Monthly Archives: May 2016

Rigged Support for the Big Tomato Plants

Aquaponics

The aquaponic tomato plant is getting huge.  Not only that, but it also has three unripe tomatoes developing nicely already.  Both the potted tomato (remember that one used to be the “big one”) needed additional support, so I rigged up some bamboo as a horizontal support and used this nice covered wire material to act as the vertical support.

I also needed to transplant the potted tomato as it had obviously outgrown its former container.  There is some curling of the leaves near the top of both big plants, but it is more prominent on the potted plant.  We added a nice layer of home made worm castings on top of the potting soil to give it some extra nutrition and natural fertilizer.

Bamboo support for tomato plants

Dandelion Wine – First Ever Batch

Food Storage

The girls helped me harvest enough dandelion flowers to put together our first ever batch of dandelion wine. It should be ready in a few weeks.  Expect a video from us at that time.  Here is the recipe we used:

Ingredients 

1 quart yellow dandelion blossoms, well rinsed
1 gallon boiling water
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
8 cups white sugar
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon slice

Directions

1.Place dandelion blossoms in the boiling water, and allow to stand for 4 minutes. Remove and discard the blossoms, and let the water cool to 90 degrees F (32 degrees C).

2.Stir in the yeast, sugar, orange slices, and a lemon slice; pour into a plastic fermentor, and attach a fermentation lock. Let the wine ferment in a cool area until the bubbles stop, 10 to 14 days. Siphon the wine off of the lees, and strain through cheesecloth before bottling in quart-sized, sterilized canning jars with lids and rings. Age the wine at least a week for best flavor.

Dandelion Wine

1 Timothy 5:23
New International Version
Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.

Water Exchanges to Reduce Nitrates

Aquaponics

pH=7.8 — Ammonia=0.25ppm — Nitrites=0.0ppm — Nitrates=50ppm

I have been doing some water exchanges and this has lowered the Nitrates. More will need to be conducted. The pH rose some probably due to adding the new water. I have been using city water, but have it oxygenated for several days with an air pump pumping air into it through a diffuser stone. We have just lost our second feeder fish in the system; RIP “Mohawk”. A couple weeks ago we found our first floater, “Charlotte”. So far the girls have not noticed Charlotte missing.

One Month of Chicks – New Chickens – HumblevilleUSA 2016

Chickens

So we’ve had chicks in our house for nearly a month, and we are amazed at how quickly these chicks grew from little chicken babies into teenagers! The girls of HumblevilleUSA are having a blast playing with and bonding with our five potential egg layers. See the three buff orpingtons, a rhode island red and a silver wyandotte entertain our three girls.

 

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