Grow your own vegetables.
Many people like to grow their own vegetables these days. The stuff we buy in the supermarkets and fruit shops tend to be tasteless, and may have travelled long distances to get there. There have even been rumours of year old fruit and veg that is hitting the shelves after being stored in the dark and treated with special gasses to prevent ageing. Also do you know if the fruit and veg you are buying is genetically modified? Has it been grown hydroponically? What chemicals have been used in its production?
Some people are now purchasing organic fruit and veg as it tends to have taste and some believe it packs more nutrients and vitamins than heavily irrigated, fertilized, pesticides and herbicides used in traditional farming method vegetables grown on mass.
Some people are now purchasing organic fruit and veg as it tends to have taste and some believe it packs more nutrients and vitamins than heavily irrigated, fertilized, pesticides and herbicides used in traditional farming method vegetables grown on mass.
We have gone one step further. We practice Aquaponics in our suburban backyard. (see picture above) Aquaponics is a combination of Aquaculture and Hydroponics. It is a balanced eco system where the design has been taken straight from nature. Water from the fish tank is pumped into vegetable grow beds filled with media similar to that in a Hydroponic setup. The water from the grow beds is then siphoned back into the fish tank. The fish provide nutrients for the fruit and veg, the fruit and veg clean the water for the fish.
Our Aquaponics kit is fairly small. We have a 1000l fishtank and 750l of growbed. Our kit takes up approx 3m wide by 1.8m deep. Some people run the Aquaponic setup with ornamental fish. We have chosen eating fish and currently have 50 Silver perch in our fish tank.
When preparing dinner, it is fantastic to pop out to the backyard and pick some fresh, chemical free ingredients to cook with. Unfortunately there are limits to what can be grown in Aquaponics. Potatoes for instance are grown in our regualar dirt based vege garden. Mint is also grown seperately as it has a tendency to overtake an Aquaponics system.
There is a lot of information on the internet about Aquaponics, and the website we most often refer to is Murray Hallams website. (link below)
Our Aquaponics kit is fairly small. We have a 1000l fishtank and 750l of growbed. Our kit takes up approx 3m wide by 1.8m deep. Some people run the Aquaponic setup with ornamental fish. We have chosen eating fish and currently have 50 Silver perch in our fish tank.
When preparing dinner, it is fantastic to pop out to the backyard and pick some fresh, chemical free ingredients to cook with. Unfortunately there are limits to what can be grown in Aquaponics. Potatoes for instance are grown in our regualar dirt based vege garden. Mint is also grown seperately as it has a tendency to overtake an Aquaponics system.
There is a lot of information on the internet about Aquaponics, and the website we most often refer to is Murray Hallams website. (link below)
