Vegetable garden update clip

A bit of a catch up on how the patch is going now we are coming to the end of summer.. Many of the plants are doing well but we are still having  few issues with nematodes & grasshopper attacks in the patch..
While cleaning out a few beds I found one that was extremely hydrophobic..  Below is a link that explains what hydrophobic soils are..
http://geography.swansea.ac.uk/hydrophobicity/soil_hydrophobicity.htm
Was an easy fix that involved a bag of composted horse manure & a garden fork with the rain well & truly re hydrating the soil mix in the bed..

Hope to finish cleaning out the beds tomorrow & sowing some seeds later on in the day..


For more regular updates on the patch come visit us at http://www.facebook.com/Bitsouttheback

Hope all are well & happy..
Have a great one..
: )»

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Water Chestnut crop update

A look at the water chestnut crop for this year.. Third time lucky as the first 2 attempts were dismal failures..
The first went into the bathtub pond & we think the leachate from the bucket was making the fish ill so pulled it out..
The second attempt was with buckets placed into drums full of water.. That wasnt exactly a stunning success either with the soil becoming rather acidic..
Third attempt was the easy "toss them in a box & let them grow" method & it appears to have done the best so far... Funny that ;)
Think they will give us a few to eat & will be setting some aside for next years planting for certain..



For more regular updates about the patch come visit us at http://www.facebook.com/Bitsouttheback
Have a great one All...
: )»

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Aquaponic update Think we have a change of plans

Picked up a commercial aquaponic system last week & now need to work out how to fit it into the yard :/ Am fairly sure that our existing system will be off to my parents & then we can get into setting up the new system here..

Am really looking forward to planing & building this system.. Am hoping to still include some Dutch buckets & DWC beds too :)

Decided to harvest the sweet potato from the aquaponics this week.. Also had a bit of a surprise when I was following the vine
that had grown over the side of the system :)


Cheers all & have a great one..
Rob :)

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Aquaponic IBC system update Cooling down the fish

With the high temperatures we have been having the water in the fish tank has been slowly rising to the 30°C/86°F mark... This is outside the comfort range of the Jade perch & I was getting worried about the amount of dissolved oxygen they had available so needed a quick fix.. Found a very easy fix by doing next to nothing at all..

Might contemplate adding some frozen bottles of water into the tank to try & help reduce the water temperature tomorrow..

Have a good one all...
: )»

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Aquaponic IBC system Air system Radial flow

Been a few additions to the set up over the past week.. A new air compressor & filter were added to the system... Both are a bit of overkill for now but will come in handy when the system expands..
Had a bit of a scare with the fish the other day.. The water became murky for no apparent reason & all the fish went off the feed for 12 or so hours but they all look to be OK & are feeding well now.. Think they need a break after all the tinkering that has been going on around them..



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Have a great one All...
: )»

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