The Ideal Fish Farm

Read more

Birds in the boxes!

This week has not been a good one but I have learnt a lot so as with all experiences I will take it all on board, learn from it and move on.But firstly let me a share a little. There is a depression issue running through the ladies in my family-my mum suffered horribly, I struggle with it and so, unfortunately, does my daughter. This week we had a mental health "crisis"which saw a rush to A&E and a frightening few hours. All is calm now but what I have picked up from people is that there are countless folk working in and around horticulture and gardening who are affected by these issues and the common denominator is that being outside with plants calms issues like these. Reconnecting with the earth you see. So to any of you out there suffering, get outside, grow something, get your hands dirty-I really hope it will help you and I would be really interested to hear from you.
So, I hear you ask, why the picture of the Blue Tit? Well not only do we have them nesting in the boxes at work but a couple of them have started to nest in my box in the garden-its the first time it has been used. And they are so beautiful that I felt the need to share. At work we also have a Mistle Thrush which sings to us every morning from one of the apple trees in the orchard. The song makes you glad to be alive!

On a planty note lots of seedlings are popping their heads through and we are deperately running around trying to make space for everything!!! All my windowsills are full as are both our greenhouses and my coldframe, so today we are taking the hardier things such as Calendula and Lunaria over to the allotment to sit for a while. And then I think it will take us about 10 minutes to refill the spaces we have made!And this week we have ordered even more seed. Oh well, well find space for it somewhere....In the mean time heres a picture that will raise the temperature on a grey day.

Read more

3D 1 Aquaponics systems video

3D-1 Aquaponics systems video

The internet is full of free resources to use in order to make your life easier. There are many reasons to download models rather than creating one from scratch. To save time, save money or even for testing lighting. As long as you follow the users rules, it is perfectly acceptable to download these models. Below an 3D movie

D. Koster

 Share this article on Facebook to help me with blogging to use this link


Aquaponics - Commercial aquaponics - Hydroponics - Grow bed

Read more

Basics of A Rain Garden

Rain garden (it should not be confused with Gardening in the Rain) is an interesting concept. It not only increases your gardening beauty but also helps in water preservation. Here in this article I want to give you an brief idea about this concept.

What is a rain garden?

Rain garden refers to a garden which takes the advantage of the water from the rainfall in growing plants. The garden is designed to withstand a great level of moisture and concentration of nutrients. It gave the run off water the opportunity to slow down as it go downhill and thus reduces its erosive power.

Rain garden looks as like any other garden from outside but the speciality lies in the fact that it gets its water from the runoff and what happen after the water enters the garden.

The rain garden is a shallow depression in your backyard with absorbent yet free draining soil and it is planted with vegetation. It acts as a personal water quality system as it filters the waste water of the roof and other hard surfaces and recharges it.

Why should I plant a rain garden?

The main purpose of having this is to receive the run off water from hard surfaces like roof, sidewalk etc. By having a rain garden you will do you little bit to preserve this invaluable natural resource called water.

It increase the scenic beauty of the garden and protect streams and lakes nearby from pollutants and also help reducing flood.

It holds water for quite some time and thus provides a natural habitat for Birds, Butterflies and many other beneficial insects.

It also helps in reducing your water needs by recycling the waste water. So you would have lesser municipality water requirements.

How to build a rain garden?

Building a rain garden is very easy and is not at all expensive.

The first thing to do is to choose a spot to prepare the garden. It can be near the house if you only want to collect roof runoff or can be a little further in case lawn water is also in your plan.

Just keep this in mind that it should not be near a big tree or very near of the foundation of the house or it can damage them.

Next you need to find the are that will drain the water to your rain garden. The larger the area more the water will come to the garden. Ideal size of the garden can be from 100 sq ft to 250 sq ft depending on the total area. It should not be deeper than 6 to 8 inches.

While digging the garden you need to make a berm (a low wall) to prevent the water going downhill. Dig couple of inches more than the actual size of the garden. Add 2 inch thick compost for the nourishment of the plants.

Now come the most interesting part THE PLANTING. First make a rough plan of the actual garden in terms of the plants you want to grow and their positions in the garden.

Choose the plants carefully considering their height flowering time and composite texture of the garden. Choosing different blooming time will ensure a longer flowering season for the garden.

Use one or two year old plants with well established root system. Until the rain starts you need to give them much needed water for their survival. Use native plants to reduce cost and increase the chances of survival.

Have any suggestion? Please bring it our notice. Use the comment box below.

Read more

Europska aquakultura

 

 

Važnost o?uvanja

Provjere od strane službenika za kontrolu ribarstva sprje?avaju prekomjerno izlovljavanje ribe.

Ribarska industrija EU-a druga je po veli?ini u svijetu. Godišnje osigurava oko 7.3 milijuna tona ribe. Ribarstvo i industrija prerade  ribe zapošljavaju više od 400.000 ljudi.

Prioritet ribarske politike EU-a je posti?i ravnotežu izme?u osiguravanja konkurente ribarske industrije s jedne i održivih ribljih zaliha te održivog pomorskog eko-sustava s druge strane.

Za razdoblje od 2007.-2013. godine, Europski ribarski fond ima na raspolaganju 3.85 milijardi eura koje se mogu potrošiti na prioritete postavljene od strane zemalja ?lanica, temeljene na njihovim vlastitim odlukama o tome što im je naviše potrebno. Novac se može iskoristiti za morsko i slatkovodno ribarstvo, akvakulturu, organizacije proizvo?a?a, sektor procesiranja i marketinga, te za ekonomsku diverzifikaciju u ribarskim zajednicama.

 

Nužna je dobra provedba

Kako bi osigurala poštivanje ograni?enja vezanih za ribarstvo, postavljenih u interesu dugoro?nog o?uvanja zaliha ribe, EU je 2005. godine osnovala Agenciju za kontrolu ribarstva Zajednice. Agencija, ?ije je trenutno sjedište u Bruxellesu, trebala bi se u 2008. godini preseliti na svoju stalnu lokaciju u Vigo u Španjolskoj, europsku vode?u ribarsku luku. Agencija koordinira provedbu pravila za sprje?avanje prekomjernog izlovljavanja ribe i zaštitu drugih oblika morskog života. Osim toga, ona osigurava obuku za inspektore i organizira zajedni?ko postavljanje inspektora iz više država ?lanica Unije.

 

Me?unarodna suradnja i pomo?

Ribarski sporazumi sa zemljama izvan EU-a i pregovori unutar regionalnih i me?unarodnih ribarskih organizacija osiguravaju sprje?avanje prekomjernog izlovljavanja ribe, ne samo u vodama EU-a, ve? i u onima iz ?itavog svijeta. Istovremeno, ribarima EU-a pružaju pristup ribi u udaljenim vodama. Zemljama u razvoju EU pla?a za pravo pristupa, a novac dobiven tim putem uvelike se ulaže u ribarske industrije tih zemalja te u izgradnju njihovih ribljih zaliha.

 

Razvijanje akvakulture

Akvakulturom se može nadoknaditi smanjenje zaliha divlje ribe. Ve? sada 20% ukupnog izlova Europske unije dolazi iz uzgajališta riba. Mekušci, školjke, poto?na pastrva i losos spadaju u najvažnije proizvode akvakulture, no u nekim zemljama važno mjesto zauzimaju i šaran i deverika.

Akvakulturna industrija EU-a raste sporije od industrije ostatka svijeta. Europska komisija razmatra uvo?enje dodatnih koraka za razvoj potencijala ove industrije. Klju?ni izazovi uklju?uju manjak prostora i vode dobre kvalitete, te visoke standarde zaštite javnog zdravlja i okoliša. Europska aquakultura prednja?i u održivom razvoju u svijetu, i po pitanju socijalnih u?inaka i u?inaka na okoliš, no to otežava tržišno natjecanje s proizvo?a?ima iz drugih zemalja, posebice iz Azije i južne Amerike.

 

Pomorska dimenzija

EU ima više mora nego kopna te predstavlja najve?i svjetski pomorski teritorij. Ima ukupno 1200 luka, a oko 90% ukupne vanjske trgovine i 40% unutarnje obavlja se morskim putem. Trgova?ka flota Europske unije najve?a je na svijetu.

Pomorske regije sa?injavaju više od 40% bruto doma?eg proizvoda EU-a, a u njima živi 60% populacije Unije. Oko 5% BDP-a dolazi izravno iz pomorskih industrija i usluga. Broj je puno ve?i kada se uzmu u obzir neizravni doprinosi iz drugih sektora, poput turizma.

Kako su ribarska politika i politika zaštite okoliša ve? neko vrijeme percipirane kao dvije strane iste medalje, EU sada preuzima šire gledište kako bi obuhvatila sve koristi našeg pomorskog prostora. Cilj je oja?ati europska pomorska istraživanja, tehnologiju i inovacije. To se uklapa u Lisabonsku agendu za ve?i broj kvalitetnijih poslova i rast, te u Unijinu posve?enost osiguravanju da gospodarski razvoj ne ugrožava održivost okoliša. Integrirana pomorska politika obuhva?a pomorski prijevoz, konkurentnost kompanija u pomorskom sektoru, zapošljavanje, znanstvena istraživanja, ribarstvo i zaštitu morskog okoliša.

Kako bi naglasila važnost ovog sektora, Europska komisija je 20. svibnja proglasila Europskim danom pomorstva. Prvi Europski dan pomorstva obilježen je 2008. godine. 

Branka Kalle 
Predsjednica Savjeta 
Hrvatskog Centra Obnovljivih Izvora Energije (HCOIE)

Read more

What is Aquaponics

Heres a great summary of how aquaponics works!

Morgan Kauphusman/MEDILL

Illustrations/Kevin Kauphusman

Sources: Jesse Blom, Sweet Water Foundation; Bowen Dornbrook, Central Greens Commercial Aquaponics

Read more

PVC Aquaponics Shade

3 weeks ago, I started building a shade for my aquaponics system to protect the plants from strong winds and heavy rain. As I am living in a gated townhouse, I am not allowed to make modifications to my veranda and bordering walls. Therefore, the criterias for my shade design are:

• cheap as possible
• no drilling/nailing on existing walls and roofs
• does not extend beyond the borders of my house
• constructable with the power tools I have
• able to withstand tropical winds and rain
• leaves and water doesnt stay collected at the top
• ease of cleaning (such as support legs that doesnt block the broom when sweeping underneath the system)
• pleasant to look at

I came up with a few design and performed test simulations in my head to see how they will stand up against the harshest weather in my area. Finally, the candidate that scored the best is an "arch" design made from 1/2" PVC pipe. I then did a rough sketchup model of my system with a finished shade to estimate the length of PVC pipe needed.

 The contruction of the shade was done over the course of a week during my free time. I also made some changes to the initial design by adding wider PVC pipes at the base for extra strength

Phase 1: PVC Frame

All the pipes were held together using screws. Precision, precision, precision!

Phase 2: Wire Bracing

Doing this is HELL! I have to make sure all the braces are not too loose and not too tight. Too little tension and the shade will be shaky. Too much and the pipes will have an unsightly bent. I cant remember how many times I redid all these wire bracing!

Took me 3 days to get the all the wire tension right. At the end, all the hard work... is worth it!

I used strings to pull the whole frame to the right shape before adding the wire bracing.

Phase 3: Plastic Tarp

These are greenhouse clips I made from 1/2" PVC pipe

Transparent plastic tarp that I bought from ACE hardware

Oh! Just look at that smiling kangkong! I can also hear my okras cheering... "Finally!"

Here are some closer shots of different parts of the shade:

The base of the shade is screwed to the grow bed stand.

Wires are applied here to reduce shaking

Just a simple bend is enough to secure the wire to the pipe

Two Weeks Later

After two weeks, the shade survived several stormy nights with minimal damage. During strong winds, 1 or 2 badly designed clips may pop out. I had replaced them with better clips and since then, it doesnt happen anymore. The shade shakes very little during strong winds and leaves collected at the top gets washed down by the rain.

A shot of my shaded system at the backyard

Grow bed shot. That pot of pink flowers in the middle are dianthus barbatus or "Sweet William"... My name :D

Kang kong growing vigorously without being bombarded by falling fruits from above

Standing proudly are okra plants and at the right are Genovese basil seedling that I bought from Mercato supermarket at Pavilion, KL

Tilapia tank no longer littered with leaves and fruits

Rosemary, various bok choy seedlings (2 varieties here), and japanese cucumber at the back

Beautiful kang kong leaves... Pretty flowers...

Kang kong flower up close

Kang kong fruit

Cherry tomato and "white floral spires" basil seedling. At the back, under the white container, are experimental rosemary cuttings.

Seedlings of "white floral spires" basil

This new shade is a good place to hang a Petunia plant

Unfortunately, I still have problems with rain splashing on the wall. My japanese cucumber which are planted near the wall is having problems staying upright. Their leggy stems may be due to inadequate light or too much nitrate.

"Kyuri" or japanese cucumber

Arent their leaves a little light? Iron deficiency perhaps?

I need to think of a way to block the rain splashing.

Thanks for reading!

Read more