Anyone else grow their own food

[Torch]

I have really limited space here at my house. the soil around th eimprovements is treated with termite killer

I can't plant a garden in the front yard but I'm thinking a small apple and pear tree out front and I had this other idea

My attic space I was remodelling
I think I can change what I was doing and rebuild the roof a different way to use the attic as green space.
get some tomatoes pappers and stuff going
The attic is not connected to the house's ventillation system If I install ventillation I could pipe in heat for an extended grow season
but that also sounds like a load of work and maintenance XD

 

[Sam_Fear]

Torch, for tomatoes and peppers, you can use 5gallon buckets or steel bushel baskets. That way you can even move them around if you need to.

Well we missed planting potatoes on Good Friday, so I hope today is OK. Gonna throw in some onions today too - I bought 300 so I don't care if half of them die.

When is the best time for cabbage? We always seem to have problems with cabbage growing good heads.

 

[IronRat]

Hey IronRat, just checked out your videos. Nice setup. I'm surprised 4 goldfish can provide enough nutrition for the number of plants you have. They seem to be thriving though.

I had a slow start, but once the had golf ball sized bodies they started to produce a lot of waste. Now they have bodies the size of a man's fist. The real trick is monitoring the water quality. I keep track of the nitrate level of the fish tank water. It's the nitrogen that is the main fertilizer that the plants grow on. If it gets too High I change out some water to keep the levels in balance for the fish & the plants.

This was more a " I can build that" project than anything. This could be done outside in the deep south or SoCal. A small system can produce a lot of Tilapia or catfish and a lot of vegetables.

The big bonus is no chemicals or pesticides if grown indoors. So healthier food.

 

[DirtyDon]

I had a slow start, but once the had golf ball sized bodies they started to produce a lot of waste. Now they have bodies the size of a man's fist. The real trick is monitoring the water quality. I keep track of the nitrate level of the fish tank water. It's the nitrogen that is the main fertilizer that the plants grow on. If it gets too High I change out some water to keep the levels in balance for the fish & the plants.

This was more a " I can build that" project than anything. This could be done outside in the deep south or SoCal. A small system can produce a lot of Tilapia or catfish and a lot of vegetables.

The big bonus is no chemicals or pesticides if grown indoors. So healthier food.

I'm planning a much larger system. It should be more forgiving as changes will happen a bit slower. I'm going to use a 270 gallon IBC for the fish tank. Should be able to raise 25 - 30 Tilapia to plate size. Lava filled grow beds for most of the larger plants and a deep water culture for greens and some duckweed to supplement the fish food. All of our vegetable scraps will go to the worm bin, also to supplement the fish food. It'll be a lot of work but, I think, worth it in the end. I don't like to be dependent on the grocery stores if the SHTF. They'll be cleaned out in a few hours.

 

[IronRat]

I'm planning a much larger system. It should be more forgiving as changes will happen a bit slower. I'm going to use a 270 gallon IBC for the fish tank. Should be able to raise 25 - 30 Tilapia to plate size. ....

Sounds like a good start. Consider tossing a few Catfish in there too. They will get food the Tilapia miss and they keep the bottom stirred up which will help keep the TDS in motion. They taste good too.

I talked to a man in Georgia on another site that used two IBC tanks, 1st thing he said was should of done 3.

 

[DirtyDon]

Sounds like a good start. Consider tossing a few Catfish in there too. They will get food the Tilapia miss and they keep the bottom stirred up which will help keep the TDS in motion. They taste good too.

I talked to a man in Georgia on another site that used two IBC tanks, 1st thing he said was should of done 3.

Good idea on the catfish. I can eat a bunch of them. Building an aquaponic system is probably like building a shop. No matter how big you make it, you always wish it was bigger.

 

[OddRodsGarage]

Here in northern Michigan , were it is snowing by the way , we usually cannot put out plants until June 10th . All winter long I throw all our coffee grounds , egg shells and any left over vegetable / fruit parts right out in the garden area and plow it under about mid May . We have sand here and this does wonders for growing healthy plants .

We grow the usual stuff and I also put out asparagus 3 years ago that should be ready to harvest this year .

We also buy a feeder steer and pig every year in the spring for butcher in the fall. We have chickens during the summer and our neck of the woods is loaded with turkey , partridge and the occasional grouse . Plenty of elk also but that a major no-no without a license .