a glob of nerd­ish­ness

Aquaponics update

published by natevw on Subscribe

Patience is starting to pay off in the greenhouse.

Plants

Are doing well. Perhaps a little too well — it's getting hard to see the vegetables for the jungle!

Small plants early on Larger plants later Overgrowing plants recently

So far we've eaten: more green onions, several small strawberries, a bunch of lettuce and spinach, and two green beans. Coming up: more beans, some peas, and the tomatoes all have blossoms!

Equipment

Goldfish swimming around pump cutoff float valve

Added battery backup for airpump, float valve for water pump. If power goes out (or gets unplugged by a young child), or a water pipe comes loose, these should give me a bit of extra protection against full fishdaster.

Battery backup taken apart to dry

I'm pleased, but also not very proud, to report that the UPS does detect and avoid electrocuting those who pour water into its top vents.

New shelves being assembled Testing a 55-gallon barrel growbed loop siphon New growbeds being installed on new shelves

My parents visited recently, so I enlisted my dad to do some heavy duty carpentry for the next set of grow beds. Still need to finish the plumbing and chase out some leaks (and wash a bunch more gravel) but "phase 2" is starting to come together.

Fish

Added tilapia. Twice.

Biggest fish in the small pond

Apparently, while my cursory research indicated that goldfish were mild and not likely to bother tilapia, however my search terms did not specify just how small of tilapia I was worried about. Apparently goldfish, while not terribly aggressive, do not mind small tasty snacks.

Tilapia fry in a bait bucket which, ironically, should keep them *safer*.

So the second set is currently growing out in their own bucket, while a small handful of tilapia survivors are managing to rapidly catch up in the "goldfish" tank.

Next up

I'm at the NodePDX conference right now and surrounded by people doing cool things with software and small sensors.

Arduino with WiFi shield on an AeroGarden

I've got all the parts for getting my own greenhouse online, and hoping to integrate them together in time for NodeConf.

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