Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Summer in Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Are you ready for a summer garden with fresh, organic vegetables and home-grown fish?
You can have a 12-month summer’s garden now with a Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics System and become self-sustaining for many of your vegetables and all of your fish. The Portable Farms(TM) don’t grow root vegetables (carrots or potatoes, etc.) nor do they grow wheat or rich, but they will provide you and your family fresh and delicious food to keep all of you healthy, year round.
The backyard farms only require a few minutes of care, per day, so call us today to order your own Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics System.
UN Warns Ocean Fish Could Disappear in 40 Years
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems grow fresh water, warm water fish, Tilapia, suitable as a farm raised fish that does not negatively impact the quality of the environment.
Ocean fish could disappear in 40 years: UN AFP/File – Fishmongers prepare bluefin tuna before an auction at Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market in February 2010 – by Sebastian Smith Sebastian Smith – Mon May 17, 11:07 pm ET
NEW YORK (AFP) – The world faces the nightmare possibility of fishless oceans by 2050 unless fishing fleets are slashed and stocks allowed to recover, UN experts warned.
“If the various estimates we have received… come true, then we are in the situation where 40 years down the line we, effectively, are out of fish,” Pavan Sukhdev, head of the UN Environment Program’s green economy initiative, told journalists in New York.
A Green Economy report due later this year by UNEP and outside experts argues this disaster can be avoided if subsidies to fishing fleets are slashed and fish are given protected zones — ultimately resulting in a thriving industry.
The report, which was opened to preview Monday, also assesses how surging global demand in other key areas including energy and fresh water can be met while preventing ecological destruction around the planet.
UNEP director Achim Steiner said the world was “drawing down to the very capital” on which it relies.
However, “our institutions, our governments are perfectly capable of changing course, as we have seen with the extraordinary uptake of interest. Around, I think it is almost 30 countries now have engaged with us directly, and there are many others revising the policies on the green economy,” he said.
Environmental experts are mindful of the failure this March to push through a worldwide ban on trade in bluefin tuna, one of the many species said to be headed for extinction.
Powerful lobbying from Japan and other tuna-consuming countries defeated the proposal at the CITES conference on endangered species in Doha.
But UNEP’s warning Monday was that tuna only symbolizes a much vaster catastrophe, threatening economic, as well as environmental upheaval.
One billion people, mostly from poorer countries, rely on fish as their main animal protein source, according to the UN.
The Green Economy report estimates there are 35 million people fishing around the world on 20 million boats. About 170 million jobs depend directly or indirectly on the sector, bringing the total web of people financially linked to 520 million.
According to the UN, 30 percent of fish stocks have already collapsed, meaning they yield less than 10 percent of their former potential, while virtually all fisheries risk running out of commercially viable catches by 2050.
Currently only a quarter of fish stocks — mostly the cheaper, less desirable species — are considered to be in healthy numbers.
The main scourge, the UNEP report says, are government subsidies encouraging ever bigger fishing fleets chasing ever fewer fish, with little attempt made to allow the fish populations to recover.
The annual 27 billion dollars in government subsidies to fishing, mostly in rich countries, is “perverse,” Sukhdev said, since the entire value of fish caught is only 85 billion dollars.
As a result, fishing fleet capacity is “50 to 60 percent” higher than it should be, Sukhdev said.
Creating marine preservation areas to allow female fish to grow to full size, thereby hugely increasing their fertility, is one vital solution, the report says.
Another is restructuring the fishing fleets to favor smaller boats that — once fish stocks recover — would be able to land bigger catches.
“What is scarce here is fish,” Sukhdev said, “not the stock of fishing capacity.”
Medical Marijuana Growing System
Sunday, May 9th, 2010Portable Farms, Inc. – Medical Marijuana Systems (PFAS – MM)
Colle Davis, CEO, Portable Farms, Inc. cdavis@portablefarms.com
Can Growing Organic Medical Marijuana in an Aquaponics System
Be the Solution for Both Growers and Law Enforcement?
Portable Farms™ is the First Aquaponics Company to Offer Biometric Entry/Exit, Remote Video Monitoring and Green Standards
With over 14 states legalizing Medical Marijuana, “Pot Cafes” are one of the fastest growing industries in the United States.
As states move forward in their attempt to legalize Medical Marijuana so that it can be regulated and taxed, many challenges face growers, distributers and dispensaries which have become a whole new cottage industry that Law Enforcement will have to monitor. Since marijuana can be grown just about anywhere inside or outside, finding ways to monitor growers is going to be the greatest challenge of all. Portable Farms, Inc., is the first company in the world to provide a turn-key solution that provides security, quality control, remote monitoring for state agencies and way of growing that is about as “green” as you can get.
DISCLAIMER: Portable Farms, Inc. does not use, grow or sell marijuana in any form. We only sell aquaponics systems suitable for growing organic herbs. Portable Farms, Inc. does not sell seeds, nor do we provide legal advice to individuals or businesses entering the medical marijuana industry. We sell systems conducive to growing herbs and other vegetables and fruits.
Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems for Medical Marijuana can be customized for correctly sizing the growing space to limit production based on local regulations for year-round growing. Each facility can be monitored using video surveillance cameras, security scanners, and alarm systems. These innovative systems offer a model for both grower and law enforcement to achieve full legal compliance.
We offer our systems to those who want to ‘grow your own’ and are concerned about staying within the legal restrictions and regulations of your local jurisdiction. Portable Farms, Inc. is now offering a specially modified Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System designed for highly productive and secure installations for organic marijuana growing.
These new systems are now available from Portable Farms, Inc. and have been specifically designed for growing the finest organic medical herbs in a fully automated growing system. The units contain deeper grow trays for enhanced plant growth; they utilize a scientifically based timed water-flow cycle to meet the unique growing requirements of marijuana. These new systems require fewer fish than a normal aquaponics system, and allow for a wider variety of fish to maintain maximum plant production and quality to ensure a high level of crop and blossom yield.
You can grow regular vegetables in a PFAS MM system if you are required by local restrictions to grow and possess fewer plants than your PFAS MM was originally built to accommodate.
For more information and the price list send us your first name at email us.
WEBINAR – Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010Join The Aquaponics WEBINAR – Featuring Colle Davis
The Institute of Ecolonomics is featuring Colle Davis, Inventor and CEO, Portable Farms, Inc. on a Webinar on Thursday, May 20, 2010.
Pacific Time: 6 to 9 PM
Mountain Time: 7 to 8 PM
Eastern Time: 9 to 10 PM
Australia (Melbourne): Friday May 21, 11 to 12 AM
The Institute of Ecolonomics (IOE) is a non-profit entity whose mission is to demonstrate that creating a symbiotic relationship between a strong economy and a healthy ecology is the only formula for a sustainable future.
Register here, space is limited! CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
For more about the Institute, please visit www.ecolonomics.org
We look forward to “seeing” you in the webinar. Please forward to your friends!
Thanks,
Phyllis Davis
President, Portable Farms, Inc.
Do It Yourself Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems
Monday, April 26th, 2010Are you ready to become a Portable Farmer? Now you can DO IT YOURSELF and build your own Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics System.
It’s spring and everyone’s fancy is turning to home-grown vegetables. Ahhh . . . fresh, garden tomatoes.
You talked. We listened.
Portable Farms, Inc. has had literally thousands of requests in the past several months for us to offer a “kit” for our Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems so that people can build their own systems. Of course, you still need to purchase the building materials that we don’t supply when we build them for you, but most of the supplies are available at local home centers and hardware stores. Plus, we will provide you with a complete materials list to ensure you have all the necessary components and products.
The Basic Do It Yourself (DIY) Kit includes the license, Assembly Manual, Operations Manual, Portable Farms(TM) Siphon and CAD pump. A more complete kit includes the items in the basic kit plus the Settling Tank, air pumps, air stones, timers, air tubing, and power strip.
BUILD YOUR OWN DIY GREENHOUSE FOR YOUR OWN DIY PORTABLE FARM(TM)
Click Here!
All DIY sizes are available in the US and Canada. PLEASE NOTE: The commercial sized DIY Kits (90×120′) is the only size available for sale outside the US and Canada.
If you’d like to receive our updated price list, please send your email address to pricing@portablefarms.com and you’ll instantly receive a price list for our three available options: 1) We build it. 2) You build it and we finish it. 3) Do It Yourself.
Your friend,
Phyllis Davis
Co-Inventor, Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems.
President, Portable Farms, Inc.
858-750-2053
pdavis@portablefarms.com
Portable Farms, Inc. Newsletter
Monday, April 12th, 2010Hello Friends of Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems.
We’re doing ‘swimmingly well’ at the farms and fish and plants are thriving. We have lots of new information to offer you in this issue so welcome!
Yours Truly, Phyllis Davis, Co-Inventor,
harvesting a single 4′ stalk of Brussels
Sprouts on April 10, 2010
BIG NEWS: We are launching our Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems WORLDWIDE!
We are offering three ways for you to purchase your new Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System:
1) We come to your location and build it for you,
2) You build it yourself, and we come to your location and finish it for you.
3) You build it yourself and we send you the components and assembly manual to Do It Yourself.
TO RECEIVE A PRICE LIST AND INFORMATION: EMAIL ME: pdavis@portablefarms.com
Only full-size (90 x 120’ or 930m2) or larger, Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems, are sold outside the United States or Canada. No exceptions.
Are you a restaurant owner or chef? If so, here’s a great story for you about how a Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics System can help Restaurants to ‘Slice and Dice’ Food Costs .
WAKE UP EVERYBODY. It’s Spring and we’re having a Big Farm Sale! From May 1 to May 7, 2010, we’re offering 10% off on any size turn-key installation.
You may know Escapeartist.com from their 14 years as the undisputed leader and authority for individuals interested in relocating, traveling, investing, working and retiring overseas. Without question, they put the word International in International Living. EscapeArtist has a 400,000 subscriber base and receives 1.5 million unique visitors each month. If you’d like to see ‘our story’ on Escape From America Magazine – ezine, CLICK HERE.
EscapeArtist.com offered Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems an opportunity to become a Media Partner with them on their website to tell their readers about what we’re doing, and in the process we got to know everyone at EscapeArtist and we all had this big kumbaya moment, and all fell in love with each other. As a result, I’m happy to announce our new affiliations with EscapeArtist. This is the official announcement that I am the new Executive Director and Principal of Overseas Home Business division of EscapeArtist, and we’re launching our new website in May. The exciting new Overseas Home Business website for EscapeArtist offers a wide variety of home-based businesses for people to make an income and live anywhere in the world and live the EscapeArtist Dream. So join us often and see what exciting businesses we’re introducing to our global readership.
WAIT, I’M NOT FINISHED!
And, EscapeArtist is also working with Colle Davis, and now he is their new Executive Director and Principal of EscapeArtist Media Bureau. Escapeartist is providing a unique and lucrative opportunity for qualified candidates to secure the media rights for any one of 40 countries around the world. HEADLINE NEWS: “Buy Your Own Country for only US$150,000. EscapeArtist Can Sell It to You. Now you can be a Power Broker and influence people around the world by becoming the Managing Director and Bureau Chief of your own media empire!”
For more information.
We’re having regular conference calls for those who would like to ‘meet us’ and ask questions. If you’re interested in joining one of our calls, please email me and I’ll send you the contact time and phone number. We’ll be giving a short ‘talk’ about the systems and then we’ll take your questions on the call.
I’ll send out a shout-out when the Overseas Home Business website launches in May so you can enjoy our premier edition. My fingerprints will be smudged on every corner of the site and for those of you who have followed by blog, you know I deliver the goods with enthusiasm.
So, CALL TO ACTION. BUY A FARM AND ENJOY FOOD SECURITY.
Your friend,
Phyllis Davis
Co-Inventor, Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems.
President, Portable Farms, Inc.
858-750-2053
pdavis@portablefarms.com
Spring and Summer – YEAR ROUND In Our Farms
Monday, March 15th, 2010From: Phyllis Davis, Co-Inventor, Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems and President, Portable Farms, Inc. Call me! 858-750-2053
Hello Friends of Portable Farms(TM):
It’s almost spring; a time when most gardeners begin to think seriously about their spring and summer plantings. I realize that many of our readers are still waiting for the snow to stop or the snow to melt before they take that slow and thoughtful walk around their yards and become inspired enough to think about bringing out their garden tools and turning soil or buying seeds. But, the first few warm days of late March seem to inspire all gardeners to think ahead and begin focusing on the tasks at hand to create fresh food for the kitchen, or fresh flowers for landscaping and bouquets for the house.
Now, here’s a plug for our Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems. We have the luxury of growing fresh food and flowers, 365 days a year, in our systems, despite the season or the weather.
This weekend, I harvested and replanted our own backyard Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics System (photo above). I gathered enormous armloads of Swiss Chard, collard greens, bok choy, broccoli, bib lettuce and Romaine lettuce. Generally, we harvest small amounts so our farms always look ‘picture perfect’ because we offer many farm and media tours of our farms. And, many of the plants were a week or two PAST a proper harvest date because of our need to keep the vegetables in tact and ‘photo perfect’ for tours. So, we harvested most of it and gave away almost all of our harvest to friends and neighbors and replanted with the small seeds you see growing in this photo.
If you’ll scroll down to the previous blog post, you’ll see the picture of the inert oasis planting pots I used to grow my latest batch of seeds. I did place the glass dish (containing the planting pots and seeds) on a seed-sprouting heating pad for several days (keeps temperature around 80 degrees F) and the seeds sprouted in about 3 or 4 days and were finally ready to plant in the gravel in about 10 days. Amazing! Actually, here’s the rest of the story: I kept them out of the sun for the first 4 days of germination, and then moved the glass dish inside the farm, during the daytime hours, so they could enjoy some sunshine, and then at the end of the day, I brought the glass dish back into the house and put it back on the heating pad over night for another week. Oh, one more important thing, I always use warm, nutrient rich water from the fish tank to water my seedlings so they’ll receive all the good nutrients they need to grow strong and healthy for the rest of their plant life. These seeds are growing India mustard, Swiss chard, bib lettuce, butter head lettuce, cucumber and lemon cucumber. Please note the meat thermometer I have placed in the planting oasis which allows me to constantly check the temperature of the glass dish and make sure it remains between 70 degrees F and 80 degrees F during it’s germination phase.
You must think I fuss fuss fuss too much over planting and growing seeds for my farm, but any serious farmer must take their time and do it correctly or they’ll be disappointed in their garden or farm production. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve inadvertently killed a lot of plants and fish over the years in our experimentation for inventing our Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems. I regret that we’ve lost living plants and fish, from time to time, while they were in our sacred care, but we learned from all our errors and omissions and we do our best to walk gently on the earth with great respect for all living things.
Your friend,
Phyllis Davis
Planting seeds – Come Join Me!
Thursday, February 25th, 2010From: Phyllis Davis, Co-Inventor, Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems and President, Portable Farms, Inc. Call me! 858-750-2053
Friends:
Above, I’ve posted a photo I took this afternoon of the inert planting pots I wrote about yesterday. I planted these 30 seeds in about 10 minutes, compared to the hour it would have taken me with the peat pots which require preparation, planting and lots of clean up. For these 30 plants, I planted 10 seeds of India mustard, 10 mulit-colored Swiss chard, 5 butterhead lettuce and 5 bib lettuce (what can I say, we enjoy our salads). I’ve put my seeds on a heating mat for four days and nights to germinate, then I’ll place them NEAR (no direct sunlight) a sunny window during the day for a week but back on their heat mats at night. I expect they will all be ready planting in about 12 days depending on the seeds themselves.
The beauty of our Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems is that I can use the same section of gravel each time I harvest a head of lettuce (or anything else for that matter) because there is no soil to become depleted. The plant receives fresh nutrients and warm water several times a day when the water comes through the gravel grow table so the plants can absorb it (or not, if they’re not hungry or thirsty), and then the plants have a chance to let their roots dry again so the won’t drown. So, if it takes a head of lettuce, let’s say 40 days, to bring to harvest size, I can use that same few inches of gravel nine times that year to continually raise new plants. Now, that’s food security.
Spring is near my friends. Just keep moving and remember that clarity is the most powerful tool there is for change.
Your friend,
Phyllis Davis
Inert “Oasis” Planting Pots
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010From: Phyllis Davis, Co-Inventor, Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems and President, Portable Farms, Inc.
Oh Joy. My new ‘inert’ planting oasis pots arrived today in the mail for seed planting in our Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems. Because these oasis pots are considered pH neutral and extremely porous, they’re designed to drain off excess water from the base of the germinating seed or cutting which gives the seed or cutting plenty of oxygen and water.
In the photograph (above) the peat pot on the left is the one we’ve always used and they’re adequate for our purposes, expensive, but adequate. However, the new oasis planting pot (on the right) is easier to work with, doesn’t require pre-soaking to swell to size prior to planting, doesn’t break open and leak peat into the gravel, and it is far less expensive. This product is used for (and I quote) “vegetative propagation of vegetables.” The new oasis is not labeled ‘organic’ because that classification is hard to qualify for, however, the people I ordered the oasis planting pots from have assured me repeatedly that there has been extensive testing done on the product with the University of Arizona and that they sell to people for aquaponics and hydroponic systems with glowing results.
This new oasis planting pot is also good for use when transplanting cuttings from a living plant, so they’ll ‘take root’ prior to transferring them to the gravel grow-tray bed in my Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems. I’ll take the strawberry tendril I cut this weekend and move it into one of my new oasis planting pot so it can take root.
After planting, I place the planting pots on a large piece of Styrofoam, indoors for a few days, so the seeds don’t get too cold and delay their sprouting. Or, you can use a thermostatically controlled heating pad under your seed plantings and maintain temperatures between 75 degrees F and 80 degrees F to promote faster seed propagation. Heating mats are especially effective in colder climates. There IS a slight trick to remember when using a heating mat, so be forewarned that the heat causes the water in the growing pots to evaporate more quickly and one needs to keep a vigilant eye on the plantings to assure they have enough water and don’t dehydrate and kill the seeds or the young plants. If you’d like to see a photo of a heating mat, here’s a link: CLICK HERE.
So, I’m off to plant. Tra la Tra la
Your friend,
Phyllis Davis
Tilapia Ceviche
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010From: Phyllis Davis, Co-Inventor, Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems and President, Portable Farms, Inc.
Hello Friends:
It’s another beautiful day in paradise.
I have my eye on a couple of Tilapia from our Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics System in the backyard. They’re almost ready to ‘harvest’ for a delicious meal of ceviche. A few of these fish in our personal Portable Farms(TM) Aquaponics Systems moved with us from Escondido, California, and these boys are about 7 1/2 months old, 1 1/4 pounds and 11″ long. Tilapia are FAST swimmers and nearly impossible to isolate and catch easily which presents the challenge of selecting one or two particular fish and simply moving a net around them to ‘harvest’ for a meal. So, Colle temporarily pumps some of the water out of the fish tank so I can carefully maneuver my net to catch my special fish.
After we take them out of the water, we bring them in the kitchen, and Colle places them on a cutting board, one at a time, and places a sharp knife behind their eye and turns it half-a-turn and the fish dies without pain or suffering. And, then he cleans them for me and I take the 4 four-ounce fillets (from two fish) from him to make ceviche. I know what you’re thinking, “What a wimp! She won’t kill or clean the fish.” And, my response is, “You’re right. Colle doesn’t mind doing the dastardly deed, and it works for us.”
A few summers ago, I wrote a cookbook centered around Tilapia entitled, “Ten Tantalizing Tilapia Recipes to Titillate Your Taste Buds.” Our friends ate so much tilapia during that summer to test the recipes (good hearted souls they are) that they may never eat it again! They selected their ten favorite recipes at the end of the summer and we included them in the book. So, for your pleasure, I’ve posted the ceviche recipe below:
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Tilapia Ceviche
The citric acid that is in the lime juice used to make ceviche creates a chemical process called denaturation. The acidic lime juice changes the proteins in the Tilapia, unraveling the molecules and altering their chemical and physical properties and turns the flesh firm and opaque, as if it had been cooked with heat. It doesn’t kill bacteria, but it does ‘cook’ the proteins in the fish and change it’s texture.
Ingredients:
4 (4 ounce) Tilapia fillets, cut in very small squared cubes
5 Freshly squeezed limes (roll the limes before squeezing to produce more juice)
4 Cloves finely chopped garlic
5 Ripe medium to large tomatoes
1 Teaspoon oregano
1 Avocado – fairly ripe
½ Cup chopped red onion
½ Cup chopped celery
¼ Cup chopped green pepper
½ Cup chopped cilantro
¼ Teaspoon salt
¼ Teaspoon pepper
(optional) 1 Cup chopped avocado
(optional) dash of Cholula Hot Sauce or Tabasco Sauce for spice
(optional) chopped green or black olives
Directions:
Soak the cubed Tilapia squares in ¾ of the lime juice for 3 hours in the refrigerator. Drain off the liquid and discard the rest of the juice. Mix the fish with the garlic, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, oregano, green pepper, and the remaining lime juice. Slice and place sliced avocado over the top of dish before serving. Serve with warm tortillas (flour or corn) or tortilla chips.
ENJOY!
Your friend,
Phyllis Davis