Greenhouse, Aquaponics & Farm – 04/02/12

It’s been a couple of weeks since I updated about our greenhouse/aquoponics progress.  Still not a lot going on, just keeping on keeping on 🙂

On March 23, 2012, we moved our ducks out of the greenhouse and into their new pen.

Their new pen is made using an old trampoline frame turned upside down and with chicken wire around it.  The pool is a cheap kiddie pool we purchased at Dollar General.  Their house is the plastic playhouse that was Riley’s that he’d grown out of.

Just another close up of their pen.  The object behind it with the red tin roof is one of our chicken tractors.

Our new chicks purchased March 23, 2012, by the following Monday we were down to 1.  We think a feral cat got them, but we’re not sure.

These are the chicks we purchased on March 2, 2012.  They will be going out into one of the chicken tractors as soon as we can get a weed eater working and get the tractor ready for them.

Marty’s friend let us come out to their stock pond and catch some perch with the cast net.  We ended up with 48 perch to put in our aquaponics pond.  Yay!  We have fish again!

Added a window to the back wall of the greenhouse to we could get some ventilation in there as needed.  It’s getting HOT in there!

added a bug zapper over the fish pond for some free fish food and to help keep the mosquitoes at bay.

This morning out oldest son discovered this snake in the duck pen.  It a had a hold of one of the duck’s beaks.  We’re not sure what type of snake it is, some have said it may be a water moccasin, but my husband doesn’t think so.  Either way, it wouldn’t let go of the poor duck and Colt had to kill it.

The poor duck is now missing about half it’s beak.  The poor thing!  We’re hoping it will make it as we don’t know if the snake was poisonous yet or not.  I”m afraid we’re going to have to put the poor thing down.  This is one of my LEAST favorite things about farming…losing animals to predators and accidents.

So, that’s been our last couple weeks of farm life!  I’ll update again when I have more to update!

Greenhouse & Aquaponics System Tour Video

Aquaponics Update 03/20/12

Well it’s been a week or so since I updated about our aquaponics system.  When I last left off, we were fighting an algae bloom in the fish tank.  This algae ended up killing all the fish and Marty began a serious search for a way to clear up the water.  He finally settled on a home made system, which I’ll have to get him to explain to me so I can post more about it here.  So please be patient, I’ll try really hard to get a post up about it soon.

As you can see on March 12, 2012, the fish tank is still murky and dark.  You cannot remotely see the bottom.  This was after running the water through a diatomaceous earth filter.  Which did not work at all.  All it did was leave a nice layer of diatomaceous earth on the bottom of the fish tank.

On March 4, 2012 we planted some seeds into the grow bed #2, as you can see from this March 12, 2012 photo they are doing well and we have the cutest little veggie seedlings popping up!

Two days after starting the new filter on the fish tank (March 14, 2012), the water is clearing up!  As of today (March 20, 2012) the water is perfectly clear…sorry don’t have a photo from today, but here is a photo from March 14, 2012.

On March 14, 2012 we have quite a crop of seedlings coming up!

I also can’t believe how much the ducks have grown!  We bought them on March 4, 2012 and look at them just 10 days later on March 14, 2012!

We didn’t get a whole lot done over the past weekend, because we went out of town.  But we got home early enough on Sunday to get the grow bed #3 installed.  Then yesterday after Marty got off work he repotted most of the seedings in grow bed #2 and put them into grow bed #3 to continue growing.  When they are big enough they will be transplanted into the garden in our front yard.

Marty found these Dixie cup sized plastic cups at Dollar General for 50/$1, he bought 2 packages and is using them as reusable individual transplant/seedling pots.  The put holes in the bottom of them so the water in the grow bed comes up through to keep the seedlings moist.

In the next few weeks, now that the fish tank water is clear, we will begin adding fish to the system again which will add some much needed nutrients to the system.  We will also be moving the chicks and ducks out of the greenhouse and into chicken tractors pretty soon.  The ducks sooner than the chicks as they have pretty much outgrown the brooder they’re in.  We won’t be moving the chicks out until after Easter, which usually signals our last frost around here.  We will also be getting the garden beds tilled up an ready to begin planting.  So, I’ll come back and update as we have more news 🙂

Quick Aquaponics Update

Sorry I haven’t updated about the Aquaponics system lately.  It’s been so busy around here that I just am not finding a lot of time to update the blog.  I’ll honestly try to do better, but family comes first so we’ll see 🙂

Sunday we finally planted the 2nd grow bed.  I can’t recall what all (types) we planted, but I know we planted tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, peppers, watermelons and broccoli.  All of these are going to be transplanted into the big garden when they are big enough.  So this is what the 2nd grow bed looked like after we got it all planted.

It’s kind of hard to see, but in all the places marked there’s a little plastic ring cut from a 2 liter coke bottle.  In each ring, we planted a different seed.  These seedlings will be transplanted into the garden when they are ready.  The photo above was taken on Sunday.  This evening, Marty went out to check the greenhouse and low and behold we now have sprouts coming up in the broccoli!!  More proof that the aquaponics system is working!

Aren’t they the sweetest!  We were both so excited to see them tonight!

As for the rest of the system.  It’s still a work in progress.  On February 17, 2012, we added a 250 tank for the fish.  This is simply a kiddie pool with 3 pumps in it.  Here’s a photo:

We also added a couple dozen minnows to the mix.

We all have enjoyed watching them swim around…kind of relaxing!  On February 24, 2012, we added some more fish to the fish take, 7 goldfish, 2 dozen  minnows, and 5 perch.  The next day Marty put a new door on the greenhouse.  It’s a recycled glass screen door that Marty got for free from his boss when he replaced it with a new one.

On the morning of March 3, 2012, we woke up and found that algae had bloomed in the fish tank 😦

Marty’s been trying a variety of homemade filters trying to get it cleared up.  This past weekend, he tried a Diatomaceous earth filter, but even that hasn’t cleared it up.  To make matters even sadder, most if all of the fish have died.  So, we will not be adding any more fish until we can get this taken care of.  Marty’s afraid he’s going to have to shock  the system with chlorine….we’re open for suggestions!!

On a brighter note, we added 14 new family members this past weekend. They are currently living in brooder pens in the greenhouse.  This offers them protection from other animals that might eat them, as well as provide them with the extra warmth they need.

1 dozen new chicks!  Unfortunately we did lose 1, so we’re down to 11.

2 new ducks!  I noticed today (03/08/12) that they have already DOUBLED in size!  YIKES!

Riley LOVES just sitting in the greenhouse watching the chicks and ducks.  He’s in love with these critters already!

So I guess that brings us up to date on the greenhouse/aquaponics system.  I’ll really try to be better about updating y’all!

 

How To Raise Chickens – Guest Post by Carla Raley

Today, we have a special guest post by Carla Raley!  Be sure to read her bio below and visit her page.  I’m so excited to have her and I’m sure you will love her post!

Photo courtesy of lierne on Flickr

How To Raise Chickens
by Carla Raley

Raising chickens on the small family farm can be a fun and profitable thing to do. There are several things to think about, to ensure success:

For example, I have found that many people don’t realize you do not have to have a rooster to have eggs.  However, without a rooster, the eggs will not be fertile, so if you want to raise chickens from the hens on your property, you must get a rooster. It doesn’t need to be the same breed, a rooster is not picky.  He will breed any hen on your farm, regardless of type or size.

You will need to either invest in an incubator, or buy a batch of hens that will tend to get broody. Bantams are good at this. When you find that you have a hen that wants to stay on the nest, you can add other hen’s eggs to her eggs, until she has all the eggs she can sit on. You can save eggs (at room temperature) for up to two weeks, and put the eggs under the hen all at once, so that the eggs will hatch at the same time. Otherwise, the hen will jump off the nest after she has a few chicks, and the rest of your eggs will be lost. Another way would be to remove the chicks as soon as they are hatched, to encourage the hen to keep sitting. It takes three weeks to hatch a hen’s egg.

Remember, putting an egg under a light bulb will not work. There is a very intricate process of humidity and heat that is needed hatch an egg.

You can also buy chicks from a hatchery. You can order all pullets (hens), or you can go the cheaper route and buy straight run, which means you will get a mixture of both roosters and hens.

Your newborn chicks will need a warm, dry place to grow. You can leave them with the hen, although this is very risky if the hen is allowed to roam, or you can fix up a ‘nursery’ for them.

Here are some guidelines for your chick nursery:

They must have temperatures of around 90 degrees in the beginning. They must be dry; a wet chick is a soon to be dead chick. Sometimes if they get wet, you can revive them with a hair dryer, but the best course of action is to make sure they don’t get wet.

I have also found that it is not necessary to change the litter under the chicks. Start out with clean dirt. Every week or so, add some fresh dirt. The composting process of the dirt, feed and droppings from the chicks will actually help keep them warm from the bottom up. Just make sure the dirt and litter is very dry. Again, dampness kills the chicks.

Always protect against crowding. The chicks will need plenty of room to move around and also to get away from your heat source if it gets too warm. Chicks are bad about climbing all over each other, and smothering the ones on the bottom of the pile. It’s better to have too much room, than not enough.

For the first two weeks, it is best to get chick starter feed from your local feed store that has medication in it. That will keep the chicks from getting a bloody diarrhea that will kill them. It’s also a good idea to buy a packet of powdered electrolytes and vitamins to add to their water. This will make your chicks very hardy.

Keep your baby chicks under the light until they are about six weeks old, or have their feathers. Then, you can move them to another safe, protected space. They will still need to be protected from cold, wet weather, but they do not need the high temperatures they once did. Once they are fully grown and able to fend for themselves and fly away from predators, at least to a point, it will be safe to release them to free range on your farm. To keep from having a large loss after all the work you did to raise them, make letting them loose be later, rather than sooner. If in doubt, keep them protected.

Chickens lay best their first year. The second year, they may not lay as often, although it will be close if they are well cared for, and their eggs will be a little bigger. By the third year, you might consider selling or butchering, and starting over with a new flock.

Raising chickens is an enjoyable, fun and profitable thing to do on your small farm. It’s a good way to introduce chores to your children, as they are easy to care for, and children usually enjoying feeding and gathering eggs. It’s also a calming soothing thing to watch chickens pecking and scratching as you sit on your front porch. It’s an endeavor well worth checking out.

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Carla Raley is a Christian wife and homeschooling mommy of ten children. They live on a mini-farm in a small Texas town where they raise chickens, ducks and rabbits, along with their many dogs, cats, and birds.

You can visit Carla at her blogs, Raley Family’s Farm and Book Reviews by Carla.

 

 

{ Pictures of Our Garden }

I just realized that I hadn’t posted any pictures of our gardens recently. All that we really have growing right now are bell peppers, hot banana peppers, habenero peppers, tomatoes, onions & Indian corn. The lettuce & broccoli have finished producing for the summer and the green beans died on us. We just planted a little bit of Indian corn and we will let it dry on the plant to use for seed next year. Now on to the pictures…

This is one our our bell pepper plants, we have 6 and they are all full of peppers!

This is one of our hot banana pepper plants, we have 2 of these and they are full of peppers. We’ve already put 1 gallon size bag of these up in the freezer!

Here’s one of our MANY tomatoes. Just in the last 3 days we’ve put up over 3 gallons of tomatoes in the freezer, plus we have another gallon or so that have been picked, but we’re waiting on them to ripen. There are 100’s of them still on the plants waiting ripen!!

We’re going to be making a huge pot of salsa at the end of the growing season! I’ll put them up in jelly size jars. I don’t really have a recipe for my salsa. I just mix the tomatoes, diced onions, and diced peppers and let simmer until the flavors meld. Sometimes it’s really hot and sometimes it’s really mild…depends on how many peppers I put in and how hot they are.

My absolutely favorite book about preserving the produce from your garden is Stocking Up by Carol Hupping.

It’s a really great addition to any gardener’s library! It covers how to harvest, freeze, can, dry and store all your fruits and vegetables. It also has sections on Pickles & Relishes, Jams, jellies & fruit butters, and juicing. But it’s not just about fruits & vegetables, it also covers preserving, storing and making common dairy foods, meats, poultry, fish, nuts, seed, grains & sprouts. I can’t recommend this book highly enough! This book has been indespensable to me!

Here’s what it says about freezing tomatoes:

“Tomatoes can better than they freeze, although they may be frozen. They do not need to be blanched first. To save space and preparation time later, you may also stew tomatoes. Peel and then cut into quarters and simmer slowly in a covered heavy pot until tomatoes are soft and release their juices. Then remove the lid and cook as long as you’d like. You can cook the tomatoes down into a paste, but be sure to keep heat low and stir frequently to prevent burning.”

Here’s what is says about freezing peppers:

“Select when fully ripe, either green, red or yellow. Skin should be glossy and thick. Wash, halve and remove seeds and whitish membrane. Peppers do not require blanching but you may blanch for 2 minutes in boiling water or steam to make for easier packing.”

A couple more pictures…

One of the many pretty sunflowers in our backyard.

These are some of the baby chicks we hatched earlier this year. Aren’t they getting big!!