Happy New year and update

Happy new year! Agoucha, Toon, Neko [pronounce N- e (like the first e of there) ko (like in in loCO)] and I wish everyone a healthy and happy new year!

The tower farm keeps growing slowly and surely! Some plants seems that they are really liking it there, especially  the collard greens. I Also am pretty sure that I need to add more light to the system. Also the compost tea "experiment" is continuing, and so far it does not seem to provide significant amount of nitrates. Here is a breakdown of the state of things from top to bottom.

On the top, the is a pepper seedling, It grew in the compost from the worm crate and I transferred the 2 leaf seedling into the vertical farm a little while ago. It now has 4 leaves, and seems quite happy there. 

Next there is one of the collard greens that grew its longer leave from 7.5 cm to 10 cm now. It also has added new leaves. (see second photo)

Next there is the parley, I harvested half of the leaves last week (not much, but it was tasty). this week it put out 2 leaves (stimulated by the cut ?)(see second photo)

Next there was a small 3 leave seedling of parsley that died, not sure why, but it became suddenly totally dry.

Then the is the bok choy core that seems to grow too, and added a few new leaves in the last 3 weeks.

Another collard grows lower, it also have grew new leave regularly, but it is not as green as the one on the top of the tower. This is what makes me think I need more lights. The light are placed on the top.
Notice on the picture how the collard on the left is not as intensly green as the one on the right.

Also There were a few green onions lower, but they died (except one that is higher in the tower) after I did the monthly cleanup. I have disturbed them, and they didnt like it, maybe added to insufficient light also participated, as they were not as green as the one closer to the top.

When I did the clean up there was a bit of a biofilm in the reservoir, internet sources are no agreeing whether it s good or bad, but logically, since we are dealing with a system full of life, I would expect such biofilm to develop.

For the water quality, I have hiked up the amount of ammonia to 4 ml for about a week, and there is now an obvious accumulation of ammonia and nitrate, with some traces of nitrite. I have back down the additions of ammonia as I would aim for an amount that gets quickly processed into nitrates. I am also wondering if this increase of ammonia may be in part linked to the cleanup - which may a killed some of the living film, releasing ammonia as it decomposes.

For the compost tea addition, I have kept increasing the amount of compost used. Yesterday, I have added  2.5 cups of compost to 4 cups of water, and "brewed" for 24h with aeration. I finally got around to get test strips to look at nitrates, and it does not show a significant amount of nitrate in the compost tea. However, the stips also measures general hardness (180 ppm) carbonate hardness (120ppm) pH (7.5) and nitrites (0 or maybe traces).


Finally, I seems that the Blog will pass the bar of 1000 views ! that is quite exiting, Last check I had 997 views! 

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Aquaponics Take One!

Our plans for fish farming have been in the works for a very long time now.  Weve been dreaming, studying and gathering information for a couple of years.  We are really excited to be finally taking steps to bring our visions of this project into action. 

In the four years we have been working this land we have dabbled in all sorts of endeavors; natural beekeeping, goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits, varieties of perennials, drought tolerant edibles, the standard fruit and vegis, and our family cow.  With a little bit of experience behind us, we are refining our efforts to grow specifically what WE love to eat, which happens to include a good amount of fish!

In this set-up we used standard food grade IBC containers which had been functioning on the farm as containers for rainwater catchment. We are also using a large sump tank on the bottom as a water reservoir. There is a ton to be said about researching aquaponics set-ups. In a nutshell, our main source for a "how to" guide was Murray Hallams Aquaponics Made Easy.   

As of this week the system weve been working on is ready. We just added about fifty fish, some babies and some breeders.  The fish are being fed a combination of what we have on hand; spent grain, garden vegis, insects and mosquito larvae.  

Tilapia are our fish of choice. They are warm water fish which grow to a large size quickly and they are adaptable and tasty.  The babies, called fry, take anywhere from six months to a year to mature.  The breeders are sexually mature and if all goes as planned, should  mate and produce more fry keeping the system functioning in a closed loop.

Adding our own fresh fish to equation feels like it might just make our homegrown diet complete. Exciting and lots of potential!  We will be reporting back to you all with the results including successes and failures, so stay tuned for more about this project.

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Year Four Reflection and Readiness

July marks four years of our lives spent creating Soul Flower Farm. We have gone through many changes learning so much in a short amount of time. On good days there is no where we would rather be. We are certainly blessed to be surrounded by overwhelming serenity, beauty and an amazing view. Most of the time the sun is shining and the weather is sweet!  Of course we have our fair share of challenging days where we are questioning what the heck*#*!!, this is really hard work! But as in any aspect of life, hardship and ease come hand in hand. We wouldnt be strong  (or alive for that matter) if it were any different.  

So now that we know we can grow our own food, raise some livestock, put up stores for winter, and all the good stuff that comes with this lifestyle, it seems only logical the next step would be expansion.  With reflection on these last four years of exertion, production and growth, we stand with complete openness and readiness.  Readiness to give back, to be of service in a way that really matters, in a way that is tangible.  We dont know yet what it will look like but our intentions and the dreams in our hearts are waiting for the opportunity to manifest.  

"The best way to find yourself is to loose yourself in the service of others."

Mahatma Ghandi

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First year of indoor composting ok not year just 4 months

The compost

Worm crate

One day, my beloved lady suggested Id start a worm composting bin. After coming back from my utter surprise, I quickly started the bin. That was back in august. After a modest start with 2 packs of worms form a fish bait shop, I got a half pound or red wigglers from the Lower East Side Ecology Center. I applied the basic principles gleaned from the Internet experts and a dose of common sense (or so I hope). So there is the results from the first "year":

Input: 1 pound and 3ounces of worms (the bait shop worms included)

           5 kg (11 pounds) - dry weigh - of paper, cardboard, wood dust, dried leaves (actually more than that since i started to record this only later)

           20 kg (45 pounds) of diverse food scraps, including supposed no-noes like onion peel, lemon, garlic ... in moderation, there is no problem really, and anything else vegetable based, and used coffee grounds

           Unknown amount of water - as I almost always put the scraps in the blender, I add some water for the blender to be able to do its job

Output: 3.18 kg (7 pounds) of dark moist earthy smelling dirt!

The crate is fairly small (~1 x 1.5 x 1 ft, or 11 gallons, or 31 x 48 x 31 cm, or 46 L); and because it is indoor, I have been prudent in adding too much food (~140 g a day or 0.3 lbs in average) . If I can, Id like to experiment with a larger system, maybe 2 x 3 x 2 feet and see how much can be put in it while following a similar feeding rate (I guess per surface unit).

The compost was used for a couple of house plants, to start seeds, and to brew compost tea. With the solids left from making compost tea -which contains some small worms and cocoons - I just started a composting bucket for the school project.

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