Check out urbanorganicgardener.com for all the startup information you need to start growing your own food today. Even if you live in an apartment.

Pit Greenhouses

Build a greenhouse underground to escape cold winter temperatures!

Find out all about them here!
http://www.inspirationgreen.com/pit-greenhouses.html

Hydroponic Gardeners vs Police

Well at least I'll have this to look forward to...

It turns out that some people are very narrow minded when it comes to the benefits of growing hydroponically.

Hydroponic Gardening, The Target of an Insane “Drug War”

http://www.cannabisculture.com/node/44222?utm_source=feedly

Glowing Plants

What is an Urban Farmer?

What kind of fish?

Another Video from Nate Storey and Bright Agrotech

3 things to think of when trying to choose the best fish for an aquaponic system

1. Environment
2. Feed Source
3. Purpose

Does the fish you are choosing fit the environment that you are providing? Or can you adjust your environment?

What are you going to feed your fish? Different fish need different feeds that could be more expensive than others, is budget and issue?

Are you growing fish to eat or just for aquaponic purposes? If you aren't growing fish for food then goldfish or any other type of ornamental fish that will work. If you want a food fish, choose a food fish like tilapia or trout.

Keep ph Low and your Plants Will Grow (Ammonium and Nitrifacation)

This video explains it all. From the difference of Ammonia and Ammonium to troubleshooting ph spikes, this video explains it all. I've found a bunch of video's from Bright Agrotech with Nate Storey and they are all incredibly informational.

Urban Farming Revolution

Southern California Urban Farmer revolutionizes the idea of sustainable urban farming by packing 400 different varieties of veggies, fruits and herbs.

The family puts on workshops events and also has an online store. All of this info can be found at http://urbanhomestead.org/

and

http://urbanhomesteadsupply.com/

Planning Your Grow (UrbanGardenMagazine)

I found an article on Urban Garden Magazine's website called Planning Your Grow, which basically tells you everything that you need to provide the right environment for your plants to thrive.
Planning Your Grow Page

Indoor plant lighting

Here is a great website from ACF Greenhouses about different types of lighting that are used when gardening indoors.

http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/guide3.shtml

CHOP Aquaponic System

Constant
Height
One
Pump

The CHOP system is designed to keep the water levels at the same height at all times using water and air pressure and only one water pump.
Later today I will make an update with a design idea I've been working with for a CHOP system.

***UPDATE***  4/07/13     4:13 PM

***UPDATE***  4/07/13     4:13 PM

Bell Siphons for EBB and Flow Systems

When using an EBB and Flow System, you need to be able to fill your plant beds and have them start to drain when they get full. A straight down pipe would only keep the water level at it's full point. So how do you get the water to completely drain without using another pump? Bell Siphons

Cafe Display Inspiration

This will be an on-going blog post containing just random bits and clips that I find online that will give me design inspiration for Becky and I's Greenhouse/Cafe.

 http://www.mathieulehanneur.fr/works_gb.php

http://www.fastcompany.com/pics/are-these-ten-names-future-industrial-design#14

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/fr

http://philross.org/#projects/biotechnique/ 

Filters

I found an awesome blog post where this guy made a swirl filter from a 5-gallon bucket and I'm going to try it out with my system. Because it only uses a 5-gallon bucket instead of a 55 gallon tub, I think that it will be perfect for my indoor aquaponic garden.
 http://hydroponicsbloghealthierfood.blogspot.com/2012/07/building-aquaponic-biofilter-for-40-or.html

"Supplies List
5 gallon bucket
1" sch. 40 PVC elbows
1" PVC T
1" bulkhead
4" of 1/2" drain hose
1/2" bulkhead
16" PVC 1"
3" PVC 1"
(note: most of my PVC pieces were scrap)
Some sort of a ball valve for the bottom drain
2 Media screens (I used bucket lids and drilled)
Media (I use a combination of bioballs and hydroton)
Aquatic tank filter material (I use Matala filter)"
http://hydroponicsbloghealthierfood.blogspot.com/2012/07/building-aquaponic-biofilter-for-40-or.html

What I think that I will do different with this filter is to design it so that the waste output will be in the direct center at the bottom of the bucket instead of on the side. With the waste output on the bottom, I think that I will more efficiently clean my filter because once the waste becomes saturated it will sink and I will be able to utilize the swirl of the bucket to drain the waste.

One thing that would also need to be different fromt this design is  that  there will need to be a stand as to keep the bucket off of the ground. I will also like to have a second bucket that will be kept underneath to catch the waste and also prevent water/waste from dripping on my floor if there happens to be a leak. I will draw up a rough draft of the design and update this post later today.





I am also not sure if the hydroton is necessary inside of a swirl filter. but I do understand why it is being used. I just have not seen anybody else do this so it is a little strange. It seems that the hydroton might be more efficient at catching the fish waste than a traditional swirl filter using only swirling water and a medium like a laundry basket to catch waste. But I believe that some of the fish waste is good for the plants. My thought is, that you want as much of the fish waste/nutrition to get to the plant as you can but without having the waste build up on the roots of your plant.

This is a swirl filter that I have noticed to be very common in aquaponic farmers. I have seen many with a medium such as the basket to catch fish waste but I also have seen many without anything and only utilize swirling water to filter out the unwanted shit.

http://www.ecofilms.com.au/diy-swirl-filter-for-aquaponics/

***UPDATE***   4/02/13    4:50 PM

Here is my design concept using (2) 5 Gallon buckets. The top bucket acts as the swirl filter while the bottom bucket acts as a waste deposit. The stand would be made of 100% Recycled shipping pallets.

A lot of my designs will be made out of recycled shipping pallets since they are lightweight and easy to get ahold of for cheap or free.

***UPDATE***   4/02/13    4:50 PM

***UPDATE***   4/07/13     4:05 PM

Radial Flow Filter

***UPDATE***   4/07/13     4:05 PM

Hydroponic Design

This Guy Has the Right Idea

I really enjoy the simplicity and cleanliness of this design. The white pvc aligned in parallel to imitate traditional agricultural methods. Although vertical gardens are interesting to see as well, the problem that I see with those is that if using low wattage lighting like fluorescent or LED, the light will not penetrate the lower levels of the garden hence more light will be needed. Seeing that I would like everything to run off of solar power, this method is not an option to me as I need to be aware of my energy consumption. 

This exact system is almost exactly like my idea but my system will aquaponic. 

Instead of the system only having a reservoir on the one side, I would like the fish bed to be placed under the entire length of the plant bed. Allowing one side of the pvc to be used for water inlet and the other to drain. 

This would be an interesting Experiment

I wouldn't consider this a vertical garden because it does not have the tower structure as traditional vertical gardens. But seeing that it saves space by stack/staggering the pvc, it might be beneficial for indoor grows. It would not be hard to have the lights hinge upwards to move out of the way, which would fix the only problem I have with this design, plants are not accessible due to the diagonally  hanging light.

This is something I drew up yesterday, but I'm not sure how I like the aquarium up top because of weight and having the lights possibly heat the take more, which I don't know if that is good or bad. The reason that I wanted to design a tank like this is to somehow use gravity to feed the plants and just have one sump that would cycle the water black up to the top of the aquarium. I am going to design another system that has the aquarium on the bottom to allow the water to drain back into the tank via gravity and previous pressure in the lines. I'll draw one up and update this post later today.

***UPDATE***  4/02/13   4:25 PM

Here is the new design that I am going to start working with. Something very simple to use and easy to take care of. My goal is to eventually have an entire Aquaponic system running off of Solar Energy. Pumps/Lights.

***UPDATE***  4/02/13   4:25 PM

http://urbangardenmagazine.com/2010/02/build-it-yourself-the-pvc-pipe-hydro-garden/

Hydroponic Systems

There are many different styles of hydroponic system. Some popular systems of soil-less plant production are:

• One of the most high tech growing systems
• The growing medium is primarily air
• The roots hang in the air and are misted with nutrients every few minutes
• A timer must be used to control the nutrient pump to ensure the plants are properly misted with the nutrients

• The most widely used type of hydroponic systems
• A timer controls a submersed pump that releases a nutrient solution onto the base of each plant
• In a Recovery Drip System, the excess nutrient solution is collected and reused
• The Recovery Drip System is more sustainable, however the pH and nutrient strength levels may vary because the nutrient solution is reused
• In a Non-Recovery Drip System, it does not collect the excess solution
• The Non-Recovery Drip System must have a precise timer to ensure that the least amount of nutrient solution is wasted

• This system works by temporarily flooding the grow tray with nutrient solution and then draining the solution back into the reservoir, which is controlled by a submeresed pump on a timer
• Several times a day, the timer comes on and allows the pump to release the nutrient solution into the grow tray
• When the timer shuts off the nutrient solution is collected back into the reservoir
• This system can be modified in many ways such as filling the grow tray with grow rocks or gravel
• One main disadvantage of this system is the possibility of a power outage and/or pump timer failures, due to the growing medium that is used

• The most commonly thought of hydroponic system
• N.F.T. systems have a constant flow of nutrients, therefore no timer is needed for the submersed pump
• The nutrient solution is pumped into the grow tray over the plant roots and is then drained into the reservoir
• The only grow medium that is used is air
• The plants are typically supported in small plastic baskets, with the roots dangling into the nutrient solution
• This system faces the possibility of power outages and pump failures

• A very simple to use hydroponic system
• A styrofoam platform typically holds the plants and floats on the nutrient soltuion
• An air pump is used to supply air to a bubbling stone that releases the nutrient solution and supplies oxygen to the plant roots
• Leaf lettuce is the predominant plant grown in this type of system, very few other plants grow well in the Water Culture System

• The simplest of all hydroponic systems
• The Wick System is a passing system, meaning it has no moving parts
• The nutrient solution is released into the grow tray through a wick
• There are several different growing mediums that can be used in this hydroponic system

http://www.hannainst.com/hydroponics/index.html

Sustainable Life/Controlled Environmental Agriculture

I would like to open up an organic greenhouse in Erie. I wish to use a technique called aquaponics as the system used in the greenhouse. The word Aquaponic forms when the words "Aquaculture" and "Hydroponic" merge together.

Aquaculture = Fish Farming
Hydroponic = Raising plants in soilless medium using nutrient enriched water.

What the fuck is an Aquaponic System


Kobus Jooste, a member theaquaponicsource.com's community defines aquaponics as  the cultivation of fish and plants together in a constructed, re-circulation ecosystem utilizing natural bacterial cycles to convert fish wastes to plant nutrients.

This is a natural food growing method that harnesses the best attributes of aquaculture and hydroponics without the need to discard any water or filtrate or add chemical fertilizers."


The water starts out in the fish beds or aquariums where it becomes "dirty". After the water leaves
the fish beds, it then has the sediments filtered out by many possible techniques. The method that I believe I will be focusing on is a swirl filter. After the water is filtered of sediments, it then goes right to the planters. A sump would then pump the water back into the fish beds to start over.

***UPDATE***    4/02/13     6:33 PM

***UPDATE***    4/02/13     6:33 PM

Different Types of Hydroponic systems
DWC - Deep Water Culture -  The root mass sits in a nutrient rich body of water that is aerated
Aeroponics - A method of soil-less plant growth that uses nutrient rich mist to fertilize plants.
Drip Irrigation - Plants are constantly fed from the top using a drip system to distribute water
NFT - Uses water moving by gravity

I will have a blog post later further going into detail about these techniques and how I will use them to build what I think, will be the most efficient system

What makes Aquaponics my preferred method of culivation?

SAVES 95% of the water required by in-ground growing,

resulting in huge savings on your water usage…while providing fresh, tasty organic vegetables, fruits and fish!

Grows Vegetables and Fruits faster 

the system is optimized to provide a perfect growing environment for whatever your crop may be. Or at least that's the goal.
http://www.friendlyaquaponics.com/about-us/veggies-and-fish/

No need to water,

The system automatically, and continuously,circulates a nutrient-rich supply of warm water throughout the system.

No need to weed,

Crops are “planted” in soil alternatives such as gravel, clayton and styrofoam. 

No need for pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides or fungicides,

the system naturally balances the system for you. Fish feed the Plants, Plants filter water for Fish.

No need for antibiotics or hormones,

the fish are kept in a healthy, happy environment at all times.

Maintenance is minimal,

most systems require very little maintenance, which is the point. It takes care of itself. Especially if the fish are fed on timers.
http://aquaponicsecosystem.com/maintenance-of-aquaponic-ecosystems/

SAVES 95% of the water required by in-ground growing,

resulting in huge savings on your water usage…while providing fresh, tasty organic vegetables, fruits and fish. Some water will be lost due to runoff and evaporation.

The entire system can be Solar-Powered and Completely Automated.

if running an outdoor aquaponic farm, the only thing that electricity would be needed for is your sump. Especially if you plan to utilize gravity as a way of transporting water.

http://edenaquaponics.com/what-is-aquaponics/
http://theaquaponicsource.com/2010/11/15/the-definition-of-aquaponics/