Anyone do any hydroponics, aquaponics, or alternate methods of growing food?

[biker_bill]

You will definitely be able to get 3 rotations with just a cold frame set up.

Adding any heat will give you the option of other veggies in the cooler months. Start looking at cooler weather crops now, so you get them started in time. Lettuce's of any kinds (Mesculins) loves the cool weather and under a cold frame will grow most of the winter. Others to consider are Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage & Rutabaga. I've grown those through the Autumn and into Winter with good success (under the cold frame). Remember to not plant things that need to grow in the soil like potatoes or carrots as your late season crop. I've tried that and it didn't work out. I figure the soil was too cold. Above the ground the plant flourished in a cold frame, but it didn't do well below the ground.

Look's great and I know it's fun. Wait till you start canning and putting great food on the shelves, it'll make you feel rich, lol.
Then consider this; grow enough of a certain something in one year to can that will last for two years.
Then something different the year after, but enough for two years.
You end up with a great variety on the shelves and canning is a little easier.

And remember to enjoy yourself!

 

[IMaDad]

I don't know that I have receipts but here is a basic breakdown:


Seeds:free or negligible. About $1
Food grade buckets: $1ea, duluth salvage (mine held strawberries in syrup)
Rubber grommets: couple bucks, grainger. I think they were like $6 for 50ct
Perlite: $18/bag I believe. Atlantis hydroponics
Pond pump: about $20
Supply tubing about $20
Paint strainer bags, about $1ea, lowes.
Food grade sump/barrel: $10. Duluth salvage

Done.

Oh and then some nutrients but that's more an ongoing cost rather than startup.

I'll come back to this and post some pictures/links for the specific items if it helps

 

[SSDawg]

Thanks!
well a few things:
1- I am really new at this. This is really my first garden. I am learning stuff every day.
2- Seed catalogs make big gardens happen. When you are looking at all the seeds you can get for a couple bucks, it makes it really easy to expand your workload lol. i bought too much! haha! at least we can save it by canning it or giving it to family. it wont go to waste.
3- I will try to grow as much as i can before cold hits, and then put the plastic back on the greenhouse, and see how well i can keep them alive.
4- when plastic goes on, i will try to offgrid the greenhouse, as well as come up with some sort of heater. I am thinking solar hydronic.
5-I am planning to use the guest bedroom and one other room in the house as grow rooms for a 3'x3' table of lettuce, 2-3 tomato plants, and maybe something else. With this little DC pump I can keep power consumption low, and quiet. Even power off solar.
6- looking to purchase an all american canner. Time for some pasta sauce, chili, salsa, and lots of other recipies!
6a- oh and fried green tomatoes!!! i have green tomatoes too. The last picture is of these: http://www.rareseeds.com/green-zebra-tomato/?F_Keyword=green zebra

thanks for the encouragement.
I went hard in the hydrponics this year. I am looking forward to starting a small aquaponics system for comparison as well.
I plan on some black soldier flies to feed the chickens and the fish, and also looking for some meat rabbits.

wow that was kinf od a long post. I have ADD. sorry. :/

Good for you brother.......I would be interested to see how the fall and winter crops do once you put the plastic back up....I think our climate is mild enough that they may do well.......not to add anything more to your list, but you should also learn how to harvest seeds for next years crop......I have tried and it is not as easy as it sounds....some plants are easier, but others are not......it's something that you have to research and try a few times, but it could be essential some day....it's a dying skill now that we just go to the store or on-line and order our seeds.....I hope to learn much more about it myself.

 

[biker_bill]

Good for you brother.......I would be interested to see how the fall and winter crops do once you put the plastic back up....I think our climate is mild enough that they may do well.......not to add anything more to your list, but you should also learn how to harvest seeds for next years crop......I have tried and it is not as easy as it sounds....some plants are easier, but others are not......it's something that you have to research and try a few times, but it could be essential some day....it's a dying skill now that we just go to the store or on-line and order our seeds.....I hope to learn much more about it myself.

Really good point - harvesting seeds.
Now the one thing I learned along those lines seems to be if the original plant was a hybrid, you will get seeds but only a few of them will grow plants for you. If they're not hybrids it seems they pretty much all work.....

 

[IMaDad]

Very good point. I ordered 95%+ percent of my seeds from baker creek (www.rareseeds.com) so that I could keep them and I know they aren't GMO.

If you haven't checked out their site, do it!

 

[SSDawg]

Really good point - harvesting seeds.
Now the one thing I learned along those lines seems to be if the original plant was a hybrid, you will get seeds but only a few of them will grow plants for you. If they're not hybrids it seems they pretty much all work.....

Great point.....must people don't understand the difference between hybrid and heirloom......I have tried to harvest a few hybrids and the result were horrible......heirlooms had a much, much better germination rate.

 

[SSDawg]

Very good point. I ordered 95%+ percent of my seeds from baker creek (www.rareseeds.com) so that I could keep them and I know they aren't GMO.

If you haven't checked out their site, do it!

I haven't checked them out before, but I sure will now.......Thanks for the info.

 

[IMaDad]

what are you using for soil in the buckets?

the buckets dont have any soil. since they are dutch buckets, you can use anything that holds the plant in place. I used 100% perlite since its relatively cheap, has a neutral PH, and is clean. I have heard of people using sand, gravel, etc.

for my fabric pots, I use a 50-50 mix of perlite and coco fiber. That has a wicking property to it that helps when using a tray to feed them (like auto pots or ebb/flow).

 

[IMaDad]

Baker Creek is an honest to goodness American family company that I just LOVE to recommend. They are enthusiasts with an AMAZING catalog/website of fruits/vegetables/herbs that collectively make up an incredible resource.

just checking out their website makes my mouth water and my mind race. go poke around in there:
www.rareseeds.com

also make sure to check out the explorer series:
http://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/the-explorer-series/

they have some amazing things in there. here are some of my favorites to look at..
http://www.rareseeds.com/atawallpa-s-fingerprint-fava-bean/
http://www.rareseeds.com/cheqche-peskoruntu-corn/
http://www.rareseeds.com/corazon-de-chiriqui-squash/
http://www.rareseeds.com/fastigiata-pin-striped-peanut-from-ecuador-arachis-hypogaea/
http://www.rareseeds.com/kajari-melon/
http://www.rareseeds.com/pusa-asita-black-carrot/



call me crazy but just reading through those catalogs is so much fun for me. I know those plants are far off from "good ole Georgia boy farmin" but dang that stuff is awesome!

/rant

 

[IMaDad]

Some Pictures to help you understand the general layout of the thing. ^

Here's some Of the individual tomato plants:

They are getting great thickness!!!

This is one of my raised beds for comparison. My little experiment. Miracle grow organic soil was used.