A HAPPY APRIL TO ALL

No jokes or tricks....Straight to work and to kick things of, let me say if are not on Sylvia Bernsteins lists, you are missing out on a wealth of information that could be vital to anyone interested in Aquaponics. So Ive included her latest for your perusal and the rest is up to you:-

Charlie Price at TEDx

By slywoman, on March 28th, 2011

Have you ever seen a video that so blew you away that when it ended your mind started racing to figure out how to share it with the most number of people possible?  I just had that experience this morning, so after sharing this video with the community site, Facebook, and Twitter, I am now sharing it with you!

The video shows Charlie Price who runs 

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Aquaponic Gardening Workshops

By slywoman, on March 21st, 2011

Over the past two years I’ve taken several aquaponics workshops and classes, and taught several myself.  One thing that I’ve learned is that, while an aquaponics system is fairly easy to operate once it is up and running, a beginner has a lot to learn at the outset in order to be successful.  Here is what I’ve discovered that a beginner can comforatably
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Aquaponics vs. Hydroponic nutrients 

I’ve gardened in dirt for many, many years in a variety of climates (Illinios, Ohio, Colorado, California) so when I discovered hydroponics 7 years ago I thought it was amazing.  Imagine, no dirt, no weeds, fast growth, never needing to worry about when to water and when to fertilize.  Best part was because the grow beds are portable I could “garden” where ever I wanted.  But there was always that nagging issue of the nutrients.  Most nutrients in hydroponics are based on mineral salts, which could be ecologically harvested and purified, but I’m afraid the vast majority just aren’t.  It always felt a little like I was feeding my plants with a chemical

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Aquaponic Fish: To Eat or Not To Eat
Yesterday I was asked why someone would grow aquaponically.  I went through the usual reasons that we probably all use to justify the time and money we spend on our obsession – organic produce that is sustainably grown, the ability to garden anywhere, regardless of soil quality, without mess or weeds, etc., etc, etc.  I found myself wrapping it all up, however, with the heartfelt exclamation “but the real reason is that...
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Aquaponics: Certified Organic Without Soil?

Believe it or not, you cannot be certified USDA organic if you grow crops in a soilless environment in the U.S.

Dirt = Organic…WHY???

Bevan Suits of Access to Aquaponics has launched a righteous war of soil semantics with the National Organic Standards Board.  On December 17 he sent a letter to Valerie Francis, Executive Director, and Jeff Moyer, Chairman, which I’m excerpting below. Therell be more from Sylvia over the next few issues
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LITH Rotary bringing hope ?to Guatemala
Publication: Northwest Herald, The (Crystal Lake, IL)
LAKE IN THE HILLS – Several area Rotarians are headed to the jungles of Guatemala next week.
There, from Saturday through April 3, the group will set up an aquaponic system that they hope will feed and financially support an impoverished school.
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Aquaponics in Paradise meetup #5, Olomana Gardens APRIL 10th
Category:
    Kids & Family
When:
    Sunday, April 10, 2011 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm
    Add to Calendar
   POTLUCK - please post what you are bringing to share
    This is a free event open to all!  Visit Glenns farm where hes got two 1000 gallon tilapia tanks and the latest growbeds and innovations in AP
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E & T Farms: A Local Farm with a Twist
A tour of Cape Cods only aquaponics farm.
By Francine Stroman
Jumping fish, fresh green veggies and the sound of running water are just a few of the sensations one experiences when they tour E & T Farms in Barnstable.
The Farm is Cape Cods only commercial aquaponics farm.  Its 9,500 sq. ft. indoor growing space includes 9 indoor fish ponds and a connected greenhouse.
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DIY urban bathtub aquaponics system
Aquaponics just might be the ultimate closed-loop food production system. A healthy aquaponics system can provide its lucky owner with fresh fish and fresh organic vegetables year round, for very little ongoing cost. Getting an aquaponics system set up, however, can be costly. There’s lots of off-the-shelf systems to choose from nowadays, but they cost a bundle.                                              ...oooOooo...

First Past The Post
I’m always on the look-out for early varieties and was recently introduced to realseeds.co.uk by one of the Tomato Club Members.
The Race Is On!
It seems that they have a very early cherry/bush variety called Latah which was developed in Idaho, USA for short seasons. That’s a bit like the summer in the UK!
I’ve ordered some of these seeds and intend to grow this variety alongside Red Alert and one or two other early fruiting varieties to see which is the earliest. I’ll keep you up to date with the results.
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Try Sprouts
If you want to grow nutritious and tasty fresh vegetables during the cold months, sprouts are the answer to your prayers. In just a few days, a handful of seeds will turn into several servings of crunchy sprouts. It doesn’t get more fresh and local than that!
By Tabitha Alterman and Barbara Pleasant
Sprouts can be grown easily in hemp or flax bags. And they come in a wider variety than you may realize. Try multi-colored purple radish sprouts or crisp sprouted peas.
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Best Vegetables to Grow in the Shade
Even in shaded conditions, you can bask in great garden harvests if you choose the right crops and make a few easy adjustments.
By Colleen Vanderlinden
For successful growing in the shade, remove low-hanging branches from nearby trees, use raised beds and liners to discourage tree roots from wicking water away from crops, and use reflective mulches to give plants more light.

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More soon
Take care
O Z Z I E

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April the humanitarian

A lot of people ask me what I want to be when I grow up.  A lot of people already see me as grown up.  Two problems here...

1. I am not grown up and probably never will be
2. Most people want an answer in the form of a money making career choice.

In short, I want to be a software designing veterinarian.  Yeah...try to roll that together.
The long answer is...I want to major in software design but my career path is veterinary...sort of.  In fact, I want to be a vet but not more than I want to open an animal shelter.

As far as software design, I really just want to work on operating systems and help the world get connected.  I dont think we should have to pay to have a brain.  Information and education?  Yes.  A brain?  No.  Did I pay for the AprilOS that runs inside me?  Nope.  Did someone pay for my education?  Yes indeedle.  So why pay for an OS at all?

Anyway...my master plan.  Everyone says "oh dont share that.  You will never make money if everyone has the same idea!"  Look.  Im not going to vet school to make quick cash.  No I actually want to help animals.

In short, here is what Id like love for things to work.  Make it commercial/chain?  Awesome.  Even better.
My main income is based on a veterinary hospital.  I havent thought much of it being an emergency hospital but a hospital at least.  All animals from guppies to Clydesdales will be treated with my (hopefully) team of veterinarians/techs/assistants.  This main branch will serve as just that, a hospital with wholistic focus but a touch of modern medicine.  A neighboring branch will be served as a rehabilitation center for injuries and such.  This area will include massage therapy and so on.
And on the other side of the pasture, a full on shelter.  Again everything from mice to horses are welcome.  I specifically want to focus on mustang gentling and racehorse rehabilitation as well as animal surrendering and blacks.  Yes you read that right...blacks simply because black animals tend to be the ones on death row the most regardless of breed.  Id also like to offer free surrender.  Maybe someone surrendering their pet has lost everything and doesnt have the money to officially surrender an animal at the shelter so they dump it.  Not here! Just put them in a kennel that has a door facing outside, fill out some paperwork located next to the door, then lock the door.  They wont even have to talk to anyone.
I passed around an idea in some forums and such and got a lot of thumbs up.  If someone else wants to pick up this next idea, let me know!  I will gladly donate.
A huge problem I see is with people that need help that dont get it.  A family may want their precious dog neutered but may not have a car to get to the vet.  How about the family that wants to get their cat spayed but doesnt have a way to a low cost vet at 7am.  What to they do?  Nothing.  Pump out more unwanted pets unintentionally and get called irresponsible.  Id like to set up a spay/neuter clinic that can pick up animals and deliver them back the next day.  Id like the clinic to operate on a "low cost" basis with an extra fee (very small) for transit.  I also notice there is a large amount of people that dont want to breed but note the issues with altered animals or dont like how castrated males look.  Id like to offer vasectomies and tubal ligations as an alternative as well as testicular implants.

I also want to open a feral clinic that can capture cats themselves and either have them TNRed or put in our adoption center for people looking for barn cats.  Heck maybe they could work around the shelter.  One thing is for sure, I dont like how ones that cannot be found barn homes right away and that have to be moved are put to death.

 And last but not least, I want assistants.  The hardest part about going to vet school is getting the hours needed to get there.  People are fighting for volunteer positions to rack up enough hours to go straight to some schools.  Id like to open a program for people (hopefully 16 and up...depending on insurance) so they can get experience.

? In loving memory ?

Freeway - the dog that never gave up

--/--/1998* to 02/13/2010

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April harvest Key limes and calamondins

April harvests

Calamondin + Key Lime

Calamondins and Key limes, what a way to start the day, especially during cold and rainy April. While some curl there face when they eat a cala whole, Me on the other hand, gobble these up like candy at christmas. Key limes are another favourite of mine, in fact, limes, dare I say, are my favourite. Something about there taste sends my brain on a joyride. The smell of a fresh picked persian lime is no less then a oceanic blast of citrus heaven, leaving you unsure of whether or not you want to eat it or smell it all day long. This love for limes has actually lead me to start a few from seed just to see what happens ( red finger lime + Indian sweet lime). I am still in wonder of the finger limes as I have yet to try these little beauties, actually, I have yet to try any of the varieties from Australia due to there tight restrictions on selling live plants internationally. I believe this has changed somewhat as Im starting to see things pop up online. The only way I was able to get the red finger limes was from ebay. It was a year or more now and I have forgotten the seller and the account I used to order,lol. But from what I wrote down, It was the wild red type from the rain forest. One of the only varieties to grow true from seed, with the red colour holding in the inner pulp, even if its not true from seed, the chance of something new is just as interesting and I dont mind waiting 4-7 years to find out, in this case I believe, good things come to those who wait.

If anyone out there has an Australian citrus there selling/trading IM INTERESTED !!

Even if its seeds. I would love to get my hands on an outback lime!!.

So to cap off the night, I figure it calls for a home grown salad with homemade Calamondin dressing and a key lime beer ( HOORAAA!! for MILL ST). 

Good night fellow growers.

Calamondin turkey salad

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Hormone free meat!!!!!! well not really

Hormones in food - Antibiotic food

Now a days with every agri business claiming one thing after another, the hormone issue is one fraught with confusion. While the government has acknowledged the rBST growth hormone to be of concern, they fail to recognize the implications of other so called "natural" growth hormones used and still  taught to farmers today. The most humorous blogs/websites are put up by the government, filled with hypocritical statements like

there has been no evidence that has shown that animals treated with growth hormones are a threat to human health. 

And on the same page write 

Reducing exposure with your food intake

Although growth hormones and antibiotics are considered safe for food production in Canada, consider the following tips to reduce your exposure to these additives:

• Organic foods have fewer traces of antibiotics than non-organic foods.
• Since beef cattle are the only animals that contains growth hormones, consider choosing organic beef instead of conventional beef when you can.
• Thoroughly wash all vegetables and fruit for thirty seconds under running tap water to minimize the intake of antibiotics.

This is all off of the (eat right ontario) website located here 

http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Farming-Food-production/Hormones-and-antibiotics-in-food-production.aspx

And if you would like to look at the alberta agriculture and rural development page, you will clearly see what is being used and taught to "farmers", why they use it and there so called "benefits" in production.

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/beef11691#Introduction

Growth hormones in food

Whether or not these "farmers" are required to state they have used "natural" or synthetic hormones is a whole other question. This should be brought up any time you speak to a farmer, be informed, if you feel any type of pull back or beating around the bush, say thank you and walk away. People who practice good farming methods are happy to talk about what they grow with ( I know I am ).

The old time farmers from the industrial age are lost in a world of herbicides/pesticides/ growth hormones/antibiotics/ and petroleum. IMO This should not be called farming, this is a disgrace to the name. All it has done is wrecked our land, seeds and health, giving rise to corporations like Monsanto and Dow chemical. 

Farmers??  you dont deserve the name.

This post will be more towards growth hormones with a follow up on antibiotic use.

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thoughts on vegan vegetarian pets

Anyone that personally knows me knows that I am always up to something.  Sometimes that something is harmless while other times, it leads up to something bigger.  Im not going to say what led me to this but in short, I was wondering what would happen if one of my dogs acquired a severe oral problem and they couldnt rip/chew/gnaw their raw meaty bones.  Maybe Id grind it up.  Maybe, Id feed them vegetarian!  While reading about vegetarian dogs, I noticed a few things.  Some vets are total quacks that believe any animal willing to chew on something like grass can be a vegetarian.  Some vets even suggested having a vegan (yes vegan) cat!  After sorting out the quacks, I came across people claiming to have dogs in the double digit age that have lived their entire life vegan/vegetarian.  I noticed that all of them had a lengthy amount of supplements given to them and so on.  They needed their teeth brushed and such.  Here is what I think about that.

1. Supplements?  Whats that?  My dogs dont need them because protein is easy to digest and vitamins are easily acquired from them.
2. Teeth.  Wolves in the wild dont brush their teeth and neither do prey model dogs.  Vegetarian dogs do though....
3. Fiber is really hard to digest and nearly impossible for even true omnivores like people (thank you college nutrition class!)  low and behold, it also makes some vitamins harder to obtain from plants which is why vegans should consume supplements.
4. poop.  I almost forgot what that looked like till dearest loving Adam gave Loki an apple.  My dogs poop more when they sneak plums and like fruits that have fallen on the ground.
5. Dogs dont eat fruit because it is good for them.  They eat fruit the same reason why a small child would eat chocolate.  Who cares about the health benefits?

In other words, I believe that a proper diet doesnt involve supplements and that, if one is eating correctly, nothing else is needed.  This doesnt mean I reject alternatives or anything, however.  Im allergic to fish for example.  Hemp is an awesome alternative for omega 3.



Now now pro vegan/vegetarian owners, dont go getting your panties in a bunch but hear me out.  Two dogs that died recently on the longest living dog record were either vegetarian or meatatarian (I guess you could say.)  My answer to this is that dogs now have access to what they didnt have years ago, supplements.

Before you vegetarian/vegans get super pissed at me, I think we could both agree one one thing, COMMERCIAL FOOD IS KILLING OUR PETS!!!  Most companies dont give a flying flip about our babies!  And Id never shoot down anyone that didnt feed meat to a special needs dog by the way.  I understand that dogs nowadays are being born faster than weeds are growing in unkempt lawns.

Cats...now that is completely unacceptable.  Im sure vegan cats do exist but its more like eating Soylent foods...just all multivitamin without actually being food.

Id also like to note that Im extremely shocked in how stupid vets can be.  There was a test done where cats were fed rabbits to see if theyd survive.  All of them got sick.  Lets say vets were required to take a nutrition class.  Rabbit starvation much?  Too much lean meat will kill anything!

Anyway, I still think vegan/vegetarian dog diets are a little on the iffy side (unless you have one of those cases where your dog is allergic to a crap ton of common meats out there.)  However, as a person into science and into medicine, I can say maybe I will try it someday with the whole supplements and lack of meat.  Will it be like feeding a filler with supplements or would the food be fine by itself?

Also Id like to note that I applaud human vegetarians.  Good work!  Im working towards being one myself!  However not everything is like a human.  Not for ethical reasons however (if it lived, it has a soul to me) but just simply for land management and a better me.

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