It has been a few months since I last posted about our aquaponics system. I am happy to report there haven’t been any major problems with the system in general. The fish are swimming, the plants are growing.

Grow Bed #1

Back in April we planted bush beans, romaine, and kale in this grow bed. They all grew well and we enjoyed them for a couple months.

The other day, though, I ripped nearly everything out of this grow bed. With a clean slate, I will replant soon.

Grow Bed #2

This bed is primarily out of control tomatoes.

Tomatoes don’t love lots of water, so I don’t recommend growing them in an aquaponics setup. They tend to be mushier than tomatoes grown in good ol’ dirt. We do pick ’em and eat them, though. One day I even picked enough to make a nice batch of marinara.

Eventually we’ll take them out. But they grow well, which is good for the ecology of our set up, so they stay.

Grow Bed #3

This bed has 2 different items growing in it. One of them is an Asian eggplant. It is actually the same plant Farmer John planted last year. It is doing very well. I adore the purple flowers. Many of the eggplant are ripe and ready to be picked.

The other thing in this grow bed are Mexican sour gherkins. They continue to grow like crazy. I’m sure the vines would be happy to take over the entire greenhouse if we let them.

Aquaponics + Mexican sour gherkins = a good combination.

Clean Up

The harvesting is fun. The clean up – not so much.

Having out of control tomato vines next to even more out of control gherkin vines has resulted in a tangled mess. I gave them both a good trim the other day. But, it should be done more often.

This is a root mass growing around the pipes. Not a good situation and a bit difficult to clean up.

Wild Things

Snakes. An entire colony of snakes have decided to make their home in the greenhouse.

I am not a snake enthusiast, but we have an unspoken agreement. They leave me alone, I leave them alone.

They are rude guests who don’t clean up after themselves.

One snake thought it would be fun to explore the pipes. Not a wise decision. He got caught in the pump.

Tilapia

We primarily feed our tilapia pelleted fish food. Sometimes they get duck weed, and occasionally other greens.

Sitting on the bottom of the tank are sections of pvc pipe. The tilapia like to hide in them.

In the next few months we’re talking about changing some things in the system. The ecology seems to be in good productive order, so I don’t want to mess with it too much. But, there are a few things that could be done differently. We will iron out all the details and get to work…

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Things are in full swing around here. It’s a busy time of year trying to keep up. But, the reward makes it all worth it.

• Years ago, Farm Kid2 requested a flower garden all his own. I ended up putting together one near the chicken coops for him. Rookie mistake. Often our chickens free range and they love that plot of dirt, making it difficult for anything to grow. This year, though, only a couple roosters are free ranging, and we’ve had much better luck with the wildflower seeds we planted in the spring.

• Farm Kid2 collected sage seeds from last years plant that has already bloomed.

• The last couple years a barn swallow couple has built a nest and hatch babies above our porch. This year’s babies are here.

• The middle photo is of the bounty I collected one day. Tomatoes and Mexican sour gherkins from the greenhouse. Raspberries, kale, & squash from the main garden. Flat leaf parsley from the herb pots. Eggs from the hens. And, lavender from a flower bed.

• Stinking Chamomile, or Anthemis cotula, and mint growing in front of the chicken run.

• I put eggs in the incubator for the first time this year. The rooster responsible for fertilizing the eggs is an olive egger. My goal was to produce more olive eggers. But, I ended up adding a few other eggs in as well.

• Snakes are now on my naughty list. I’m not a fan of snakes. But, I can appreciate them and I am thankful they prey on mice. I dislike mice even more than snakes. However, I was unaware that they also prey on goldfish. Ugh! A few months ago, we lost all but one of out ducks. I tried to find a bright side – which was I can have goldfish in our ponds once again. I happily bought more goldfish thinking they wouldn’t quickly turn into duck food. There are a lot of snakes out and about these days. I ignore them. They ignore me. But, one day a particular snake seemed a bit aggressive. It never came after me, his behavior was just different than the other snakes. I didn’t realize at the time that he was fishing and I was disrupting his hunt… until I did realize it because he caught a fish right in front of me. Then hauled it off in to the bushes to devour it. Stinker! Go eat a mouse!

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• Flowers are blooming.

• Tomatoes in the greenhouse are ripening.

• The lighting on our patio is up and it’s beautiful. We did sparklers already.

• Many snakes have been calling the greenhouse home. I’m assuming they enjoy the warm temperatures. Unfortunately, one didn’t make a good choice in his exploring. The pump on the aquaponics system wasn’t running, which is always a big concern for Farmer John. When he investigated, he found a snake had climbed through the pipes and got caught in the pump. The outcome was not good for the pump or the snake.

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• The birds are still busy singing

• There are tadpoles in the runoff area of our pond for the first time ever. Maybe it’s silly, but I’m so excited to see them there.

• I’m not as excited when I see the garter snake that has made the pond and surrounding areas its home.

• The snakes have been out like crazy. The lower right photo is Farm Girl holding a small one. She likes searching under boards and pieces of wood for them.

• Year after year the swallows make a nest in a bird house in the bird village. I’ve never seen babies, though. Curiosity got the best of me one day and I grabbed a ladder to take a peek. Nothin’. I couldn’t see anything except the nest. I’m not sure if they actually have eggs in there or just like to build a nest.

• Purple is the color of the month. The majority of blooms in the flower beds are purple. I’m not complaining.

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Weather

Most of August was warm, dry & uneventful. However, one night there was a fantastic lightning show that I really could have enjoyed had I not been so nervous about the trees around our house catching on fire. Here in the PNW we get thunder & lightning. But no real great show. It lasts a few minutes and moves on. This time it went on strike after strike for a couple hours straight. I spent those couple hours in awe of nature’s wonders, but also running through my mind the course of events that needed to happen when/if I notice something catch fire. Thankfully, there wasn’t a fire.

Flower Beds

My two favorite plants throughout August had to be lavender & zinnia. To see what else we have blooming check out August’s Bloom Day post.

Goats

Between a garden bed & one side of the goat fence I planted sunflowers & zinnias. They don’t have near the wowing effect I was going for. But, those plants that did grow are pretty – although, kinda on the short side. Truthfully, though, even the weeds don’t grow great in this spot.

The goats favorite item to munch on throughout the day is anything outside their fence. They squeeze their heads through the fence and gobble away. Knowing this, I planted the sunflowers & zinnias just out of their reach. Bahaha! I also purposely left weeds growing between the seeds I planted & the fence. I was hoping they would eat the weeds as opposed to my flowers. I do believe these tactics worked. Yes!

Chicken Keeping

All those chicks we hatched earlier this year are keeping us mighty busy. 70ish growing chickens eat, drink & poop… a lot. I plan to bring the majority of them to the Oregon Poultry Swap in October.

Such a handsome fella.

I bred Easter Eggers with our Splash Marans hoping to get some lighter feathered Olive Eggers.

Black Copper Marans chick

BCM trying to get a nibble of watermelon.

Apparently it wasn’t the goats I had to worry about eating my zinnias.

The chickens also enjoy picking their own tomatoes.

Our middle kid, Farm Kid2 & our daughter, Farm Girl, entered eggs in the county fair. Both won a blue ribbon. Way to go kids!

Wildlife

Lots of stinging type flying critters around these days.

Northern Alligator Lizard

Rufous Hummingbird
Unfortunately, Farmer John found this one dead with its wings & tail feathers spread out. I took the opportunity to examine just how pretty its feathers really are.

Pond

Except for a few decorative aspects and a bridge connecting the pathway the pond is complete.

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Summer weather has arrived and with it many wonderful things are happening around our farm and garden.

Gardening for Food

This time of year is when our garden really starts producing.

Lots of squash, gourds & pumpkins are flowering

My herb row isn’t as prolific as I was hoping, but it’s doing ok. I was able to make a small jar of pesto from the basil.

White-crowned Sparrow nest and babies in the mint.

Flower Beds

The flowerbeds are still full of color, but many plants are almost past their prime.

This daylily is in nearly all the flowerbeds, simply because it grows so well.

Both the bees & I love the lavender.

Farm Kid2’s flower bed near the chicken coops is full of shasta daisies.

The hummingbirds have been loving the nasturtiums.

Aquaponics

Well, we’re still working on getting the aquaponics system set up to perform at its best. There are only a couple plants left growing in the garden beds & the ph is shifting more than Farmer John would like in the water. But, the tilapia seem to be thriving.

Smaller fish in the Sump Tank
We have a dedicated tank to hold fish. We also have a sump tank. The sump tank holds water and the amount shifts based on the amount of water coming in and out of the garden beds. The fish were supposed to stay in the fish tank, since its water level doesn’t fluctuate. But, they were so small when we got them that they swam right through the pipes and into the sump tank. And, there they’ve stayed.

Bigger fish in the Fish Tank.
The tilapia seem to be growing at different speeds. Farmer John has taken the larger ones and moved them back to the fish tank, where they seem to be doing very well.

Goats

Love them!

I planted sunflowers and zinnia along the fence line. I purposely planted them out of reach (I hope) of the goats. I also have chosen not to pull any of the weeds closest to the fence in hopes that the goats will eat those instead of trying out my flowers. So far, so good. But, they’re probably a smidge too close. Sven can almost reach some of them.

The kids and the goats playing has to be one of my all time favorite things. The laughing that goes along with this playing is priceless.

Ducks

Quackin’ & Flappin’

Sitting on eggs that are not fertile.

Swimming in the new pond.

Chicken Keeping

2 year old Golden Polish hen peeking through the grass.

The Littles are growing up and spend much of their time roaming the land.

They know I’m bringing food.

Typical teenagers

Wildlife

This is a great time of year for wildlife watching.

I’m glad tadpoles are making use of this barrel.

We have a few resident deer that we see nearly everyday. This one is munching on greens right outside the garden fence.

Snakes are kind of cool, but I’m not a huge fan. Although, our kids love them. For a couple years in a row there was a huge snake hanging around. The kids named it Tiger.

Cardinal Meadowhawk
I’ve watched this guy a number of times. His favorite hang out is perched on this grass hovering above the new pond waiting for a snack to catch.

I’m certainly grateful for all these fabulous things surrounding my family & I this summer.

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