monty came by for a little look-see.  After they left, the dirt hauling commenced.

Elizabeth and Michael brought over their own shovel and wheel barrow, and the three of them shoveled, and dumped, raked and repeated for a long time on Saturday, then came back for a second dose of torture on Sunday.  In all they moved 7 YARDS of dirt off the driveway and into five newly built beds,

flower beds!!  Can't wait to fill them!

Vegetable Garden beds!  Awesome dirt!

places on the lawn that needed a bit of leveling out,

and the last remaining bit into the front flower bed, which is awaiting some terracing and a general overhaul.

It looks like some giant moles have been at work out there!  I bet Ornery is a little more careful next time he guess-timates how much soil we will need!! :)

The Garden Room 2.0

Before I begin, I think I should post a disclaimer here.  The phrase "Garden Room" evokes (in me, at least) an image of a lush, plant filled room with a pretty fountain quietly trickling into a stone pond, with maybe a couple of koi swimming around and a relaxing seating area where one can take in the peaceful beauty.  The wall is full of windows and lots of natural light shines in to keep the plants healthy and happy.

Well, our garden room will be plant filled, and the water as it travels in and out of the various beds and tanks will certainly have a trickling sound, but there are not any koi (yet anyway) and most of the light comes from fluorescent tubes.  There sure enough won't be room for any sitting area!!  So, now that we have all that out of the way, allow me to commence sharing photos of our little converted patio-cum-aquaponics garden room!

Before:

Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the view looking out the window from the dining room.  Here is what the enclosed area looks like now.

 This first one is the view looking out from the dining room door.  You can see the lights overhead, (there will be another two added, and these rearranged a bit before it's all said and done) and the frames Ornery built to support the converted IBC totes.  There were three totes to begin with, and he is using one whole one (with the top cut out) for the fish tank (far left) one for the sump tank and one grow bed, (cut 1/3 x 2/3) and the third for two grow beds (cut in half).  He has installed a rather intricate plumbing system that works with siphons and pumps.  The siphons work, although they need adjusting so they will stop siphoning when they need to...

This is a picture looking into the room from the newly installed French doors.  The fish tank is in the front here, and you can see all three grow beds.  In the far back corner (about the middle of the photo) is a shelf Ornery built several years ago out of cedar fence pickets.  It will hold several odds and ends of garden tools and supplies.

The fish tank is not set up yet at all, but Ornery has filled and carried 5 gallon buckets to fill the sump tank -- about 170 gallons so far -- from our shower (because it is filtered water) to the garden room.  The chiropractor noted his increased manual labor and prescribed some zinc to help keep the connective tissue intact! :)

 Here's the ornery guy, posing for a picture, which I wasn't really intending to take, but he was in the way. :)

 Standing by the aforementioned picket shelf, I took this photo of our seed rack. We only have two trays of seeds started right now, and not all of those are actually planted.  The lights are on a timer and turn on at 5:00 AM and off at 10:00 PM.  The seedlings are happy...

 These little guys were up on the third day!

It's hard to see, but there are several basil and marjoram plants coming up, too.  Most of the pepper seeds are still waiting to hatch. :)

 In case you missed this when I posted earlier, this is a view of the outside now.  We still haven't painted it, but the weather is really nice right now, so maybe soon.

I didn't ever take a photo of the patio full of IBC totes, but I can tell you, this is a much nicer view!  There are some bags of grow stones waiting to be rinsed and put in the beds at the far end of the patio. The black bag on the lawn is full of leaves I raked up to use in the raised garden beds.

We ordered a total of 30 bags of grow stones from Amazon.  They came two bags to a box, and while the bags are lightweight (14 lbs. each) they were big and bulky.  The grow media has to be completely rinsed, soaked and rinsed again before it can be added to the beds.  Ornery is in the soaking stage of the first 18 bags of stones.  It will need to be rinsed later today, then put into the beds, which will take about 10 bags each.  This was one of the most expensive aspects of the project--other than the construction, of course.

We will be recycling the bags and boxes from the project beneath our outdoor raised garden beds, which will be built later today. Elizabeth is coming to help with the project in exchange for Ornery cutting her wood and hauling it home for her. :)

The project is coming together MUCH slower than Ornery had anticipated, but we are very pleased with how well things are working so far.  I am so proud of him for doing all the research and work to make this dream a reality!