Theyre coming !

This winter has been dreadful, with tremendous snow storms ravaging the East Coast. Not a time you want a box full of tiny, defenseless tilapia risking an interstate journey to your home.

The weather is turning warm, now. So I put my order in this morning. Come 24 February I should have approximately 25 lively little fishies swimming in a mesh bin in my 100 gallon tank.

Fingers crossed. Knock on wood.

The garden, meanwhile, has been puttering along nicely. Almost all my original seeds sprouted. The marigolds are blooming, the cabbage is dominating the landscape, and the fennel is aggressively spreading its delicate fronds. The parsley, chives, and eggplant have grown, but arent what Id call hardy.

Ive been loving the mustard, plucking off a broad leaf every day or so to put in a sandwich. Spicy. And the transplanted basil on the other side of the grow bed is going strong despite having been snipped regularly for pizzas, sandwiches, and pestos.

We arent living off our aquaponic produce yet, but its definitely added zest to our lives!

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Our Aqua Cycle of Life

So much has been written about AP and the cycling of systems and understandably so. This is the one thing we must get right. Every person having a go at AP has to come to terms with the cycle, the size of the pond, the amount (and size) of the fish, the quality, type and amount of the fish food provided, the water quality and quantity and the cubic area being used in grow bed production and how all of this fits together.

Of course if we read a lot of whats on the www, you are sort of led to believe that just about any combination will be OK provided the water quality is OK. Well this not true. There is a vast difference between what is acceptable and what will bring really great results over an ongoing system life, which after all is what each of us should be aiming for.

So I thought I should get some sites that give a better indication of what is the safe path to follow.

We need to be aware that despite what some people claim and there are many great stories around with claims of success after success but not too many people are prepared to include figures showing fish losses,  or other problems that have arisen that would help others to get through the tough times as they learn the craft.

So we are going to dedicate some effort into searching for figures that could be of help.

However while we are doing this, we shall continue to provide as much associated info as possible with each issue. Like Now......

http://sowingseedswithchristinemilne.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/worms-fish-and-the-greenest-veggies/
http://food.1tt.net/?p=1336

...and heres Afnan again with an Update

An A/P Blog coming from Vancouver

Cant forget Christie from this Site

Or this DIY special on greenhouses

Another Greenhouse design - well why not....

There are several places on FaceBook as well


Finally, a video on a home A/P system


OK Have fun with these and well be back real soon.


Oh by the way you can contact me at aquaponics@gardener.com

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Review of Food Inc the movie

From The Official Food, Inc. Movie Website

So my daughter goes to school and tells her teacher about The Future of Food. The teacher tells my daughter she has to watch the movie Food, Inc.

There isnt a free version of Food, Inc., on the internet, but you can watch it on Netflix.

They discuss a variety of issues that have been exacerbated by the industrialization of food:

• Nasty food-borne diseases. Kevin is the poster child for this, a boy who died from contaminated food. Legislation to prevent future occurrences of this tragedy has been batting around for years, now. But the film illustrates a now where the majority of food is processed in a handful of plants. The FDA has been stripped of the power to shut down such plants, presumably because to do so would have massive repercussions.
  
  
• Obesity. One in three individuals is obese. When we talk minorities and poor folks, it grows to one in two. The subsidized foods are cheap and easy, and have been engineered to maximize appeal. So it is cheaper and easier to eat sugary, fattening foods than to eat vegetables. Nuts!
  
  
• Illegal immigration. The highly mechanized, significantly subsidized US grain supply has put many farmers in other nations out of business, particularly once the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) prevented Mexico and Canada from retaining protective tariffs. Food industries, e.g., slaughterhouses, recruit across the border and bring in illegal workers.
  
  
• Indentured servitude for farmers. Since there are so few markets for food, now, those markets can demand conditions. Like making farmers buy the latest equipment ($250,000 per chicken shed, for example). Upgrades (at profit to the industry) become mandatory as a condition of keeping the contract with the buyer. Per the film, a poultry farmer with two chicken sheds would have a debt of $500,000 for the sheds along, and only net $18,000 per year out of which that debt must be paid.

Interests of the food industry are protected by the US government. The movie presents a nice montage of executives who have worked for key food companies (e.g., Monsanto) and for the highest levels of government, under both parties.

But despite the crushing dominance of this mechanized food system, the film offers hope. It shows how customer demand for organics is causing Walmart to start carrying organics. And the film ends with a hopeful note, showing how we can "vote," at least three times a day, to make a difference.

The movie went to wrap before the most recent food crisis, arguably a major contributor to civil unrest in Egypt and other countries (though Twitter and Facebook have no doubt contributed).

With this same civil unrest causing increased risk to petroleum resources, it will be interesting to see what happens in the US to the price of gas and a food industry that is so completely dependent upon petroleum to fertilize, harvest, transport, and process food.

I suggest this movie as a holistic explanation of the 2010+ US food market. Much becomes clear after seeing this.

My daughters teacher will be using Fridays class time to show Food, Inc., to her health students. I project several of those students will commit to an all organic diet, if not become full-out vegans, as a result of Fridays showing.

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