Aquaponics ( Fish, crayfish, snails )

60 gall with pleco and snails + crystals ( amethyst )

My journey through aquaponics has been filled with rises and falls, achievements and disasters, mini epiphanies, idiocies and everything in between. These systems have evolved over time and now incorporate natural elements for healing plants and its environment. Rockdust has been added to the growbeds, we have also added red wigglers to the systems giving them more of a vermiponics like setting. ( vermiponics- worms in the aquaponics system )

Guppies in aquaponics + quartz in aquaponics

Our 40 gallon tank holds only a few fish, their not for eating, more so for fertilizer, studying and tank cleaning. We added quartz crystal and amethyst to experiment with certain energies in the water and fish health, results were very interesting to say the least. ( The results were a little skewed as one tank had sand and the other had stone, we will be conducting new research into this at the new location)

In this tank there is a pleco, 2 guppies and a few apple snails, there are some natural grasses floating on top, as well as a moss ball. The fish are fed an organic food that we created since we could not find anything organic on the market, because lets be blunt here, if your feeding your fish crap, your whole system is crap.

Pleco in aquaponics

Tilapia in aquaponics

Sadly, this was the best shot I could get.....

There putting on weight now, and this was the smallest one so were doing good. I had to move her/him to its own tank as the other fish kept picking on him/her.  

The funny thing is, since I purchased these fish I've discovered the benefits of the 80/10/10 diet. This means these little guys will no longer be dinner, its good anyway, I didn't want to kill them and didn't know where to get it done, so all worked out well.

amethyst (fluorite ) in aquaponics- I thought it was amethyst, smart.... real smart *smacks self in head*. Do yourself a favour, don't put fluorite in aquaponics.

side of aquaponics system with guppies and pleco.

Here you can see the side of the aquaponics unit, I find it very valuable to keep a check list ( some type of chalk or marker board ) close by, there's always something that needs writing down, its better then sticky notes I find and will save you a world of frustration. We have also placed stones with positive sayings around the room in hopes of some subliminal effect, not only for people, but somehow the plants/environment as well, because if Dr Emoto's conscious water theory is even somewhat correct, then why should consciousness stop at water?, shouldn't plants hold there own state of consciousness?, the same to animals as well?. 

This idea could then carry on to claim the whole universe has a conscious, and what we must understand is that there might be a way to positively influence our surrounding by merely tapping into, or understanding a consciousness, and how it works. As silly as this might sound to some, it almost seems to work on the law of attraction. ( which I think in some strange way might almost act  like a magnet at times ( and could possibly be manipulated like it ),
but I digress.. more on this in another blog. ).

One of our tilapia tanks

60 gallon tilapia tank with bacopa and rosemary growing, growing media is hydroton. We have one air generator on the shelf just above as you can see with all the blue lines running around. I highly suggest going onto ebay and purchasing metal splitters for your air lines, I went to a hydroponic shop and aquarium stores and all they had were these plastic pieces of junk, broke within days of me using them. Now, my friend had some splitters made from brass so I knew what was out there, I just couldn't find it locally. So I went searching and of coarse the easiest, chaepest way...... ebay. There are a ton of cheap metal ones with simple cheap shipping so save yourself some time and money, only get the metal air splitters.

Ive used many draining devices for growbeds and most all of them have been a hassle or questionable. Ive used boat drains, store bought drain kits and even made PVC drains, none of which I was thoroughly happy with. I decided to go on a hunt and find out if there was something out there that I was missing and of course, I just needed to do a google picture search and BAM, there it was. It was one of those moments where all I had to do was look at it and I knew it would work. While this design could be made out of PVC, I'm no longer a fan of it after studying its chemical nature and am in the process of switching it all out. Below is the device made from food grade plastic, it has such great flow and I never need to worry about this thing clogging. Ive owned it for years now and have never had an issue. This can be used in so many hydroponic/aquaponic situations that I highly recommend it.

Mini Biofilter aquaponics

These pvc pieces act as mini biofilters, they contain cleaning scrubbies, rockdust, seashells and snail shells. From the picture you can see the algae growth along the side, but what happens here is that little tiny black snails live in this growbed and biofilter. They come out from time to time and clean off all the algae growth.

Pleco aquaponics

My yellow pleco, this is one tough fish. I experimented with a natural pesticide ( cedar oil ) and while it killed all my bad bugs, it made the good ones disappear too, not only that, killed everything in my tank except for the pleco, he had these super red eyes for months, felt like a jerk for that one.

Pleco in aquaponics

Self cloning Crayfish

A while back now we experimented with crayfish, it was an interesting time I'll give it that, they work really well... to well infact. If your tank isnt set up properly it will get out of control quickly, they produce off spring in the hundreds and from time to time attack one another and end up dead in the toughest places to get to. There is also the fact they are messy eaters, so if you skimp on your setup (ie. biofilters/pumps/design/) it will not work. We created an aquarium filled with 2 inch pvc pipe cut at about 4/5 inchs long. Sadly this was a while ago, way before the blog and I only took a pic of when she was pregnant.

Pregnant marbled crayfish

Crayfish in aquaponics

Crayfish aquaponics

Ladybug with eggs? ⨸⪾

Ladybug with eggs?

I was all but sure this ladybug was laying eggs but after a few days of observation they dont seem to look like the usual eggs Ive seen before, these were more of a light brown and almost a solid egg rather then individual pods, which makes me wonder if this was eggs at all.
She's been there for days ( if not more then a week ) in a very determined state to protect what she's got.

Ladybug with brown eggs? 

TED aligns with Monsanto, halting any talks about GMOs, 'food as medicine' or natural healing

TED aligns with Monsanto, halting any talks about GMOs, 'food as medicine' or natural healing


If your like me and have been following the Ted talks over the years you might have heard of some odd stuff going on, nowa days its seems like the monsanto mentality has taken over.
If you have a moment, take a look at this article delving into the hidden secretes of Ted talks.
THANKS NATURAL NEWS!! 

MNR spraying Monsanto's herbicide over 2200 hectares of land in sudbury and what you can do about it right now!!

quick update on the issue,

if anyone would like to contact the mayor of sudbury and the MNR over this issue of spraying monsantos roundup herbicide over 2200 hectares of land, here is there info, if you need help writing a letter, feel free to ask me for ideas, heck,, you can take my letter I just sent.

mayor of sudbury (Marianne Matichuk) -mayor@greatersudbury.ca
705-674-4455 ext. 2514

MNR- mnr.nric.mnr@ontario.ca
1-800-667-1940


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/story/2013/08/22/sby-sudbury-mnr-herbicide-spraying.html

MNR spraying herbicide ( ☣Round up☣ ) over 2200 hectares in sudbury, ☣ someone's been paid there 30 pieces of silver. ☣

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/story/2013/08/22/sby-sudbury-mnr-herbicide-spraying.html



PLEASE take a second to see what our government bodies are doing to this country. This is beyond idiotic and the only conclusion after reading this is there is corrupt money orchestrating this operation. You do not need a special degree from an ivy league school to understand how bad of an idea this is yet they do it, and with out the publics consent. This isn't the first time and Im sure it wont be the last, but Im tired of it happening and Im gona try and do something about it. (please take a quick look at this article as I don't know if it will be taken down at some point.)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/story/2013/08/22/sby-sudbury-mnr-herbicide-spraying.html





I looked up other spraying incidents and the odd thing was, I found an article but no story, go figure huh,
Here that is.

http://www.thesudburystar.com/2009/08/06/massey-men-worry-mnr-herbicide-killing-animals-and-making-people-sick

I don't know why the story was missing ( a little suspicious if you ask me ) but it was something about the MNR spraying (Round up - glyphosate) from helicopters over top of this area in sudbury, at least thats what I could understand from the little blurb on google.
( good to know since were looking for a farm, now I'll never to move to sudbury )
I tell ya folks, if we don't take a stance and stand together, this whole country will be gutted from the inside out. I no longer believe in protests, they are just a statement of how democracy has failed. I no longer believe in politicians because I've spoken to too many, sat down at many meetings and nothing has been done. We need more people mad about this, and not just mad, but willing to do something.
While I am just a small blogger, I figure If We could gather as many people as we can, as quick as We can and sign up to something so We all could get in touch when needed  ( email /twitter maybe ), We should be able to make an impact. I believe the goal should be no less then 2 / 3 thousand, once these numbers are standing as one, the combined force will be to strong for a government association to deny.
This group will grow over time and use there actions to stand for ways to make this country a better place, but only once we are united can we hope to challenge these atrocities.
as the old saying goes...

united we stand, divided we fall.

Ground cherries 〄〄〄〄〄〄〄〄〄〄〄〄

Ground cherries

                 

Im not sure how other people feel about these little guys but to me there awesome!!, they have such a crisp unique taste, I can bring them anywhere without bruising or damaging them, they come in there on protective casing so no dirt or bugs really, and produce more abundantly then most considering its size.

This will not be a long post, just a celebration of the ground cherry in all its glory.

Front yard garden !! ♻ Garden ♻ at ♻ the ♻ front ✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾✾ grass grass go away, grow somewhere some other day!!

Front yard garden

 HEY WORLD DID YA MISS ME!!,

I know, I know,, its been ages, but guess what ?? WE'RE MOVING !!!! YAAAA!!!
were looking for more land and its taking up a lot of our time recently. We've been all over this great province, Belleville, Orangeville, Fort erie, Port hope, Ramara, Orillia, Beaverton, Niagara, Keswick, Creemore, you name it, just searching for the magic spot and you know what? we thought we found it...twice,
but both time things fell apart due to other offers being firm and us not wanting to price battle,
YESHH EHH,
What a few weeks its been, I didnt even get the chance to post these pics, so you'll have to pardon the laziness and know that were much further along in the growing season then what is shown, I will post an update someday soon as our purple Brussel sprouts are so beautiful and big they are in need of some admiring, lol.
As you can see below the redina lettuce is picture perfect, probably one of the best/easiest lettuces I've ever grown. The colour is great for sprucing up walkways/ borders, its easy in planters and just add a few calendulas and you've got yourself a masterpiece.

Front yard garden - Rue - Lettuce - okra

Bell pepper - Variegated tomato - Basil - Mammoth Dill - Pansy

Here you can see some companion planting, We have a variegated tomato in the yellow cage along with some blushing bell peppers in front. There is a purple tomatillo hidden behind the tomato with mammoth dill and basil planted all around... and almost forgot, a pansy or two for attracting more pollinators.

Purple Brussel sprout

We decided to try our hands at a purple Brussel sprout this year as last year we grew the green ones and thought this would be an interesting change. So far, We like this one a little more then the green, the colour in this one is fantastic, We even get compliments on it as people walk by down the street, it just has this impressive look to it, almost a bit Jurassic, but in a good way. The great thing about this plant is its in the same family as your kale's and broccoli's so nearly the whole plant is edible, We like to make juices with the leaves. ( its also really great for photographers as it creates a hydrophobic effect with water on the plant making pictures look alive.)

Front yard garden with companion plants

Here we have some red okra, purple tomatillo, white bell pepper, basil ( purple & green ) sun flowers in the back, sam marzano tomato in the yellow cage ( middle ) and flowers for enhanced pollination.

Strawberries in front ditch

Good ol sprite checking out the plantings of front yard ditch strawberries ( YUP, in the ditch!!) What We did here was out of a  'what the heck' type moment and it turned out better then We had hoped. There were some extra strawberry plants laying around the other year and they just so happened to be the pink flower variety, so, We dug a few holes then planted away and last year they survived!! Now there  back in all there glory, pouring out pink flowers and big berries all year so far. We dont really eat them we tend to forgot about them and leave them for the animals, but its great to know we have more food then We know what to do with, and in an emergency, We're sure glad We have strawberries growing and not grass, lol.

Companion planting

 Companion planting - flowers for pollination, red celery behind, ground cherry to the left.

Red celery

 Red celery, so far, not as great as I thought it would be.

Ground cherries 

Ground cherries, as you might be able to see, its starting to develop a spider might issue and the discoloration in the leaves is a sure sign to anyone who's experienced with these little buggers.
This was the aunt mollies variety but I remember there was another that grew taller which I will try and source out next year, each year this aunt mollies has been so low to the ground, it almost seems to sprawl and never gets taller then 10 inches, when I grew ground cherries many years ago it got to 2 / 3 ft, I just dont remember where I got the seeds, and I've been searching ever since.

Redina lettuce

 Redina lettuce close up, just beautiful.

Variegated tomato plant

In this photo you can kind of see the variegation forming on the leaves, I am very impressed with this plant so far, it produces in abundance, its a showy tomato, and the taste is quite appealing, not so much meaty as it is an average juice tomato.

Lettuce path + rue

Here you can see our rue plant in flower ( at the front right with yellow flowers ) along side our lettuce, bell peppers, bok choi, basil, tomatillos and maybe even a dandelion.
The photo beneath is of our mini tomatoes , with 19 tomatoes on a spoon.

Mini tomato

Red okra!!

Our red and green okra seem to be coming in mighty fine, such a great colour to them. 

What plant is this!!!!♀♀♀♀♀♀♀ or this one ✿✿ or that one ❀❀ AHHhhhhh..... HELP!

Hey fellow growers I need your help!! its been two years now that I've had the pleasure to see this beauty but at the same time, this has been one of the hardest plants for me to put a name to, keeping me on this never ending journey to classify this gem of a plant is starting to test my patience, lol . while my first thought ( and still is) must be its some type of hardy orchid, but after many grueling hours of online research through databases, old botany books, items for sale, and even contacting older hobbyists, Im still left with nothing. it must be a hardy orchid, right?

Grapes, cantaloupe, kiwi, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries,

And now we eat. 80/10/10

tropical looking flower in Canada's climate 

Hardy orchid?

What plant is this?

Frogs

My open letter to the Toronto Star

Dear star, please get rid of Rosie Dimanno, PLEASE!! We as a community have had enough, We've had to listen to this lunatics rants for to long now. She has the most archaic views on life/ people/ race and politics that I truly fear the ignorance she is spreading. If this is something about readership/views, I tell ya, its not working. Her posts literally make me want to cancel our subscription with you ( one day this camel will not take anymore straw ). if this is what you do for hits, your out of touch with reality, discrimination is discrimination, what, you cant pick on anyone else so you think, HEY! I can still pick on "the pot heads" because they're still bad, right?. WRONG. Plain and simple, your a bully with a junkie habit of your own, you crave hits like any addict I've ever seen, you want people to talk about you, well congratulations on your goal, a bully author with an addiction for attention is sure something to be proud of. I'm not some old timer, cranky and distraught with views unlike my own, I'm 28, open, and trying to make this province a little better then the way I left it, but with people like Rosie, its like one step forward two steps back. How can you justify keeping a journalist on your team who clearly doesn't do any research? For example, a quote from her latest article, 
( if nicotine is so destructive of health, surely marijuana is no better ) CLEARLY she is stuck with her Jurassic opinions and not of facts or science, coupled with an unwillingness to research through propaganda, I don't know how she continues as a journalist. Anyone with a shred of common sense + google can find/ understand the health benefits of marijuana. For her to equate pot with stupidity is hilarious, offensive and downright wrong. ( watch the pot propaganda movies a little more there Rosie, lol ) Lets look at just a few people who smoke pot and see how stupid they really are. Carl Sagan - astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, astronomer Steve Jobs - inventor, entrepreneur, marketer The Beatles - I don't think I need to explain this one David Sazuki - Ph.D. zoology, activist, professor of genetics at university of B.C Bill Clinton - former president Stephen jay Gould - paleontologist, biologist, Francis Crick - nobel prize for figuring out the double helix structure of DNA Oliver Sacks - neurologist, author Richard Feynman - nobel prize winner for theory of quantum electrodynamics The list can go on and on. So Rosie, while you like to think of yourself as smarter then a pot smoker, lets be real, your the one blowing smoke.

Heres her article http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/08/07/legalizing_pot_endorsing_stupidity_dimanno.html Robert Simpson

Raw vegan lunch + vegan veggie meal +【 how much veggies should I be eating??】 ⌬ Vegan meals ⏎

Vegan meals = lots of raw food. 

Vegan lunch.... yesh eh.

What we have in this pic is one lonely strawberry, some boysenberries, some blackcap raspberries,
Kale, nasturtium + flowers, pansy flowers, cucumber, large bunch of parsley, large head of redina lettuce, one poblano, some rainbow swiss chard, pineapple mint, basil, sugar snap peas, mesclun mix, white icicle currents, mini tomatoes, an apple, frozen lemon, frozen jackfruit, and frozen blueberries.

(everything homegrown except the lemon, jackfruit and blueberries)

By the end of this smoothie Im buzzin, while it did not taste the best, that was not my concern.
Its been about 2 weeks now since the switch to a high carb vegan diet and honestly the change has been phenomenal, the amount of energy gained is undeniable, My brain seems to be more on point and the colour of my skin is golden even without tanning.
( Im not even eating many carrots ).
This lunch was comprised of my daily vegetable portion as recently I've been following the 80/10/10+ trying to watch my oxalic acid intake after finding out it can cause kidney stones.
Not the biggest issue to worry over, just not a good idea to go overboard on the kale shakes.

( oxalic acid can be found in Kale, broccoli, spinach, swiss chard, and many of the brassicas + more)

I will most likely add herbs in at dinner and go with potatoes, rice or gluten free pasta,
other then this its all fruit,
everything from kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, jackfruit, soursop, bananas,
currents, lemon/limes/orange/hybrids, guavas, tomatoes, pineapple, peaches, cherries, etc,
etc.
In Canada there is no shortage for vegans, with organic seasonal items being best and easiest to find, there is still a number of retailers selling exotic rare fruits and veggie at comparable prices to other parts of the world, but lets be honest, ITS A HELL OF A LOT OF $$$$$₡₡₡₢₢₨₨₨₩₩₩₪₪₪₫₫₭₭₮₮₮₯₯¤¤₰₰௹௹௹௹฿฿฿฿¥¥¥¥££££££££₤₤₤₤₱₱₱₥₥₥₥¢¢¢¢¢¢¢.... AHHH TOOO MUCH!!!

Thats why in my personal opinion its only economical if you grow the food yourself and just supplement from time to time with the really rare or hard to grow things ie, jackfruit, soursop, kiwi's.
Always go for the ( organic ) stuff on sale because fruit is easy to freeze, and when kiwis come in at $2 a basket its easy to just bundle up a whole bunch, gobble some down, dehydrate a few jars and freeze the rest.

Parsley Aquaponic system

Depending on how hardcore you are with your smoothies, this could provide a family with a constant supply of parsley or 2 people on a detox/smoothie a day lifestyle. Parsley is great at pulling heavy metals out of the body and with the ever growing amount of these particulates in the air its almost essential to be eating your herbs daily.

Parsley aquaponics system 

Vegan smoothie 

vegan smoothie 

I ended up straining the pulp and mixing in some organic cane sugar and ceylon cinnamon, dropped a few spoonfuls onto the dehydrator sheet and now I have a snake for a few days, I know there not the nicest looking things but hey, should that be what I care about right now?

Vegan desert ( dehydrated veggie/fruit pulp with sugar and cinnamon )

Bed of aquaponic parsley

Turmeric rhizome + Crape ginger from seed + Hydroponic and soil grown Turmeric starts

Turmeric rhizome 

AT LAST!! our turmeric rhizome has arrived!!, It was purchased online from a supplier in india, unfortunately there was a little mix up and We never received our shipment.
So, we contacted them back and they quickly sent out a replacement package, but I tell ya,
I wasn't holding my breath.
I've heard of people purchasing turmeric online and by the time the rhizome arrives its covered in mold. I can imagine they wouldn't last forever in the dry air but to mold that quickly through shipping makes me think it was never good to begin with. Now after reading all the reviews/horror stories online you can understand my unease. Thankfully!! all that worry was for nothing as when I opened up the packaging ( turmeric being the first thing I had to check )
it was like it came out of a grocery store.

At first I thought they screwed up and sent me ginger but after a little rub of the rhizome I could smell the turmeric, DEAR LORD THANK YOU BABY JEBUS! I thought with a Homer Simpson voice.
There was even a bud of the leaf stalk coming up on one, so I figured I would use the one with the bud for the soil grown test and the one without for a hydroponic start.

While most of the gingers, galangal, cardamoms, and turmeric are spread by rhizomatic functions, the crape ginger can easily be started from seed, or so Im told. This gives me an opportunity to add to my medicinal rhizome collection, one that I've been building for many years.

Turmeric root

syrian rue,  crape ginger,