I have included some broccolini and chives, now just waiting for September to plant the Capsicum, one red, one yellow, one green.
Saturday 20 August 2011
Tomatoes are in...
Have now bought four varieties of tomatoes; Roma, Sweet Bite, Cherry Roma and Beams Yellow.
I have included some broccolini and chives, now just waiting for September to plant the Capsicum, one red, one yellow, one green.
I have included some broccolini and chives, now just waiting for September to plant the Capsicum, one red, one yellow, one green.
Thursday 11 August 2011
A Bag of Spuds on the side
I know aquaponics is not compatible for growing very many root vegetables, particularly not potatoes.
Since we enjoy roasted and mash, as well as a good potato salad in summer, I've set up an alternative system for growing them which I was told dates back many generations.
This is aptly called Spuds in a bag. Simple and very versatile and I'm told huge harvests without digging, and doesn't take up a lot of room because it works on vertical growth.
It involves a hessian bag and access to a large amount good composted soil. Getting the hessian bag was the hardest, my local produce store had these bags as dog pillow bags, and are perfect for only $4.50 each.
As I have chickens, their scratching yard has THE best aerated and fertilized soil (without being too acidic) so I had a win/win situation. Simply roll the bag down three quarters, fill that portion with the soil, plant the spuds and wait for them to grow about 40cm high, then unroll the bag about 20-30cm, back fill with more soil and repeat until the bag is full and the plants are growing beyond the height of the bag.
Each time this is done, the plants will send out roots and grow more spuds at that level, all the way up the bag. Therefore, when the spuds at the top section are a good size then you know the ones at the bottom should be huge so then harvest the lot. I have planted two different spuds, the pontiacs and the standard whites. I also put the bags on shade cloth, so they are not sitting directly on dirt and shouldn't rot as quickly. I use diluted worm water from the worm farm mixed with water from the aquaponics as the main watering for my spuds.
Once harvested, I can then put the old soil back in the chook pen and start again. I will set up two more bags when these two are half way so I can alternate and have plenty to harvest.
Since we enjoy roasted and mash, as well as a good potato salad in summer, I've set up an alternative system for growing them which I was told dates back many generations.
This is aptly called Spuds in a bag. Simple and very versatile and I'm told huge harvests without digging, and doesn't take up a lot of room because it works on vertical growth.
It involves a hessian bag and access to a large amount good composted soil. Getting the hessian bag was the hardest, my local produce store had these bags as dog pillow bags, and are perfect for only $4.50 each.
As I have chickens, their scratching yard has THE best aerated and fertilized soil (without being too acidic) so I had a win/win situation. Simply roll the bag down three quarters, fill that portion with the soil, plant the spuds and wait for them to grow about 40cm high, then unroll the bag about 20-30cm, back fill with more soil and repeat until the bag is full and the plants are growing beyond the height of the bag.
Each time this is done, the plants will send out roots and grow more spuds at that level, all the way up the bag. Therefore, when the spuds at the top section are a good size then you know the ones at the bottom should be huge so then harvest the lot. I have planted two different spuds, the pontiacs and the standard whites. I also put the bags on shade cloth, so they are not sitting directly on dirt and shouldn't rot as quickly. I use diluted worm water from the worm farm mixed with water from the aquaponics as the main watering for my spuds.
Once harvested, I can then put the old soil back in the chook pen and start again. I will set up two more bags when these two are half way so I can alternate and have plenty to harvest.
Getting closer to Spring
The back section has been left empty in preparation for tomatoes. I will plant two Cherry and two Roma tomatoes in two grow beds. I will also plant a few capsicums and that should be the extent of these six growbeds for this spring. The peas are doing well too, and have plenty of small pods on the way.
I will post regular updated pics of the growth over the next few months.
Warmer weather
Now that the temperature of the water appears to be more stable around 8-11 degrees minimum, I have purchased five silver perch fingerlings with 15 dark comets in the middle tank. I have also added another 15 comets to tank 3 to really kick start the new grow beds and the first two are doing well:
One lesson learnt is not to overcrowd. I've removed a few lettuces that were being smothered and moved the chives to a different bed.
The second planting of silverbeet and celery is also picking up:
A few weeks ago I started my second growbed of Lettuce and parsley, giving more room for individual plants in the centre, rather than around the sides:
One lesson learnt is not to overcrowd. I've removed a few lettuces that were being smothered and moved the chives to a different bed.
The second planting of silverbeet and celery is also picking up:
A few weeks ago I started my second growbed of Lettuce and parsley, giving more room for individual plants in the centre, rather than around the sides:
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