Learn to Build a Grow Table for an Aquaponics System

Learn to Build a Grow Table for an Aquaponics System
– By Colle and Phyllis Davis

READ THE ENTIRE AQUAPONICS COURSE OUTLINE: CLICK HERE.

STEP ONE: Build the Grow tables.

 

DOWNLAND OUR E-BOOK

Aquaponics Grow Tables GOLD from Portable Farms® Technology

This sale of this ebook does NOT include the Automatic Trip Valve (ATV) that regulates the water level in the grow tables, but the ATV is available with the purchase of this book for an additional $20.00. Please visit https://gum.co/lhTmBd to make the purchase of the ebook and the ATV.
– – Aquaponics’ Grow Tables raise healthy and fresh table vegetables.
– – Portable Farms® Grow Tables never overflow and are now fully automatic.
– – Portable Farms® Grow Tables become more valuable over time because their production increases over the first two years after the operator learns what plants they enjoy growing.
The valuable content in this Aquaponics Grow Table GOLD ebook has emerged from more than ten years of success in the marketplace. We have continued to refine our Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems and are now growing food in twenty-five countries and in all fifty US States.
The design and function of our Grow Tables incorporates our experiences, the feedback from our global customers, engineers, universities and from many of our own odd mistakes and failures.
The true success of an aquaponics system allows its operators to take a weekend off occasionally, and never worry have about watering or feeding the plants to grow delicious, healthy and pesticide-free food.
Here are the many benefits of the Portable Farms® Grow Tables.
1. They do not leak if constructed properly.
2. They do not bulge or distort when full of gravel and water.
3. They have adjustable legs to level them on uneven surfaces or for special needs (such as building them to be wheel chair accessible).
4. The tray depth and water flow can be modified for growing kitchen or medicinal herbs.
5. The grow trays can be flooded if insect control is required.
6. Each grow table can be sized in width and length to accommodate your location or the food for family or group needs.
7. The grow tables are easy to keep clean.
8. The crushed gravel in the grow tables never needs to be cleaned [if you use a clarifier].
9. The plants in the grow tables strip out the nutrients as the water flows through the crushed gravel.
10. As the water flows through the grow tables, it becomes re-oxygenated during each cycle before it returns to the fish tank adding to the health of the fish and fish tank.
11. Crushed gravel, the least expensive substrate is used to grow the plants. Think cheap and local.
12. Growing food from the waist high grow tables makes it easy to plant, care for the plants and harvest the food.
Measure the space you have and use the formulas provided and the near future the world of self-reliance starts.
PLEASE NOTE: A competent carpenter can build the entire grow table in about 6 hours. We make the assumption that whoever is constructing the grow table has several years of construction experience using power tools, hand tools, and common building materials. Even though the construction is very straightforward and uses common building materials, a high level of precision finish work is required for the grow table to function correctly. A hobbyist without construction experience is very seldom capable of building this level of precision without some excellent help and support.

  STEP 2:  Colle Davis spreading gravel with Juan, his helper. FUN DAY!

STEP 3: Later that same day. The Grow Tables are now filled with gravel, the fish (tilapia) are happily swimming in the fish tanks (far ends of the grow tables) and now it’s time to TURN ON the Portable Farm so the water can circulate twice during the day (20 minutes per fill) to fill the grow tables with nutrient rich water. After the grow tables are filled, then the water drains back into the fish tanks.

Step 4: 40-days after the Portable Farm has been turned on. Happy plants, happy fish and a happy Colle Davis, aquaponics farmer and inventor of Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems.

The Footsteps of the Farmer are His Best Fertilizer

The Footsteps of the Farmer are His Best Fertilizer
– by Colle and Phyllis Davis

Old Japanese proverb (modern translation): “The closer you are to your plants and animals each day, the easier it is to observe and respond to their needs.”

If you have raised children or lived on a farm, this wise proverb makes perfect sense.

The moral of the story is that when you are interacting with the food you are raising, you become very attuned to each plant and each animal and you are acutely aware of their needs on a daily basis. Then you can respond by providing them with exactly what they need to provide you with the finest food in the world. When you are in control of their world, you reap the benefits of your efforts.

In today’s modern (fast paced) urban life, the food that arrives at your table has been grown as quickly as possible to meet shipping requirements, then processed, packed, shipped, unpacked and sometimes processed again (repackaged, cooked and canned, or frozen) for your consumption. Many urban dwellers have no conception where their food comes from or how it arrives on their plate. Most don’t care and do not want to be bothered with knowing.

 

 

What about growing your own food? Even a tiny lettuce seed or tomato seed planted in sand in a coffee can is a start. The investment costs are negligible and the rewards are enormous. Expanding the idea a tiny bit by planting a window box or even a few seeds in a planter out on your patio. Oh, wait, winter is coming, how about planting some lettuce in a shallow tray placed in the window and turned every day. Do you have an aquarium? Use some of the fish water to water your tiny seedlings to create an open aquaponics system. Fish and plants separated and cared for by a human toting the water. The joy you will feel when you harvest your first plant is hard to describe.

That is a start. Next step is building a tiny aquaponics system using some grow lights. Now you are raising some of your own food. Proud barely covers your feelings when you sit down at your dining table to enjoy food grown by your own hands.

 

NO! Aquaponics Food DOES NOT ‘Taste Fishy!’

NO! Aquaponics Food DOES NOT ‘Taste Fishy!’
– by Colle and Phyllis Davis

lanai 43 days later

Each time we are asked, “Does aquaponic’s food ‘tastes fishy?'” we are tempted to say, “Do the vegetables you buy at the supermarket, or at the farmers market taste like cow manure?”

Here’s how Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems utilize fish waste to grow plants so successfully:

  • The Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems are designed to lift all of the fish waste out of the fish tank
  • The Control Panel moves the water from the fish tanks twice a day (like flushing a toilet) to an area where the solids (think ‘tiny poops’) are moved into in a ‘separate’ tank
  • After the tiny poops have been ‘flushed’ out of the fish tank, the clear water, laden with the nutrients from the fish waste (without the tiny poops), flows to the head of the Grow Tray.

Aquaponics raises Mozambique tilapia. They are a warm water, fresh water fish.

  • The Grow Tray is actually HUGE bio filter and the water flows back trough the Grow Tray delivering to the plants all of the water and nutrients they need directly to their root systems, and then, the water flows back into the Fish Tank.
  • The Grow Tray bio filter is loaded with really good, hard working bacteria (which is the GOLD that makes aquaponics such a productive system) that specializes in converting nitrites (ammonia) into nitrates (plant food).
  • The surface area of the gravel has thousands of times the surface areas of the fish tank and allows the bacteria to grow uninhibited to produce their version of plant food just as they have done for about a billion years. The plants (the vegetables) are removing the nitrates and other nutrients from the water stream in the gravel to produce the best tasting, most nutritious and best looking food you can grow. PLUS the fish are receiving the water back into their fish tanks after the water has been stripped of nutrients and now it has also been heavily oxygenated. It a win:win for plants, fish and ultimately for the consumer.

The edible portions of the vegetables are never touched by the water. The plants are never watered from above the gravel in the Grow Trays so there is absolutely no chance of splashing anything up on the leaves. There is no weeding or cultivating so the plants simply sit there growing until they are ready to be harvested. They spend their entire lives in a perfect growing environment getting ready for your table.

Commercial Aquaponics GOLD

Aquaponics GOLD

Backyard Aquaponics GOLD

Greenhouse & Warehouse Aquaponics GOLD

Solar Aquaponics GOLD

Growing Fruit Trees or Blueberries in Aquaponics

How to Grow Fruit Trees or Blueberries in Aquaponics 
– by Colle and Phyllis Davis 

Here are the main parameters that need to be addressed when considering raising fruit trees with aquaponics:

  1. Pollination. Bees do not do well at all inside buildings. Hand pollination is time consuming and expensive.
  2. Which fruit(s) should you raise?
  3. What market is being addressed and can the fruit compete with regular ‘dirt farming’ methods currently used for growing fruit?
  4. What is to be done with the fish waste water when the trees are dormant?
  5. What training will the personnel need to have in order to make the aquaponics-fruit-growing-installation most productive? 

 

Women picking ripe blueberries close up shoot

 

The first step for installing an orchard is to dig trenches on the contour across the slope of the designated orchard area. These trenches need to be 18 to 24 inches (45cm to 60cm) deep and the same wide with a 4 to 6 inch berm build up on each side to prevent ground water from entering the trench at any time. Then an impermeable membrane is placed covering the entire berm trench berm area to insure that no water either leaves or enters the trench. (Blueberries only need half the trench size.) 

At one end of the top trench, install an automatic trip valve in a sump area and have it drain into the trench below so the water is flowing back across the slope in the next trench down the slope. This arrangement will mean the water travels from one end of the trench to the other, drops to the next level and traverses the slope in the opposite direction for each trench. The slope must be great enough for the trench to fill nearly full each time and then to drain out completely. The ideal slope is 1:6 up to 1:8, less or more slope requires some consulting time to design a functioning system.  

Before filling the lined trenches with gravel, fill them with water first to observe that each automatic trip valve is working correctly and that each trench drains completely.  

The next step is placing the gravel that has been to be washed and screened and then remove sand, mud and debris into the trenches up to two inches below the top of the berm. The gravel needs to be level in all directions. Fill each trench insuring the pipe surrounding the automatic trip valve has no gravel inside of it.   

Finally make sure the last trench drains completely into the fish tank/pond. Now it is the time to plant the trees (bushes) and install the fish into their new home. The choice of fish is much broader than it is with indoor aquaponics. Local fish can be used very successfully. Feed the fish what they will eat in 15 to 30 second once or twice a day after they are two to three inches long.  

When the fruiting season is over, reduce the water flow through the system to twice a week and after the leaves drop only run the water once or twice a month to insure the trees have some water. In the spring, begin the water flow before the first thaw and before the leaves start to swell.  

Now, here is a quick and dirty method. Cut several 55-gallon plastic drums in half, install a drain line with a shut off valve in the bottom so you can control the water level, fill with gravel, plant your favorite fruit trees and water with fish waste water a couple times a week during growing season and once or twice a month when they are dormant. AQUAPONICS FRUIT GROWING:  DONE.  

Aquaponics is EASIER than Dirt Farming

Aquaponics is EASIER than Dirt Farming
– by Colle and Phyllis Davis

Conventional farming is one of the more difficult and dirtiest jobs in the world. It is so hard, in fact, that only a small group of young people are actually becoming new farmers. The hours are long, the work is hard, the rewards are irregular and the impact on family life is nearly incalculable. Yet, we need a larger demographic of younger farmers to replace our aging farmers.

A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm

The Washington Post – By Caitlin Dewey November 23, 2017

“The number of farmers age 25 to 34 grew 2.2 percent between 2007 and 2012, according to the 2014 USDA census, a period when other groups of farmers — save the oldest — shrunk by double digits. In some states, such as California, Nebraska and South Dakota, the number of beginning farmers has grown by 20 percent or more.

A survey conducted by the National Young Farmers Coalition, an advocacy group, with Merrigan’s help shows that the majority of young farmers did not grow up in agricultural families.

They are also far more likely than the general farming population to grow organically, limit pesticide and fertilizer use, diversify their crops or animals, and be deeply involved in their local food systems via community supported agriculture (CSA) programs and farmers markets.”

Granted, aquaponics can only grow about 300 varieties of food and traditional agriculture offers far more growing options, but aquaponics does grow many healthy table vegetables and fish. For example, aquaponics cannot grow root vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, onions or radishes. And most squash prefer a dry sandy soil. But aquaponics does grow most greens, herbs, and many blooming vegetables such as tomatoes, beans, zucchini, cucumber and even eggplant. We rely on traditional agriculture to grow wheat, most grains, rice, corn, soy, melons/squash, and perrineals such as asparagus and most berries.

dirtfarmerFarmers complain that they can’t compete with imports and then try to figure out how they can export more of their own production to receive better prices. So then a different farmer in some other part of the world then complains about the low prices due to imports. And the circle continues repeats and never ends.

The price/cost of food is set by the world market and if a farmer wants to compete in that arena, they have to be able to raise food at least as cheaply as the world’s lowest cost producer plus shipping. That is nearly impossible to accomplish on a consistent basis. Plus governments often have subsidy programs to ‘help’ farmers compete with the rest of the world. This makes for an unrealistic distortion in the market prices. These subsidies drive down the prices paid to farmers in every country.

There is a growing opportunity for farmers everywhere in the world to make more money, have a more consistent market and insure that the impact of cheap foreign produce is kept to a minimum. They can do this by feeding the locavores (those who eat local food grown ‘in season’) and producing the finest food available to the local high-end markets on a year round basis. Conventional farming cannot accomplish this magic trick.

gtt 40 days with collePortable Farms® Aquaponics Systems offer controlled environment farming which is a growing segment of farming. LEARN MORE FROM US:  CLICK HERE.

Growing food in controlled environments (greenhouses/warehouses) is the exact formula already making an impact on the pricing of food. Hotels that own their own greenhouses are already providing the best possible food for their guests and enjoying enhanced reputations for addressing the needs and desires of their clients by providing them with healthy, locally grown food.

 

GET RICH WITH AQUAPONICS ON ONE ACRE draft

GET RICH WITH AQUAPONICS ON ONE ACRE

– by Colle Davis, Phil Estes and Phyllis Davis 

Six greenbeans plants growing vertically.

Six greenbeans plants growing vertically in a Grow Table in a Portable Farms Aquaponics System, These six plans easily yielded 200 Kentucky Wonder Green beans with an average length of six inches each.

 

Colle Davis holding two green beans ranging from 10 inches to 12 inches in length.

Colle Davis holding two green beans ranging from 10 inches to 12 inches in length.

GET RICH WITH AQUAPONICS ON ONE ACRE but first, begin with a small aquaponics systems to learn to operate it and see if it meets their expectations. Even ONE MODULE to feed eight people is a realistic experiment to ‘get your hands wet.’

With an ROI (Return on Investment) of three to five years, and the possibility that by addressing a specific local market needed to produce a specialty (green) crop such as kale, basil or bok choy, and reducing the ROI to less than two years, investors start to take notice. When a single commercial installation pencils out to yield a net-net in the low six figures and the output can match any wholesale supplier’s prices and still make money, serious investors take note.

Commercial aquaponics installations are not subject to the normal vulgarities of the stock market, derivatives markets, political upheaval, drought, electrical outages, heat waves, unusually hot or cold weather or even state-sponsored corruption.

Aquaponics is trending and today, even city planners are focusing on funding for both hydroponics and aquaponics systems to create higher degrees of food security in large cities to feed their growing urban populations. Their plans include the use of vacant lots for the installation of attractive greenhouses and retrofitting empty warehouses for growing food year round with the addition of grow lights.

 

greenhouse vegetable productionThe most common request we receive from those would like to become commercial aquaponics farmers is from people who already have the land and want to begin to cover it in aquaponics installations, BUT they do not have the money to make the initial large investment.

One acre of flat, level land covered with four Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems can make you a millionaire and with an ongoing income of over $300,000 from the full acre per year NET. To fund this size operation all at one time requires approximately US$1.2Million.

Here are several scenarios that demonstrate how to achieve this level of success is stages over time.

Your personal situation will obviously differ from these specific instances, but you can use these scenarios as examples and then adjust them for your unique situation.

Assumptions:

  • Land cost is not a factor – meaning the land is owned or leased at a low rate already

  • You are willing to invest the time to prepare a quality business plan before you begin.

  • You have access to $200,000 of capital or the ability to borrow that much

  • Hard work is not a problem

  • Marketing is a passion and a way of life for you

  • You or your partners have successfully operated a growing business for more than 5 years.

abp

clipart-farm2 aquaponics

Five Suggested Scenarios and Options for Beginning your Aquaponics Business  

First Scenario: You already own the land and it has access to electricity and water and it is mostly flat and level.  While solar power and well water are options, they come with additional costs. This land is located near your potential markets for selling your food, and you do not have the investment capital to begin the project. Currently, your land is not paying you anything in return but you are paying taxes on it, and there are other normal expenses that you incur by owning it.

(Brace yourself, this suggestion may hurt . . . )

Sell enough of your land to fund the first acre or even the first 10,000 sq. ft. aquaponics installation. That way, it is your money you are investing in your own aquaponics business and you are paying yourself back with interest. For example, the ‘average’ size of currently owned acreage of those we have talked with, is 10 to 12 acres (the range is from 2 acres to several thousand acres). If a portion of this land was sold, even most of it, the project could be at least partially funded from the proceeds.

Portable Farm biz group

Second Scenario:  Refinance the land and use the proceeds to build the first aquaponics installation(s). This may or may not please your banker, but he will enjoy being paid back in a few years.

SHAKINGHANDSWITH

Third Scenario:

Find some partners to fund the installation of the aquaponics installation on your land. Be the ‘land guy’ and be willing to structure the deal so you are the last to be paid off. After all, it is your land and the installation is on your property and it will be producing income far into the future. You may even want to structure the deal to pay off your partners in total, first, and then you will continue to receive all the income for yourself.

 

couple in country

Fourth Scenario:

You don’t own the land but you know someone who does own it, and you are willing to do all the work to make this project happen. Ask them for permission for you to use one acre of their land for aquaponics installations for a piece of the action. In layman’s terms this means they receive some of the profits. Approach several other investors to fund the installations and then you would provide the hard work of operating the commercial aquaponics system. This is the hardest scenario to accomplish UNLESS you have a proven track record running businesses. 

Greenhouse

Fifth Scenario:

Find a number of existing greenhouses in your area that you can lease and then install the Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems Modules to fit the greenhouse(s). Then use this installation to generate the capital needed to finance the expansion of additional units on your unused property. The upfront cost of doing this is a fraction of the cost of building from scratch.

Okay, enough with the options, let’s get down to the numbers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • A single 10,000 sq. ft. facility can hold approximately 30 Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems Modules costing from $80,000 to $100,000, installed

    • The ROI can be from 2 to 4 years depending on your markets and the crops you choose to grow and sell

    • Payroll for two full time employees to operate a single commercial PFAS Unit (30 modules)

    • The Net-Net for this example is US$100,000 per year

    • Four PFAS Units (120 modules) are needed to be a millionaire

    • Four PFAS Units will require approximately US$1,000,000 of initial investment.

Colle Davis, Lead Inventor, Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems harvesting a PRIZE WINNING 17-lb bok choy. Oh the joys of aquaponics . . . the fun just never ends! :)

Colle Davis, Lead Inventor, Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems harvesting a PRIZE WINNING 17-lb bok choy. Oh the joys of aquaponics . . . the fun just never ends! 🙂

To start, do your homework, complete your marketing survey, talk to the casino, high-end restaurant and resort hotel chefs to see how much of their weekly produce they are willing to buy from you. Talk to at least TEN chefs, add the numbers of different vegetables they are requesting together, divide by two (this gives you the built-in expansion for your business) and design your installation to fulfill that amount of produce by the end of your first year of production.

Yep, it’s a LOT of hard work, focus, yours and/or other people’s money and a dedication to bringing the finest food on the planet to your market that can make you a millionaire is a few short years. You actually have to do the work to get there. PFAS LLC’s Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems technology is one way to have fun in the process.

A 10,000 sq ft greenhouse with Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems installed. Location: Botswana Africa.

A 10,000 sq ft greenhouse with Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems installed. Location: Botswana Africa.

Commercial aquaponics programs will change the face of aquaponics, make their investors very happy, create jobs for thousands of people and equally important, provide the highest quality, locally grown food for the growing middle class around the world. The technology of aquaponics, especially as a viable alternative to long-food-miles groceries is finally becoming a part of mainstream thinking. As the acceptance of aquaponics moves from fringe idea to proven commercial production, there has been a profound shift in those who are interested in applying the technology and how they are affecting the industry. Now the moneyed people (read serious investors), the visionaries with immense deep pocket connections and the people who can make a difference in the world are stepping into the arena to be serious players.

Aquaponics is at least 4,700 years old and has been practiced in various forms in many places in the world, especially where population pressures were high and the land was limited in some fashion. Maximizing the nutrient stream is critically important when land is restricted. The use of animal’s waste to encourage the growth of aquatic plants and animals is an elegant solution to a waste water management problem. Modern aquaponics offers a locally based, extremely high yield, food production facility that also provides permanent full time jobs for semi-skilled workers. When a concentration of modern aquaponics installations occurs, an increasingly sophisticated and broader administrative function is required to run them effectively. Another benefit of these installations is the creation of many secondary jobs. These additional jobs normally add four to seven additional local positions in the support function businesses.

Portable Farms® Really Are Portable

Portable Farms® Really Are Portable
– by Colle and Phyllis Davis

lettuce cWe suggest that you view the Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems technology as software along with several unique hardware components. This makes the portability factor much more apparent. The ‘technology’ is in two separate pieces. The Aquaponics University (AU) Course explains/teaches the technology of building the complete system (Sections A-M) and also teaches the operating functions (Sections M-Z) of the system efficiently and also covers raising healthy plants and fish.

  1. Our own Portable Farms™ Aquaponics System Course© is the first piece.
  2. The second ‘piece’ is the Portable Farms® Kit which is sent to each graduate of the AU course upon satisfactory completion of the course work. The PFAS Kit (technology) all fits into a 1 cubic foot box. Yep, it’s that compact and we ship them all over the world.
  3. Most modern buildings (greenhouses) are straightforward in their design and construction to make them easy to build and maintain. Even a simple wooden framed greenhouse is easy to build and make climatically adapted for the specific location. Today’s greenhouse manufactures have made their building extremely easy to build and maintain because the industry is intensely competitive. The flip side of this ease of construction is the ease of dismantling and moving said greenhouses.

warehouse3 aquaponicsUsing an existing warehouse or basement is even easier because the only real modification is to the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) system to insure some temperature control and clean air.

Now the ONLY tough part of the installation: The gravel. Gravel is heavy, dirty and not easy to prepare and place. Every bit of it must be washed thoroughly and placed carefully. However, if you’re moving a long distance, we recommend leaving the heavy gravel behind and replacing it when you reinstall your Portable Farm. It’s easier. 
The rest of the ‘technology’ along with the plumbing, electrical and any fans, lighting and controls are easy to repack and move to their new home. The Grow Trays may or may not be worthwhile moving, most of the ones we know of that have been moved, the owners moved the Grow Tray and reused them.

So, are Portable Farms® really PORTABLE? Yes they are. The idea is to move the technology and leave the gravel behind.

The Aquaponist’s Daily Prayer: “PRAY FOR POOP”

The Aquaponist’s Daily Prayer: “PRAY FOR POOP”
– by Colle and Phyllis Davis

fishpooping

Portable Farms is proud to show you Before and After Photos highlighting the 40-day progress of our newly constructed PFAS LLC’S Experimental and Research Center in San Diego, California, that was completed and planted on May 28. Because of improvements in our seed choices, planting methods and technology, our farm is exploding with fresh organic food after only 40 days. The 600 tilapia fish in this system know our voices and ‘frenzy’ when we walk into the farm (a good sign because a happy fish eats well and POOPS A LOT and that’s the fertilizer for our plants). In case you didn’t know it, the Aquaponists’ Daily Prayer is, “PRAY FOR POOP.”

 

 

empty-gravel-colle2

BEFORE: Gravel Grow Trays in a Portable Farms Aquaponics System with Colle Davis, Inventor, Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems.

gtt 40 days with colle3

AFTER: 40 Days After Planting with Colle Davis, Inventor, Portable Farms Aquaponics Systems, July 6. Many green leafy organic vegetables are already READY TO HARVEST and other blooming plants already have blossoms and are ready to produce organic fruit or vegetables after only 40 days (such as tomatoes, peppers, green beans, zucchini, and cucumbers). Portable Farms grow enormous amounts of healthy, organic, nutritious food in small spaces. This small farm feeds TEN adults . . . FOREVER. This greenhouse is 16′ x 33′ (528 square feet) and contains 264 square feet of Grow Tray space.

Install your own Portable Farms Aquaponics System after taking the Aquaponics University  Simple, Easy and Fun online course! It only takes about one hour per day for about two weeks and when you finish the course you will receive your own Portable Farms Kit to build your own commercial or backyard farm that will feed people forever.

zucchini leaf 40 days ruler

One single leaf of an organic zucchini plant measured after 40 days of growth in Gravel Grow Tray = 10.5 inches wide

zucchini height ruler july 7

Height of the same organic zucchini plant (above) after 40 days growth in a Gravel Grow Tray = 20.5 inches tall

india mustard ruler july 7

Organic India Mustard plant (a spicy lettuce) after 40 days in the Gravel Grow Trays = 19 inches tall

 

This is a photo of that same head of India Mustard at harvest:

indiamustard3

romaine with ruler after 40 days

Organic Cos Romaine Lettuce after 40 days of growth in a Gravel Grow Tray = 12.5 inches tall

We’re growing a variety of organic seeds in each of these categories in this farm:

  • Basil Green Peppers
  • Swiss Chard
  • Cucumbers
  • Romaine Lettuce
  • Jalapeno Peppers
  • Tomatoes
  • India Mustard
  • Chinese Cabbage
  • Long Green Beans
  • Zucchini
  • Bib Lettuce
  • Basil
  • Pak Choi
  • Kale
  • Eggplant
  • Leek
  • Iceberg Lettuce
  • Green Onion
  • Green Swiss Chard
  • Hot Peppers
  • Yellow Crookneck Squash

Portable Farms® Zucchini Bread

Portable Farms® Zucchini Bread

Give homemade Zucchini Bread for gifts during the holidays. Not too sweet and it’s healthy too!

There is nothPatioPonics Portable Farm Cucumbers Harvested February 9, 2012ing like home-made, home-grown zucchini bread to give away as gifts during the holiday season! While many cooks may boast they cook from scratch, we can ‘trump that’ and say we grew our zucchini’s ourselves too in our own Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems! In this upcoming holiday season of giving, keep life simple and give from the heart by sharing good food with people you love and respect. Our kitchen was filled with great smells yesterday as we baked and wrapped fresh bread for our friends and neighbors. The recipe is simple and fail proof. Wrap in Saran Wrap, add a bow and away you go!

 

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 medium)
  • 1 cup shredded carrots (I occasionally add some canned pineapple instead of carrots)
  • 3/4 cup chopped nuts (walnut or pecan)
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Directions

  • In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon; stir into sugar mixture just until moistened. Stir in the zucchini, carrots nuts and lemon peel.
  • Move mixture into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each).

You Can Feed Your Family Healthy Food Forever OR Buy a Used Car

Feed Your Family Healthy Food Forever OR Buy a Used Car 
– by Colle and Phyllis Davis

Create Food Security and Food Safety for Your Family!

portable-farms-affordable-food-forever-used-car

Which is a better investment?

  • Providing your family with fresh, healthy food that will last FOREVER?
  • Or, buying a used car?

Do you want to provide your family with food for the rest of their lives, or spring for that used car that you will have to replace again in a few years?

Interestingly, they cost about the same amount.

portable-farms-aquaponics-system-farmThe cost will vary mostly depending on the cost of the greenhouse itself. (Please note: We don’t sell greenhouses but we can recommend you to reputable greenhouse companies that we trust.) Some greenhouses are fancier than others and you may have most of the materials already available, there may be an empty greenhouse you can rent or you may be able to build a lean-to type structure on the side of your house for less money. You may even find a greenhouse that someone wants taken away for FREE.

This total amount includes the Aquaponics University Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems Course© which even has the PFAS Technology Kit as part of the purchase price.

Here’s the full cost breakdown of a backyard aquaponics system

  • Greenhouse: Must be able to keep the interior temperature between 40 and 104° F. The costs are dependent on your choice of design
  • Wooden or concrete floor/slab – from $100 to $300
  • Insulated stem wall to set the greenhouse on top of for more height – 2×4’s and plywood – $250 to $350
  • Fish tank – sometimes known of as a livestock watering trough  – $150
  • Lumber for the Grow Tray – 2×4’s, 2×6’s, plywood, etc – between $800 and $1,200
  • PVC pipe and fittings  – $100
  • Misc – $250

You may even have some of the materials on hand or have access to recycled materials at a reduced cost. Even if you have to pay full retail price for everything, an operating aquaponics farm is a fantastically good deal. Plus, a Portable Farms® Aquaponics System is infinitely expandable because of it modular design. You can expand it and begin selling the excess to create a small income.

(Image above) This is a Portable Farms Aquaponics System installed on a patio next to a house.

Imagine a 12 ft wide lean-to greenhouse 24 ft long off the south side of your house. In this arrangement the Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems is a carbon negative installation because it contributes more energy to the house than it consumes on an annual basis. There are installations with wood burning stoves inside them to keep them from freezing in very cold climates. Every installation is different and unique. You are only limited by your imagination and your budget.

In commercial installations, our foreman, with a crew of four, can build 30 operating Modules that are 5ft x 40ft in one week. Building a module is not rocket science and the construction is straight simple carpentry and the Aquaponics University Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems Course© has pictures and step-by-step instructions about how to build the Portable Farms Modules. You can have your own aquaponics farm up and running in a matter of weeks and be enjoying fresh home-grown greens is a little as five weeks after completion. Now THAT’S exciting.

Where will you be investing your money? In your family’s health and future or in that used car that will depreciate the moment you pay for it? Take our Aquaponics University Course now and build an aquaponics farm that will be producing food for your family within a couple of months. That food will continue to be there for your family FOREVER.