Cow Elk Hunt – 2014

I always look forward to October.   Things finally start to cool down around here, we go from 100°+ every day to ~80° by the end of October.   Better still, I get away for a week or more.  Hunting is really just an excuse to get out where cell phones and email don’t work.  You can’t be contacted, so, the only thing to do is disconnect from the daily grind of the normal world. This year I drew a cow elk tag and again hunted the Cave Valley area.   Driving up, I begin to feel a calm and quietness as Mt. Grafton comes into view.  Rocky ridges surround me and the smell of sage brush permeates the air. I was fortunate to fill my tag.  This was the first elk I have harvested and was completely amazed at the size and weight of such an animal.   There is no moving … [CLICK TO READ MORE]

It already feels like Spring

Work has been all consuming, leaving me little to no time to do anything around the house and yard.  I have taken advantage of the longer days and warmth recently to clean up the yard and get the garden going again. With the nice weather here, our chickens have started laying again this week which we are really excited about.  The fresh eggs are so much better than even the expensive organic ones from WholeFoods. I took a minute today when the sun was partially out and snapped a few pictures of the garden.   This is about a week after planting. I planted a bunch of purple and white onions this year. Lettuce on the right, strawberry center and heirloom tomato left Chinese cabbage This Swiss Chard is from last year — still going strong Yellow Corn Broccoli & Kale Sugar Snap Peas Here are a couple of the girls … [CLICK TO READ MORE]

New Pictures

There are lots of tomatoes on the vines, but something is eating them before they ripen.   I haven’t found a worm yet, but something is out there.   The vines were everywhere, so yesterday I hung some fencing as a trellis and tied the tomato plants and cucumbers to them.   I found a large cucumber already which was totally hidden before I began moving everything around. This past week when it was 115°+ for two days, was too much for one of my poor chickens.   The other 3 seem to be doing quite well though.   The fish in the aquaponics pond are really growing.  Some are close to 3″ now, nearly 3x the size of what they were when I first got them. My neighbor gave me this great old lantern and ironworks which I hung in my yard. The hidden cucumber The pepper plants are taking off too now! Swiss … [CLICK TO READ MORE]

Aquaponics Garden Growing Wild

Just a quick post showing the growth in the aquaponics garden since the fish were added.  Things took off quickly once the water cycled and the fish began to grow. The fingerlings are now a little over 2″ in size, roughly double what they were when I first received them. Have a look at the plants — the tomatoes, squash, and cucumber plants are running everywhere.  In the back you can see my lettuce has gotten so big, it is going to seed.  In the middle of the growth is a cilantro plant which also has gone to seed.   I’m interested to see if anything will sprout on its own. Heirloom Tomatoes   Cherry Tomatoes   Cucumbers   Swiss Chard   Lettuce Going to Seed   Vines Going Everywhere   So far, I’ve only eaten lettuce and strawberries from the garden.  Soon, I expect we will have lots of tomatoes, … [CLICK TO READ MORE]

Its done! 1 Year later

It was one year ago when I began a new project. I was going to build a chicken coop and start a little back yard flock. The endeavor quickly grew to much more than just a coop, adding an aquaponics garden and ultimately, re-landscaping the entire back yard.  I really got sucked in by those backyard chickens. I was lucky to have  a friend who helped with the landscape design and more so, the labor!   This is what it looks like now that it is all done The fish have been in the tank for 2 days now. … [CLICK TO READ MORE]

Adding Fish to the Aquaponics System

Our system has been cycling with seaweed extract for the past few weeks.   Over that time, the pH has come down to 7 which is good.  Today the fish arrived.  I was surprised to find the pH for the bag water at 7.8.   Over the day, I gradually added tank water to the bag, slowly matching the pH. I’ve been cycling my system for 10 days more than what is on the chart below.  I’ve been surprised that it never really cycled — no real rise in Nitrite and Nitrate never increased at all.   Here is what it looked like when I opened the shipping box. It’s hard to tell, but there are 50 or more in that bag.  They are about 1″ long right now. Here is a clearer shot once I removed the outer bag.   Floating the bag in the aquaponics tank Have a look at … [CLICK TO READ MORE]

Tending to the Garden

It has been a wonderful year weather wise here in the Vegas valley.   Temperatures are still moderate, making it nice when working out in the yard. I got up early to get chores done today; and while I was out I picked up some trellises for my plants which are in the back corner of the yard.   Have a look at how the aquaponics garden is doing 3 weeks after I had to remove all the plants and empty it.   All but 2 Armenian cucumber plants made it, and those two were always in trouble.   I picked up another cucumber plant this morning which I hope will do much better. Fish are on order.  I expect they will arrive next Thursday.  I can’t wait to see how things change once the fish are in the system. All that is left is to add the rock which will give a … [CLICK TO READ MORE]

Where’s the water going?

Last week we took a little trip to LA.  When we left, it was raining quite hard, but I thought nothing of it.  When we got back I noticed the block supporting one of the legs under the garden bed had cracked.  Each day, the block was more and more depressed in the earth.   Over the week, I also noticed water loss and the ground on the side where the depression was located was wet.   I thought, where’s the water going? I must have a hole in the pond liner and that the ground was made soft by it, thus allowing the bed to sink. By the time the weekend came around, there was nothing to do but empty the garden bed and drain the pond.   So, that’s what I did.  I searched all over for the leak, but found none.  The ground under the liner was also only the … [CLICK TO READ MORE]