Green house doings and the last crab dinner

Yesterday was an actual coastal foggy day here in bolinas. it broke nearly 4 weeks of hot sunny and dry weather. so we spent it in the green house planting seeds and getting the aquaponics planted with basil. hopefully they do well... the water PH is still a little high, and for the moment it is still pretty low on the Nitrite/nitrate levels that are so key for the nutrient cycle... those little craw fish just aren't producing enough waste and growing fast enough!

 the seed trays and starts were mostly perennial herbs and some culinary herbs for planting and possibly to sell as nursery stock. we also have these great seeds from Turkey that Penny had brought back- assorted cow/painted beans, 2 types of wheat, herbs, sun flowers and a 1000 year old ancient heirloom wheat.  we started onions and wheat grass as well. if all goes accordingly, we can get 4-6 seed trays started a week and plant out every couple of weeks straight up to the fall and get some sort of production out of the late start... so i hope. 

 

garden pirates Meghan, Liam, and Michelle. notice those nice new seed tables to the left Liam and i built...

Crab boil

 on another note, Todd a very talented fisherman and wood worker who built the front gate,  brought the last of the Dungeness crab harvest from his crab pots. it was a feast! we barely finished them, and James took the prize for most crab comsumed (Todd warned he has seen no other man consume crab as james does) it was a glorious feast, and even for someone as my self who is not a big crab fan, i loved every bit of them. after all as Todd and i agreed on, the ocean is sacred, and we gave thanks for their offering and the respect around the closing of the crab season. I spoke to Todd about the salmon run coming up in July and august, and he said i might be able to come along as deck hand in exchange for salmon catch... that would be amazing...

Todd showing off a crab

the crab pile.

the crab process begin

it was a crab funeral apparently....every one was in mourning.

Aquaponics lab

The Aquaponics Lab @ RDI

This is Orin, and his final design project which was to install the next phase of the green house design- a fish farm lab that is a closed system filtered by plant beds. the water is sent to hydroponics set ups (three examples that are designed into it) that feeds the plants and sends the clean water back to the fish tank. 

all this is accomplished via Nitrite build up by fish waste- this is sent through the different runs of hydroponics and beneficial bacteria break it down into Nitrates; which are then used to feed the plants. add a little sun and you have a fully supported hyrodponic and fish aquaculture system! or: Aquaponics!

we will be raising fish and crustaceans in the tank that can be harvested for food and used entirely to their fullest on site. 

this is the finished product to the right! don't you love what i call the cooling tower? that is filled with hydroponic medium, a puffed clay pellet. the water is pumped through that tower, and plants grown vertical! the water returns to the tank via gravity and clean.