Start Your Own Aquaponics Garden for under $75

Those inventive folks at Back to the Roots, who brought you the home mushroom kits that are so easy to use have announced they are taking orders for a complete home aquaponics garden kit.
A new offer by BTTR, this garden will allow you to grow herbs, all the time filtering the fish waste products cleaning the water and returning the clean water to the tank. If you have ever wanted to try your hand at Aquaponics, but were afraid to try, this is for you. Their initial price is $60 for the first kit and includes:
 -The tank & garden top
 -Air pump to bring your nutrients up and oxygenate the water
-5 pots with pebbles (from which the plants will grow)
 -Organic seeds (mixture of various herbs)
 -Fish food and water conditioners to get started right away

 Read the FAQ on the BTTR Aquaponic garden:

"1) How many fish can I keep? The industry standard is 1" of fish for 1 gallon of water. This is a 3 gallon tank, so you can have 1 larger 3" fish, or a few smaller 1" fish. If you'd like to host other types of fish, the system will allow it, but you should transfer them out to a larger tank when they grow in size. 

2) What kind of fish can I put in my tank? Many types will work well, but we highly recommend some ornamental fish like bettas, cloud fish, danios, etc. These are some of the easiest fish to keep, but depending on your expertise, you can keep others! 

3) How big is the unit? It's roughly 10" wide, by 11" high, by 6" deep - smaller than your average toaster oven! The tank itself holds 3 gallons of water. When empty, it's super-light, just a few pounds! 

4) What is it made out of? We are finalizing the exact materials, but are exploring various combinations of recycled plastics, acrylic, and glass. 

5) Can I grow flowers in my system? Absolutely!! 

6) How many different types of plants can I grow? There are 5 "pots" to plant in, and you pick and choose what combo of plants to grow in them as you please! Five of the same, or one of each. You can get creative! 

7) Does it need sunlight - I thought fish don't like sun? We recommend putting the tank right next to your window, with the back up against a wall. That way there's no direct light coming into your tank, but at the same time, enough ambient sunlight to help the plants grow. If you'd like to place the kit right against a window, we suggest just placing a backer against the back clear panel to prevent direct sunlight from hitting the tank (which can cause algae growth!) We're working on finding the best tint for the back right now. 

8) Can I grow year-round? Yes! If it's too cold though for the fish you choose or you don't have proper light in the winter, we suggest investing in some inexpensive water-heaters and grow-lights to guarantee consistent growth! We'll have our favorite suggestions on our site, and links to buy them, when we are reading to ship in late February." 

More fun with SWP's

Beets planted in my new SWP.

You know how much I love making different SWP/SIP Planters. My favorite is the one where I take the top off a 5 gallon water bucket in place of a second bucket. But that leads me to ponder… What to do with the bottom part I cut off.

They make most excellent buckets to hold water ( I use one to catch my warm up water in the shower) and when weeding the garden. But I figured out a new way to use them… make a second SWP. Totally by accident, I found that the Five gallon water bucket does not fit all the way into the outer bucket. Soooo that means I could saw a hole in the bottom of the water bucket to fit a strainer basket or seedling pot with holes in it (or you can use a yogurt container or a small can). And with some shifty planning and drilling I can shove the water pipe down the handle to fill the reservoir.

The other thing one could do with it is turn it upside down to make an ad hoc green house or cloche for the fall and winter to keep plants warm!

Farmer's Daughter Homesteading Link Up

I used strips of T-Shirt from my latest shopping bag experiment as water wicks. Very little gets wasted around here!

Grow-episode 7

Grow -Episode 7 "Our School at Blair Grocery" New Orleans, LA-
this episode of "Grow" features Turrner and the Blair Grocery School, tells the story of Turner who moved back to the 9th Ward of New Orleans and his work teaching kids about urban farming in the 9th Ward of New Orleans-
 
IMHO, the best way to ensure that we have more backyard farmers and food security in the future is to teach them how to do it. This is very reminiscent of Alice Waters and her "Edible Schoolyard" work teaching young people how to grow food

Grow- the series

I recently came across a series put out by Whole Foods on You tube, where they visit a number of Urban Farms... very nice little video reports on people growing their own...
GROW EPISODE-6- "FARMTINA:

GROW- Episode 1-Roundtable Farm
GROW- Episode 2- Pluck and Feather
GROW- Episode 3- Dog Island Farm
GROW- Episode 4- Itty Bitty Farm in the City
GROW- Episode 5- Yellow Tree Farm

Window boxes

Well I finally got something I have wanted to do for a long time done... Put in a Shower? No. Clean the Garage? Nope. Win the lottery? Sadly no.... But I did manage to make a window box for the Picture window. Not hard to make to make, there are actually two window boxes, each is simply 3- 1" X 6" X 6' cedar fence boards with a 6" piece cut off each and re-used to make the ends, and I re-use pots to keep the wood clean. Besides flowers, there are herbs and window box romas and tumbler tomatoes planted in it
I only party down with the best at:

DIY Seed Tape

I have been reading "I Garden: Urban Style" by Reggie Solomon and Michael Nolan, and they brought up the topic of homemade seed tapes.

Seed tapes can be a great work reducer in the garden. And save wasted seed. And labor (eliminates the time used for thinning). But commercial seed tapes are expensive! And you can't always find the variety of seed you want. I was first introduced to home made seed tape years ago, by a retired Navy cook, Chief Witte, or CW as we called him, who had a huge garden. A complete vacant lot he purchased next door to his house. Now, some people use Toilet paper or paper towels. But Chief Witte used newsprint. Just simply fold over a strip of newspaper, cut at the fold about 1 inch. Open it and using your gluestick or elmers school white glue, or a simple paste of flower and water, apply glue of your choice to on side of the fold, on the inside. Then place your seeds, at the appropriate spacing, then fold over. There you have an seed tape. Biodegradable as well. I just did this with some Chammomile seeds. They are incredibly small and fine. I used radish seeds for the pics.

URBAN BEEKEEPING IN NEW YORK CITY

Albert Einstein said: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have 4 years of life left.
No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."

In New York City, urban beekeepers fought hard to make rooftop beekeeping legal last year. It is still illegal in 89 cities.

Urban beekeeper David Graves claims the bees are very happy on the rooftops of NYC.

He even sells the honey, raising awareness with every jar.

You Just Love me for my Chard...

IF You Wait long enough, You get considered Sexy and In Vogue!I was reading an amusing little article on EcoSalon.com. It’s title is “Manscaping: These Guys Have Stems Attached"

Basically, besides obliterating the definition of Manscaping, they are saying that the new Young, virile garden boys are today's rugged macho men. Take a read and you decide! Good to know now I am considered sexy and not just a garden variety nerd.

Ride that thar fish Tex...

You know I enjoy reading people who are getting into chickens and goats, even rabbits for backyard meat. But recently I have been reading about fish farming in your backyard- specifically Tilapia.
There's a good article on Yahoo! Green about tilapia, calling them the Chicken of the Sea. Now not wanting to confuse Jessica Simpson, the article calls tilapia that for it's thrifty value as a meat fish. There are a lot of advantages to having your own pond filled with tilapia- one you know the water is clean. 2) Another advantage is the fact that the footprint is fairly low, depending on were you live, and 3) you can even grow them in an aquarium, if the idea of a pond with a green house is too much for you.
Tilapia are nutritious good eating fish. Reminds me of Blue Gills. And I have seen them on the menus of some high fallutin places. Just never heard of anyone trying there hands at backyard tilapia growing on a small scale.And from what I have read it would be perfect for an Urban Homesteader! I have seen them in tanks at Uwajimaya Grocery store in Renton. So I was wondering if anyone out there knows of anyone who is doing their own fish farming practice? And no, stocking a private pond with trout does not count.
Anyway I was thinking, maybe when retirement comes in a few years, buying an aquarium and raising my own fresh fish. It's not like I haven't raised a gold fish or two in my day! If I did it would that make me a Fish Cowboy?

From File Cabinet to Urban Planter

Well what a find. Imagine a planter, on wheels made from an old filing cabinet. I found this on DIY Life.com via LifeHacker.com, interesting idea. And another great idea for an urban homesteader to grow their own veggies. It came from an interesting book called “Apartment Gardening: Plants, Projects, and Recipes for Growing Food in Your Urban Home” by Amy Pennington, which is now downloaded on my kindle. In the book, Ms. Pennington explains how to make recycled planters from everything -- wine boxes to milk crates. Sounds like my kind of read!

Bucket Garden 2.0

This is one of those round TUIT posts. I finally got around to one of those nagging projects. My Bucket Garden 2.0! I already use those pickle buckets and such for Self Watering Planters, but I wanted to have a better way to look at them, especially in the front yard! Very easy actually, I pounded in posts at the corners and the end of the boards, then just screwed on the 1" X 6" X6' cedar fencing boards, and put the buckets behind it. When filled with dirt and growing plants, my guess is you won't even see the buckets at all! Or maybe I will just put some mulch on the lids to hide my lazy ass ways.

WHY I WON'T RAISE CHICKENS (YET)

WHY I WON”T RAISE CHICKENS (YET)
I get so jealous of all of the bloggers who have chickens. I have been reading “THE URBAN HOMESTEAD” by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen, part of their book makes a lot of sense to my chicken decision. They writes in their book if you have “vampire hours” (Which I do) chickens are probably not for you. So my hopes of having three little ladies in my back yard, while not dashed, but postponed until I retire and have the time to go out in the morning and let them out of their coop. And lets say I am more than disappointed, but folks, reality has to take center stage with me once in awhile and considering your talking about an animal, I have to think of them first! Chickens need some of your time and care to live healthy, wonderful lives. That and the fact they wake up about the time I fall asleep just won’t work. So I will hold off joining the chicken fray. For now. (Just 4 more years to retirement!!!) Or until someone invents a breed of chicken that keeps Swing Shift hours.

URBAN HOMESTEADING 2.0

As usual I am a little late to the party:I am still reading the first book!
From the Take back Urban Homesteading FB Page:

The publishers of Urban Homesteading: Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living is being threatened by the Dervaes' lawyers as the book is launching. For an entire week we will spread the word about the book via fb, blogs, and the web. Here is the web page link for ordering the book: http://urban-homesteading.org/

Be sure to order the book directly from their website so they get the full profit. If you buy from Amazon then Amazon will get a cut of the profit.

Like I said, I am in the middle of the first UH Book by Rachel Kaplan. So it will be a week or so until I order the second. I do like the phrase/subtitle "Heirloom Skills for Sustainable Living".

Take Back Urban Homesteading Petition

Another Action Day in the Urban Homesteading Battle. Today we are asked to sign the following letter/petition. If you care to sign, you may do so here. More info at Take Back Urban Homesteading(s) My own view is you cannot copyright a lifestyle, especially one started by our forefathers and foremothers generations ago. Anf part of what cracks me up is the DerVaes claim that copyrighting Urban Homestead and Urban Homesteading protects their intellectual property. What toast- as you can see in the petition letter Mother Earth News had articles in print in 1976 and 1980, predating the Dervae's latent claim of the year 2002.

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

The Letter:

Greetings Jules and the Dervaes Institute Corporation,
I am writing to ask that you cancel the Trademarks on "Urban Homestead" and "Urban Homesteading" in good faith from the urban homestead community. The Urban Homesteading movement was addressed in two articles by Mother Earth News, a 1976 Article on the Integral Home (1) and a 1980 Article on Modern Homesteading (2) which both pre-date the 2002 date of first use as claimed on your trademark filing. As such, I believe that your group has laid false claims on the rights to the term.
Your actions go against the spirit that makes up the Urban Homesteading
community. Furthermore, I will be boycotting your digital properties and
physical goods until your corporation legally cancels the trademark
registrations.

1. http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/1976-11-01/The-Integral-Urban-House.aspx

2. http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/1980-09-01/Community-Homesteading-Programs.aspx?page=4"

First Urban HomeSteaders?

Is the President breaking the law??? With all this hooey about Urban Farming trademarks and such, I give you these facts:

• President and First Lady Obama have a substantial garden at the White House, which the WH Kitchen staff uses for state dinners and for cooking for the Obama's
  
• Mr. President has called upon the White House Kitchen Staff to Home brew Beer which President Obama served at their Super Bowl party
  
• And the Obama's established Bee Hives at the white house. Honey the white house uses.
  

Not since Thomas Jefferson, has a president been interested in growing their own food. Sure others have, I'm sure, but none that come to mind. Seems to me, then I would call the Obama's the First Family of Urban Homesteading. So, I'm thinking maybe Mr. President maybe should get into the fray over the Trademark Issue. It is only fitting. As President, Mr. Obama, moreover Mrs. Obama has shown class in in returning the food gardens to the white house landscaping. As I said the Obama's are the First Family of Urban Homesteading, not The Dervaes, so, Mr. President, take back the UH Name. Do it for democracy and the American Way. Do it for Freedom. Hell, Do it cause I want you to!

Now I am not fooling myself. Chances are the next republican elected president will tear out the garden and bring in paving to make a Nascar Track. Hell, even Reagan couldn't wait to tear out Jimmy Carter's Solar Panels on the White House. I always wondered if Reagan went up to the roof and said"Mr. Carter, Tear down those solar panels"

Anyway Mr. President, You now have the opportunity to show those that would copyright and disallow folks to practice in the 2nd oldest profession in the world that they cannot copyright a life style. Especially a lifestyle seem to have embraced, even if Michelle started it.

A quick Tour

Since this is Take Back Urban Homesteading Video Day, I thought I would post a little video from May 2009. to show my garden attempt from days past.

Note:

• The Apple trees are much fuller now
• The garage has been re-roofed
• I still own the tractor
• the corn box now has tea plants (camelia senensis) planted in it
• I didn't get an infection from stepping on the nail

Anyway I hope you enjoy a quick trip through my garden urban homestead, even from 2009