Aquaponics Greenhouse update

I took a quick video of the Aquaponic IBC system my small greenhouse.  The Alpine Strawberries are doing great, but all the tomato plants look dead.  I'm buying another heater to keep the water a bit warmer, and we have a small space heater in there to help the plants and koi fish to survive the winter.  The mint growing in the ground is still thriving, and it's definitely not cold inside the greenhouse.  My next step is to build a solids lifting overflow, and a radial flow filter from a 5-gallon bucket.  Then I'll hook them up to the IBC tank, draining into the 100gallon sump tank.  Then I'll add a stronger pump which will pump water to both grow beds.  I'm hoping to get all this done by spring so we have a fully assembled system by then.  Check out the video:

Aquaponics Greenhouse Tour

The greenhouse is pretty much complete.  It gets a bit hot in there in the middle of the day, so I'm hoping I won't need to install any ventilation or anything.  I still want to install the sump tank, and second grow bed, but I need to build a solids filter and solids lifting overflow first.  Check it out.

Some Nature Videos

Some koi fish at Shofuso Japanese House in West Philly.  They're hungry!

This caterpillar is munching my dill!

Jewelweed Seeds exploding!

Some Paintings

I've recently taken an interest in watercolor painting, and have done some nature-related paintings.  The herb paintings are practice for an herb shelf that my girlfriend and I are painting together.  Enjoy!

Juneberries

Maple Leaf

Chives

Rosemary

Mint

Basil

Wild Carrot

New IBC Aquaponics in Trenton, NJ

My buddy Graham with th SAGE Coallition in Trenton, NJ has started up a makerspace called The Hive.  I believe there are at least 5 artists now using their warehouse space to create art, and awesome projects for the community.  They have a bunch of IBC tanks, and a few South-facing windows, so Graham started constructing and IBC aquaponics setup.  I came over to lend a hand one night and snapped a few photos.  Enjoy!

A Food Forest in Philadelphia

I was visiting the Shofuso Japanese house in Fairmount Park with my girlfriend when we stumbled upon a food forest right here in Philadelphia.  I've read about several Philly Food Forest plantings done by the Philly Orchard Project, but hadn't seen any yet.  They had signs surrounding the site that described the process of installing the different aspects of the system.  Well done, Philly Orchard Project!  Check it out:

Stropharia aka Garden Giant Mycelium spawned to garden bed

My buddy Brian gave me some Stropharia spawn a few months back that I have been running out onto fermented woodchips.  The woodchips are finally fully colonized, and I spread them throughout the mulch around my garden.  Hopefully it will outcompete the Alcohol Inky Cap mushrooms in the garden, and I'll have some Garden Giant mushrooms in the Spring!  Here's some photos:

The woodchips colonizing in the burlap sack, buried in a small hole.

The mycelium is exploding with life!

So good!

I'm hoping that the Stropharia will out-compete these inky cap mushrooms, which are edible, but toxic when eaten within 3 days of consuming alcohol.  That's no fun...