adventures in aquaponics: take two:

robert got the pump hooked up, the holes for the pots drilled and the overflow holes in place.

 bit by bit its coming together.

hopefully the 5-9"of snow we are supposed to get tonight and tomorrow will help fill the tank with enough water this week.

chicago bench:

earlier this year i was invited to participate at the "Art and the Urban Garden" show at
 the Lillstreet Gallery in Chicago.
after some thinking and sketching i decided to make a bench for this exhibition.

i started construction on it late last week/early this week.
here are some process shots:

  

i was moving right along when my router bit started tearing my slats up. i kept trying, as i wanted to make progress, but after it destroyed about 1/3 of the slats i was working on - more than i had made extras, i decided to stop as i came to realize the bit was nothing but dull.
while in Richmond for a few different reasons yesterday i stopped at Woodcraft on my way home and picked up a new flush trim bit so i can commence the routing tomorrow.
we are supposed to have another round of 5-9" of snow tonight/tomorrow, so i am hoping to get lots done while the world is, once again, all white around me.
 hopefully my niece will come and hang out and help me again.

hydroponic harvest:

in lieu of needing more space in the grow room for the wee pepper plants and new tomato seedlings, Robert harvested what was left of the hydroponics system; Kale, Lettuce, Arugula, and Basil:

it passed Brain's inspection (she did nibble on the arugula)

after giving the to-flower/seed going arugula and lettuce to the chickens, i just made these kale chips with sesame seeds, and 3 containers of pesto with pine nuts and asiago to freeze.

both are yum.

so looking forward to summer and all the bounty it will bring!

adventures in aquaponics: take one: the beginnings

my dearly beloved has a new project he is working on:

an aquaponics system for the back yard

he started on it this past month, weather permitting, he's coming along little by little...

 building the tank and structur and lining the tank with pond-liner

 

 extending our gutter/downspout to direct the rain to flow in to the tank to start filling the beast up with the 300-350 gallons of water it will need

it is filling... 

....slowly...

we could use a really good rain.

he got the pump this week and has been working on installing that, 

some of the fittings were not right, so he is making magic and trying to make it all work together.

as soon as we get enough water in and the pump up and running we can get some gold fish to acclimate the water to get the right bacteria growing so we can start farming tilapia.

salad and herbs will be planted in the gutters above 

which will get watered and fertilized by the fishy-water that will get pumped through the gutters and run back into the tank

its an exciting project he has going on here, and i cannot wait to see how it all comes together.

thanks for looking.

will post more pics as the project progresses.

snow day sanding:

totally enjoyed having my niece tiara as my little shop helper today:

T is hoping to go to Young Life Camp this summer. she is raising money to head up to NY,
so i am happy to help her out by having her help me in the shop from time to time.
isn't she cute? she totally rocked it on her first day!