Aquaponics... Should I try?

My brother recently introduced the idea of me having my own Aquaponics on the lanai of my apartment. He's been building a few units at our house on Kaua'i and has had some great success. After the last month in which the majority of my plants dying due to an ant infestation... I'm thinking it might be something new to consider. I'm definitely going to try another round of planting at my plot & see how things go before I think about giving it up altogether. It's just become a bigger commitment and I recently found myself there only a few times a week, rather than every other day!

Anyways, I'm thinking it would be fun to try out a small unit at my place, in the past I haven't had much luck because there is so much sun on that side in the afternoon. But it would definitely be nice to have the basics so close to home. A few things I'd like to grow are Dill, Green Onion, Cilantro, Manoa Lettuce Rosemary and Peppers! Well, we'll see what I decide to do, I'm going to keep my energy focused on my garden plot for now... I'll be planting a few things this weekend from seed, so I'm excited to see how the next round goes!

Aquaponics Article Link:

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/Sep/27/il/hawaii909270311.html

And another one:

http://www.simplyaquaponics.com/

A picture of a really cool aquaponics set up & more!

Fish+Lettuce=Yummm!! :)

Strawberry's!

A DVD on how to set up your own aquaponics... lol!

Last Garden Clean-Up of the Year!

As part of the garden rules, at least one member of a community plot must attend one clean up per quarter. This being the last quarter of the year, with no clean up scheduled for December, it was the last opportunity for people who hadn't showed up to prior month's clean ups. It's usually held on the 3rd Saturday of the month... and if you don't attend these required clean ups, your plot can be subject to revocation.

Sooo... I woke up early this past Saturday morning at 7am & picked up my friend Ktina who lives down the street. She's been a member of the garden for over a year and is actually the person who introduced me to this one. We showed up a few minutes early, and only two others were there so far. Only 10 out of the 29 members or representatives for plots ended up showing... It turned out to be all women except showed up, except for one guy who manages all the projects for our clean ups.

As soon as we got there we got to working, organizing what needed to be done. The tasks for the day included cleaning out the area under the banyan tree at the top of the garden, so that we could have a nice picnic area set up with tables. There was a large amount of rubbish, metal wire, scrap wood that needed to be cleared out from around the tree and brought down to the front for trash. There was also at least 10 garbage bags filled with grass clippings that needed to be moved to our 3 section composte area that was recently constructed. We raked leaves from under the tree and organized and bagged recycling items (cans, glass & plastic). The garden community brings in recyclables to be stored for a short time before we do recycling runs (at least once a month). The funds from recycling go into our community account, which pays for incidental supplies we need. Such as hoses and gardening tools. SO we had fun organizing it all and loading it into one of the members trucks to be taken in for recycling.

All in all it was a very productive day... Definitely a lot of hard work, but we handled it well & I'm proud of what we accomplished in just a little over an hour!! We worked together as a team and were pretty darn efficient!! :)

Learning to make your own Compost & Some Gardening Tips :)

Over the last 6 months of gardening I've received all kinds of advice... From fellow gardeners, friends, and family on the process and also recommendations on composting... Thankfully there is also a wealth of information online to assist in every question you may have! Ultimately, it's up to you to figure out what works best, through trial and error!

About a month into my garden adventure, I set up a compost bin to generate my own nutrient filled soil in a corner of my plot. I just used a big square bin and put some mulch at the bottom and began to deposit all my left over food scraps every few days, again covering it with more mulch and covering it. The bin has a lid on it with a little crack so some moisture can get in. But I still cover it with a plastic tarp & a rock, to prevent any pests from getting in there! You can put in just about any vegetable scraps in there to start the process (eggshells are ok - but other than that you need to be sure nothing has been contaminated by meat or your in for some nasty disaster!) Every few weeks I turn the compost to see how it's developing. It normally takes 3-4 months for it to break down before you can start turning it into your soil. I've waited about 6 months now, it looks pretty black and nutrient-rich, so I plan to use it (along with horse manure) in the next month when I start a new round of winter planting! I'm excited to see how well it treats my new seedlings :) Here's sample pics of what compost looks like at the beginning stages BEFORE & AFTER it's broken down...

Here's an insightful article from Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine (March-April 2009 Issue)

10 Organic Gardening Tips
How do you keep your garden green? Kula farmer Ann Carter shares her organic wisdom.

1) Test your soil. Find out if you have any mineral and micro-nutrient deficiencies, as this can affect the plants' ability to draw nitrogen and other important nutrients for healthy growth and resistance to pests. You can get a good mineral and micro-nutrient sample done by Perry Agricultural Lab in Missouri.
2) Know your pests. The CTAHR (College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources) extension office at Maui Community College will identify pests for you.(UH GARDEN IN PEARL CITY CAN HELP TOO!!)
3) Follow the ebb and flow of nature. Sometimes your garden will look beautiful and other times it will look tired. It’s all part of the cycle; let it not be perfect. (SOO TRUE!!)
4) Sometimes benign neglect will yield the best results.
5) Compost is your friend.
6) Good compost should be composed of 25 parts carbon (woody, decaying material) to 1 part nitrogen (green leafy material).
7) Compost should not smell. This can be achieved by making sure compost heats up to at least 120 degrees, but not hotter than 160 degrees F.
8) Compost, when finished, will be light & fluffy.
9) Use companion plants (ex: garlic, onions, chives, and Mexican marigolds) to help with pest & disease problems.
10) When growing vegetables, rotate your crops. Legumes (beans, peas) will fix nitrogen; root crops like carrots and beets will aerate the soil.

HAPPY GARDENING! :)

My First In-Ground Product!!

Of the many things I've planted thus far in my garden, this is the first one I grew from a seed in the ground. Other plants I had purchased at the start of my gardening adventure (basil, bell peppers, dill, green onion, habaneros, jalapenos, lettuce & tomatoes) were already mature enough to transplant into the dirt! So the story goes... About 3 months ago, another garden member put on a contest providing everyone with mystery seeds (put in our mailboxes) with instructions to grow them in our garden plots. After two months, whoever was able to identify the most number of plants would win a prize! At first I was a little hesitant to put unknown seeds in my garden... But after thinking about it a bit, I thought it might be a fun thing to try out! As result this was the only seed that germinated and lasted. When it started growing out of ground I immediately assumed it was a beet, because the leaves looked very similar to the red beets another friend was growing in her plot! After doing some research online and comparing leaves of other plants I discovered it was DAIKON! After pulling it out of the ground, I was amazed at how huge it was!

It was a fun experience after all... and the best part is my friends & I found a great recipe online for it! So we plan to shred it up, mix it with some sweet potato, garlic and green onion to make some pan-fried patties this weekend! Really looking forward to trying my first in-ground product!

WHAT IS DAIKON?
Daikon (Raphanus sativus longipinnatus) is a mild white radish shaped like a large carrot. The name “daikon” comes from the Japanese words dai, meaning “big” and kon, meaning “root”. Growing to a length of 8 to 14 inches (20 to 35 cm) and a width of 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm), it certainly lives up to its name. Variant varieties may be cylindrical or even spherical. Almost all types are white, though some are shades of yellow, green, pink, or black.

Garden Rules... Must be followed... OR ELSE!!

Being a member of a Community Garden is definitely a commitment... There are some important Garden Rules that must be followed in order to continue your membership! Each Community Garden has their own set of Rules that must be adhered to, in addition to the Oahu Community Garden Rules & Regulations, which can be found here: http://www1.honolulu.gov/parks/rules/garden.pdf

If these R&R's are not followed, you can be subject to citations and possible revocation of your membership & plot!

Some Garden Rule Highlights:
1) Monthly Garden Meetings must be attended, a minimum of once per Quarter
*In these meetings, we address concerns of other members & vote on changes to our Garden Rules.
*The meetings can get very heated at times, because of different issues that are brought up & the eccentric personalities of the members
2) Participate in at least once in a Community Garden Clean-Up per Quarter
*Involves cleaning up common areas of the garden & specific planned projects
3) A Mailbox with your plot number clearly shown must be somewhere visible in your space
*Although these days we have e-mail to communicate, we also receive notices in our boxes advising us of updates in the Garden
4) No planting of fruit trees or plants that grow more than 5 feet!

Here is a map of the 10 Community Garden Plots around the island.... It shows the amount of Plots at each Garden, along with the location in which they can be found!

Creating Tiers & Turning Soil Before Planting!

Plot #19 is at the very top of the Garden, on somewhat of a slope & also in a shady spot... So I thought it would be a good idea to construct a few tiers to allow for the placement of plants that needed more or less sun! I noticed that a lot of other gardeners had sectioned off their plots & it seemed to make it easier to get around the plants & for watering purposes...

Here's a picture of my boyfriend Nate & I, after a few hours of shoveling dirt and constructing the tiers with scrap pieces of wood we found around the garden... We also turned the soil with some horse manure we got from a friend in Waimanalo. We decided to do this before putting any of our plants in the ground, to ensure it had enough nutrients in the soil!




Here is a link to find out more info about obtaining your own Community Garden Plot:

http://www1.honolulu.gov/parks/hbg/crgp.htm

There are 10 Community Garden's across the island of Oahu!

Once the hard work was done... the plot was cleared!

Day 4 Progress...

3 Types of Tomatoes, Green Onion, Jalapenos, Habaneros, Thai Chili and Manoa lettuce to start the yummy growing goodness!