By Jan Spencer This is the third blog describing the 15-year transformation of our quarter-acre suburban property. The previous blogs describe the site in more detail, along with reasons for making these changes, both practical and political. Another blog describes turning the garage into a living space, grass to garden and creating a food hedge … Continue reading Transforming a Suburban Property: Removing a Driveway
Category: #backyardfarming
10 Pallets 1 Coop!
Campaigning For Urban Agriculture In The Farm to Fork Capital
Amy Quinton Paul Trudeau with Southside Aquaponics inside his backyard greenhouse. Paul Trudeau unlocks a gate that leads to a small backyard greenhouse in the Southside neighborhood of Sacramento. It’s no ordinary greenhouse. Inside a tank holds several fish that he’s using to grow food. The process is called aquaponics. “The fish exhale ammonia through … Continue reading Campaigning For Urban Agriculture In The Farm to Fork Capital
CSA programs expand healthy options
By Mike Ross JANUARY 04, 2015 THE SUMMER before my senior year in college, I traveled to Alaska with a group of friends to work at a salmon-processing plant. I soon found myself on a boat, working 20-hour shifts, endlessly gutting fish, somewhere along the chain of Aleutian Islands that jut out from the southwest … Continue reading CSA programs expand healthy options
Sustainable Ways to Feed the World are Subverted by Corporations
By Ruben Rosenberg Colorni NEWS JUNKIE POST Humans’ relationship to food is one of the most fundamentally shaping aspects of our societies. The sole fact that the majority of the world’s population now lives in urban centers is the direct result of a process that began approximately 10,000 years ago. This process was the switch … Continue reading Sustainable Ways to Feed the World are Subverted by Corporations
Backyard chickens for beginners
Friday, January 2, 2015 by Ivory Harlow Fresh eggs and chemical-free meat are two good reasons to raise backyard birds. Keeping a small flock of chickens also provides plenty of nitrogen-rich manure for the garden and natural bug control for your yard. Backyard chickens are common in rural areas, but chicken farming is becoming increasingly … Continue reading Backyard chickens for beginners
Changing face of Cuban food adapts to politics
Created on Thursday, 01 January 2015 14:53Published on Thursday, 01 January 2015 14:53 By ARI LEVAUX Eleven years ago on New Year’s Day, I arrived in Cuba with a group of students from the University of Montana in tow. We were there on a hard-to-get educational permit. Our goal was to get a handle on … Continue reading Changing face of Cuban food adapts to politics
Aquaponics . . . A Work in Progress & A Great Hobby!
Nice system!
“Aquaponics . . . what in the world is that?”
It is the question that I get all the time when people first see the raised garden grow-beds sitting above two 50 gallon water tanks powered by eight beautiful little Koi. I’m about two and a half months into my aquaponics gardening experiment. Aquaponics is a system of aquaculture in which the waste produced by farmed fish or other aquatic animals supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically, which in turn purify the water.
I installed my aquaponics system in late October and look at the results in just two months:
Three different kinds of lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries, stevia, lemon grass, cilantro, cauliflower, and bell peppers . . . to name a few of the plants that are doing very well. Here in Arizona, we just got our first below freezing temperatures (it was 30 degrees the last few nights) so I’ve had…
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Aquaponics . . . Just BIGGER!
Thinking BIG!
I’ve always wanted a Koi Pond, so after experimenting with my small aquaponics system, I’ve decided to go big. I’m going to try to keep a pictoral record of the construction progress of my full sized aquaponics koi pond. I’ve been researching this for the last two years and started digging last month . . . little on the digging each week when I have a chance.
Here are the first few pictures of the progress on the Koi Pond:
The pond is about 10 feet wide and 28 feet long with a maximal dept of about 3 1/2 feet.
My dogs have been helping . . .
The digging is now done. Next stage is to place the skimmer, waterfall and filtration systems. I will build some lifted grow beds that will sit along side of the pond to help with filtration . . .
It has been…
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Becoming a Backyard Chicken Keeper
Chickens are the gateway animal to larger stock!
Today my thoughts turn to ordering baby chicks for March or April this year. It makes me think of all the first timers who are thinking about starting their own backyard flock. I have had a backyard flock of chickens for eight years now, I’ve become an experienced backyard chicken wrangler if you will. It has been full of fun and challenges. Backyard chickens have become a national phenomenon and when I think it may be waning I see a new book come out for the backyard flock, and realize at least to some degree small flocks are here to stay. If you are thinking about a backyard flock here are some things you may want to consider.
1. You will need a coop. Nonnegotiable. Like all animals chickens need shelter. What that shelter looks like depends on where you live and what other things they may have…
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