Supplementing the income
for many of us laboring in the field we are finding it harder to get by. As we see the economics take a dive over the last 10 months we lost lots of support. One of our close friends has been supporting our house project but as for our other support everything was down.
So about 6 months ago I began exploring options on how to supplement our budget. I came across aquaponic gardening a combination of raising food fish like Tilapia and using the water from the fish waste to organically fertilize the vegetables. Particularly Aquaponics in a Barrel by a missionary Travis Hughey. I do want to establish a larger green house but the expense makes me take it slower in buying materials. But "Barrelponics" as Travis calls it is perfect for those on a low budget, time constraints, lack of space for conventional gardening and uses only 10% of the water of normal gardening. I built one barrel unit and I have it up and running this week it takes up 6'HX6'WX6'D space. This week I will put some fish in it and by next week I should have the first plants in it. tomatoes, Lettuce and bell peppers. I will be holding free seminars at our church for mostly poor people and squatters to show them the working unit, teach them what is Aquaponics, and how to build their own barrel unit. of course half way after the break I will tell them how we can meet their needs for food and supplementing their income, but there is a more pressing need we would like to meet also and then give them the Gospel. but for anyone wanting to supplement their income or for church planting pastors who don't have a lot of money these units are a great way to help supplement the income for food. Fresh fish and vegetables. yum yum |
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I know two church-planting pastors. Will that work for them? I hope that works for me, too: I have "low budget, time constraints, lack of space" |
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yes, it will work for anyone on a limited budget and resources. These units will fit on your balcony in a high rise down town Manila. it took around P5,000 to get it all set up. but I know you can do it for a little less. |
Chette,
What a superb idea! I'm a gardener myself so the topic piqued my interest. I would probably get too attached to the fish to be able to eat them...unless I got hungry enough. :D I wonder if zucchini grow in your neck of the woods. They produce about 30 pounds per plant. Probably couldn't grow many in one of these aquaponic units. They sure love manure, though. I grew one plant last year in a pile of manure and it was one productive plant. How beautiful to have greens and fish growing right outside your house. I think it is a wonderful thing you're doing. I'm adding some pictures from the web: http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...g/NewImage.jpg http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...quaponics1.jpg http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...-progress2.jpg |
I forgot to mention, what a tremendous opportunity to give the gospel to the people who attend your barrelponics seminars. May God bless you and your ministry!
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Aquapoinics in a Barrel
Here is a picture of a barrelponics unit that Travis Hughey has on his site.
http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/18446573...ge.jpg?type=sn If anyone would like a manual I can send you a PDF copy. just remember Travis Hughey has the rights, especially to the flood valve mechanism. it was fun and frustrating to put it together but ours is working and I will put fish in it today. Sammy the wonderful thing about aquaponic is that they are low maintenance and you don't have to know much http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/barrelponics/ |
Can you, please, send me a copy?:)
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I sent one off to you Sammy
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Thanks, Brother Chette!
I'll show this to my men. (You know, gardening and fishing is not my line.) |
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I can't believe my eyes. I planted Lettuce seeds on Wednesday Morning and today Friday morning they had broke the surface of the gravel. I sprouted similar seeds in foam and it took 3 and 4 days to sprout.
I put up a little video on youtube of my system http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hzj1qm1m5Y |
Nice to hear you voice and the children's.:D
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Chette,
I love Youtube. Neat being able to hear your voice and your kids in the background. Soon your family will have salad every day (but the fish aren't much more than an appetizer :rolleyes:). Jen |
Oh me and my squeaky voice. Anyway it is low in the video but it is higher pitched at times. I don't always like the way I sound but God has chosen the foolish things to confound the wise.
seeing that the barrel fish tank is a little small actually to raise more than 2 Tilapia at a time to eating size. The last time I ate them in Manila I didn't like the taste so much. I have been told it is because they don't use clean water to raise them and they don't feed them clean foods either. So when I get the green house up I will raise some in a larger tank and give them a try again. One of the Barrels I bought was contaminated and I could not get it replaced because we all ready cut it up. so I will use the contaminated one for the seminars only. when I set up another one here I will get a clean barrel |
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This is a time when deafness can be a real blessing: I can't hear your self-described "squeaky voice"! :pound: I enjoyed seeing the video. Any idea how long it takes to raise the Tilapia to edible size? Personally, I love Tilapia fish - very delicious! It's been rare that I have encountered a rather bitter-tasting fish, and I don't know what that comes from. I also love the taste of Orange Roughy fish. I also used to love Lake Perch (I live near Lake Michigan) but unfortunately I've had the bitter-tasting fish one time too many to trust it now. I'll look forward to seeing the new video that you plan to post, to show the progress of your plantings. Let us know here, when that is posted! That's sad that one of the barrels you had bought was contaminated and that you can't exchange it now. I'm praying for this endeavor of yours to be fruitful! Jassy |
I can tell you that Chette is just one more person who doesn't like hearing his own recorded voice. It's not squeaky, he has a good old mid-western accent, I think. (I still have my Oregon accent, if such a thing exists). I LOVE Orange Roughy. It is soooo delicious. I can afford tilapia, so that's what we eat. John loves perch. I get it sometimes for him but I have to smother it with tartar sauce to get it down. I never realized the reason is that it IS bitter.
A couple of years ago we got electrical laid out to two spots in the yard where we plan on haviing a potting shed and a greenhouse. To this day we have wires sticking out of the ground that John has to mow around. If we ever get them, I might post a video to YouTube. |
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Thanks for cueing me in on brother Chette's voice. I knew he was just being self-defacing and humble. I've been told I have a mid-western accent. To this day, I have no idea what that is! When I could hear, and someone would comment on my "midwest accent" I used to tell everybody - I don't have an accent, YOU have an accent! :pound: When I can afford it, I sometimes will buy a couple of orange roughy fillets for a treat. Tilapia is much easier on the budget though! I have a very easy and delicious "fillet almandine" recipe, if you'd like it sis. Everyone I've made it for has wanted the recipe. And they can't believe that I didn't slave over it for half a day! :D Shhhhhhhhhhhh our little secret! :wink: I don't even LIKE tartar sauce... so that's not an option for me. I don't like that bitter taste or too "fishy" of a taste. Good grief, in eating fish what kind of a taste do I expect?! LOL I once had delicious GRILLED fish, the smoked taste of it really cuts down on any bitter or "fishy" aftertaste. There's another member on the forum that has a greenhouse. I won't point out who it is, unless they want to do that themselves, if they read this. You might get some pointers from them in setting up a greenhouse, if they're open to commenting on that topic. Jassy |
I would love to get your "fillet almandine" recipe. I'm all for people believing I slaved half the day in the kitchen making dinner. Now that I've admitted to myself that I HATE perch, I don't believe I shall buy it anymore. The first time I ever went to John's apartment before we were married the only thing he had in his refrigerator were a half dozen carp. I couldn't believe it! I asked him why he had a bunch of carp in his refrigerator and he told me he caught them himself and planned on finding a way to cook them so the bones would dissolve. I'm not sure what eventually happened to those carp but it's lucky I saved him from bachelorhood. He eats much better now.
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I'm very spoiled and the only fish I can stand is canned tuna and Mahi or Cod. Canned tuna isn't really even fish :) and Mahi and Cod are VERY mild. I don't eat fish often because it is too fishy tasting for me. Even the ones I like sometimes. I wish I liked fish more as it is good for you.
One thing you can do to improve the taste of the Talapia, which most places don't, is remove it from it's live in barrel (river/pond/etc) and keep it in fresh clean water for a time. The longer the better. You can even change the water once or twice. It gives the fish time to clear out some of the dirtier water etc from it's system and it removes some of the strong fish taste from the fillet. Also works for crawdads and other bottom feeders. |
I would like to set up a system with a larger tank for tilapia. it is a good idea to remove them and let them clean out. I will remember that. my greenhouse is more of a shade house and screened to keep out the insects.
do you all think I really have a mid western sounding voice? I was born in Chicago, raised by my mother and step father in So Cal. my step father is from Louisiana. I lived in Hawaii for 8 years where I got saved and then I went to school in Virginia and I like to live there when I am in the States. Mid western would be our Illinois/MO back ground. MY immediate Nichols family is from St Louis MO and Springfield IL area and they migrated from Virginia and North Carolina in the early 1800's. I learned that my grandfather had 6 siblings that he never spoke about. I am not sure if any of them are alive he was the second child and he was 96 when he died. |
Suplementing the income
Hi all,
You really should stop talking about all that tasty fish. My mouth is watering. On Kauai (Hawaii) we had so many types of fish to choose from, that Talipia was a rubbish fish. Filipinos ate them (that includes me) when they caught them in the rivers. I am not too crazy about the ones available in the stores, they are much too small. I am used to having them with steaks as thick as an inch to an inch and a quarter. Chette, you make me want to grow lettuce again. Hydro-lettuce is so much sweeter then ground grown lettuce. A good replacement for lettuce, and it only takes 7 t0 10 days from soaking to harvest, is sunflower sprouts, I don't know how expensive (or if it is even available there) potting soil is but that is the growing medium I used. The soil is reusable if sun dried after it is used, to disinfect it. Another problem might be getting the sunflower seeds. I know you can get mung beans. Sprouted mung beans (commonly called just bean sprouts) is another fast crop. Sprouts do take a lot of water though. I used black oil sunflour seeds. You can use the one for birds if you wash them before you soak them. Aloha, Renee |
yeah sprouts in a jar are how I make them
I grew some sunflowers (the big ones for seeds) but if the grasshoppers didn't eat them when they sprouted something in the ground ate their roots. I will try in the growing bed. The upper tank is a hydro tank for lettuce and the growing beds are just pea gravel you can grow just about anything in it. I saw lots of aquaponic units on the net many of them are hoem made and doing quite well. I like this type of system as you don't need to mix soil, fertilizers, weed, or turn the soil. the grow beds are good for two years or so. the only work after building your system is to keep the pipes clean. We don't have available here the type of floating foam for growing lettuce in the hydro tank I tried flora foam but it is not good too tight. Travis suggested dixie cups. don't have them but I didn't discover some small plastic type cups at the Medical supply the other day while picking up 4inch gauze and tape for my first aid kit. I will get some and try them with tissue paper for sprouting. |
Suplementing the income
Hi Brother Chette,
In one of our green houses (120ftx30ft) we had three different ways of growing. We had stagnent (where the nutrient water just sat and the lettuce grew on top; ebb and flow which speaks for itself; and I can't remember the name but the nutrient water flowed all the time. In the ebb and flow I had trays of chives in pebbles, basil in containers and I had a hugh Tomatoe plant that crawled all over everything. The tomatoe roots simply grew out of the seep holes from the container. I killed it before I got tomatoes because the plant was so healthy it wanted to kill everything else. I think it was NFT, Nutrient film Tecnic. It was a lot of work. Several times the aphids got established and we lost whole crops of lettuce and cilantro. (Our main crops.) We had to find different ways to sprout things. Hawaii is so humid, if you missed one rinse (watering ) of the sprouts they rotted. I could not sprout in a jar. What seeds do you sprout? Don't make that greenhouse too big. Better two small ones. We tried lady bugs but the lizards ate them. I think mostly they drowned. Aloha and God bless your growing efforts, both spiritual and earthy. Irene |
yeah my green house wont be more than 10x20 foot. Praying mantis is one way they come into the house at night I catch them and put them in the "screen house".
yeah if you forget to rinse the sprouts they will rot. Mung beans, red beans, black beans are my regular sprouts. no one eats them except me. I found some large sunflower seeds at the feed store I will try and grow some. but they make great sprouts to eat as well. yeah, the problem with ladybugs is the gecko's eat them. another good thing for aphids is Ivory soap diluted down in water sprayed on the underside of the leaves. I just spray the whole thing. but you must rinse your veggies good or they will taste like soap. |
Just arrived from Bacolod (for a Christian Educator's Convention), and we ate in an eatery where they cell "organic foods" at a very cheap price. They had their own garden and they cook their "no-fertilizer" products.
I'm so inspired to start building a greenhouse are planting my own garden. One problem, all I know is how to water the plants.:tsk: |
that is why aquaponics is for you. and they get watered automatically (if no brown out). I bought a 12volt pump for that reason and already had to use it when that last hurricane went through here two days ago. we had no power for over 24 hours.
totally organic system with no chance of e-coli contamination from making your own natural fertilizers from cow, goat, chicken and pig manure. no tilling the soil, no weeding just add some water to it once a week and clean some pipes as needed. Like I said the hardest work was cutting the drums and making the stand. it is fun to watch. Everyone who goes by looks and wants to know what it is. many think it is a water purifier. |
suplementing the Income
Brother Sammy,
So get somebody to show you how to plant. Practice like this. Dig a hole in the ground, crumble all the clumps, make a small hill and poke six holes in the mound, drop a long bean seed in each hole and pull dirt over the seeds. Press firmly so seeds have to struggle a little bit to see sunlight. Water, everyday. Walla! The Lord giveth the increase. Just like the Gospel, right? Much love in Christ, Renee |
Just like the gospel!:amen:
Thanks Bro. Chette and Sister Renee |
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