Backyard Food Production Complex

Growing your own food is probably one of the best things you can do for yourself and for the environment.

Last summer it talked about buying or building a greenhouse as part of my backyard food production complex. I did and here is a picture.

Of course the idea behind a greenhouse is to grow food all year round but since I don't want to enlarge my pollution signature any more than necessary I am staying away from fossil fuel heating or even wood heat for that matter.

Having the luxury of living in USDA hardiness zone 8a, I thought I would combine aquaponics with my greenhouse in order to a. construct a significant thermal mass and b. possibly raise some fish.

The greenhouse and the 250 gallons of water inside are enabling a microclimate which is significant enough to protect a test avocado and taro plant.

This morning the temperature was 20F, the ambient air temperature in the greenhouse was 25F and the water temperature was 44F.

By putting my tropicals adjacent to my water barrels and then covering with plastic I achieved the micro climates I was looking for and there, to date, has been no damage to the tropical plants.

The temperature in the greenhouse right now is near 70 degrees while the outside air temperature is 28F. Therefore, I should get a few degrees of temperature increase in the water through the day. I am hoping for about 50 degrees.

I am pleased with my prototype system and will take it to the next level, fish farming (bream), worm bin, perhaps a rabbit for fertilizer and a couple of chickens for fertilizer and eggs this spring summer.

 

Thanks! Raevynn, what is wheat grass? SSimon, once you get the containers established you should know you can use the little bunny droppings straightaway as fertilizer.

Here is a great inspiration for both of you and anyone else who may be interested...anybody can do aquaponics...take a look at this video and see where it might fit in your lifestyle.

http://www.farmfountain.com/ff4mov1.html - sculpture you can eat. Click on the gallery...the video is nice but the gallery might be a better place to start.

 

Just plain old 6mil contractor grade plastic I had in my shed.

Really impressed with the heat storage and ability to keep plants in micro climates from freezing. No lie this AM the whole inside was covered with ice. But the plastic covering the tanks was ice free. By the way the greenhouse topped out at about 75 degrees F today with outdoor ambient temp of 30 degrees F. Water temperature rose from about 44 degrees F to 52 degrees F. Temp is supposed to drop to 16F tonight but...I think everything will be OK.

But my system is nothing compared to what I stumbled on while looking for aquaponics ideas all year round.

http://www.farmfountain.com/ff4mov1.html - sculpture you can eat. Click on the gallery...the video is nice but the gallery might be a better place to start.

Really really worth a look! No excuse for anyone anywhere not to be growing at least a bit of their own food.

 

Thanks PriuStorm,

Appreciate the words on the worms.

As for ventilation, you're correct simply open up both ends.

I'm also thinking of adding interior grapevines and exterior plantings like figs to shade the greenhouse in the summer.

 

Tripp, Acutally 10 deg F is the bottom for figs according to Figs That just supports the empirical data of the 30 or 40 year old Turkey fig which is on my parents place. Nice spreading productive tree about 15 ft tall.

I already have the figs, I just need to move them once I get my greenhouse into its final position and off the test site (complaint from the household CEO).

I monitored temps over this cold spell. The water temperature swung from just above freezing yesterday morning to about 50 degrees by the end of the day. That is without any insulation on the north wall. By adding some insulation to the north wall I suppose I'll be able to keep the water at just above freezing to maybe 40 deg F when the temp dips to 16 deg F like it did last night.

My goal is just to develop a system which allows me to have some tropical plants in my complex. I don't need them to flourish in the winter I am just looking for a sustainable system which will allow survival.

HyoSilver asked for some pictures of the produce in a post after yours.

Below are pictures of the most important plants within the system right now which most dramatically demonstrates the success I am having. The plant to the left (dark green leaves) is commonly called elephant ear when folks are just using a variety for an ornamental (and usually inedible) plant. This plant is actually edible taro. It actually, like the avocado, has produced additional leaves.

The plant to the right is an avocado grown from seed. (just so you know a seed grown avocado usually doesn't produce avocados ... for at least 10 years)

And if you look at the lower right you'll see a blooming petunia.

Anyways both of these plants came from my compost pile as volunteers so, I decided to use them in my experiment. The plants are covered each night with additional layers of plastic.





I do have other plants in my greenhouse planted in the ground which one would normally expect to find growing in the winter in a cold frame in this region. Cilantro, collards, mesclun, chinese cabbage, green onions, brocolli (no heads yet), rutabaga (doing well still young).

All in all I am pleased with this system. My goal was to determine if by using just water I could create protection for the tropicals. That is achieved. (Plus I get the added bonus of trying out aquaponics)

Want to try something similar on a smaller scale? Try this one. A milk jug cold frame...good twist on old concepts. Baby lettuce...doing alright.



Oh yea...and what garden complex would be complete without a compost bin...here is one I made out of an old trash bin...nice because it is on wheels. Lots of 1/2 inch holes.

 

Tripp, I lived in Nebraska and South Dakota for a bit during my military career. Yep...it is darned cold this time of year.

Nice to be back in zone 8a.

You are right. I think the growing food all year round is certainly a local climate driven issue. But, if you took a look at the farm fountain site in one of my earlier post you'll find that anyone can grow food all year round...heck...I'm sure that there has been a drug bust in Denver after someone found out folks were growing marijuana in the garage or basement. Growing a bit of one's own food is simply a matter of deciding to allocate resources or not.

I checked the temp this AM. Was about 40 deg OAT and the same in the greenhouse and the same with the water. I'll keep monitoring the temps when we hit high and low extremes.

After I move my greenhouse and align it perpedicular to the north south line I plan to line the back (north wall) with styrofoam board...the blue stuff. In front of that will be a line of tanks aligned east to west. I'll be using a simple recirulation system for the aquaponics part of this complex.

If interested, here is a link to urban aquaponics...The Urban Aquaculture Manual

Very low input with their systems. This system utilizes an airlift pump which is powered by a 4 watt aquarium air pump.

 

Very cool. Nice compost production area. Looks like a great use of space!

I was just looking at red wiggler worms for my future worm bin.

As for positioning the greenhouse, I mean the door will face east...

Godiva, I may incorporate your black idea into the future. You're a verm mom, right.

I like the rotary worm bin concept that Priustorm uses how do you like the system you use?

I'm leaning toward making my own bin using plastic bins.

 

Sorry for the confusion.

The greenhouse can be oriented anyway a person desires. I am just going to reorient mine since I have been directed to move it. Setting it perpendicular to the north south line is supposed to maximize solar gain.

What type of greenhouse are you considering?

As for worms what is a good amount to start with and does anyone have a recommended source for earthworms (red wigglers)?