Sometimes Things Get TOO Big in AP Tanks…

Lying on my floor…broken and sad…is my most magnificent Rex begonia. It literally got too big and broke its own stalk. At it’s longest it was 3 feet tall, and every new branch was growing just as big as the last with leaves getting at least a foot across.

Let me back up a little. A few days ago I went into the fishroom to feed the fish and noticed my one 55 gallon tank had turned exceptionally white & cloudy. Did I have a mass fish death? Was the tank cycling again for some unknown reason and having an ammonia spike? I inspected and the fish were all swimming around happily, nothing seemed out of order. Then I checked the plants. The base of the begonia looked a little too brown and when I touched it was mushy.

I decided it was probably best to take it out, as the cloudiness indicated SOMETHING was rotting in the tank. I removed the filter basket and went to get the begonia out. I noticed the neck of the stalk was already cracked. It must have gotten too heavy and slowly snapped until it couldn’t support it self at all anymore.

It is one of my favorite plants, so it was sad, but it is also a very resilient plant and tends to root easily. Here is what was left of the healthy base with all the foliage cut off. It is staying warm and dimly lit in an effort to help it root.

The rest of the root system I was going to take out, but was buried deep under the other plants and was not coming out. One of two things will happen; the snails/worms/bacteria will take care of the rest and it will directly feed the other plants or the rest of the stalk is healthy enough to push up new sprouts from the extensive root system.

Either way, things seem to be OK as the tank has been clearing up the past couple days with noe further help from me…looks like my filter got a boon in bacteria from the extra food.

I also have some of the cuttings rooting in the smaller tank. Hopefully these take and grow as big as the parent did.

Stay tuned for updates on the begonia’s progress in the next FoodStream.

It has been a SLOW winter for AP events

It has been quite awhile since I last posted. This winter there has not been much in terms of AP news for me. I have been very busy cheffing around town and contacting people and groups about upcoming AP projects, but no real events to report.

Today we’ll keep the post short with some updates on my three tanks.

Tank one:
   You may remember from my last post about the aquatic moths. The moths have all hatched and are gone…either died off (they have a super short lifespan as adults) or eaten by the bigger fish in my other tanks.

   Biggest thing about this tank is finding balance. For some reason this tank seems determined to not want to act like my others. Though I have a ton of life in this tank…sand fleas, snails, hydra, cycolpods…it all seems to ebb and flow. I also have trouble keeping bigger life in here…shrimp, fish, tetras, pygmy cories …most have died off. One problem may have been lack of direct heat. I thought it would stay stable in that room because of the heat from the other two…it gets VERY steamy in there. I think it just fluctuated too much though. So I got a heater. I also dropped the globe filter to underr the water line and installed another on the left (glass vase) and am using air stones at the bottom of each to act as filters.

   Things have finally started to calm down in the tank. There may also have been TOO much flow from the pump that was in there, so it is gone. There is currently one neon tetra, one Otto, two pygmy cories and a host of different snail species plus a couple shrimp. They have all been surviving and seem happy. In a few weeks I may try to source more shrimp.

   The new filter is growing a bunch of plants I already have in the other tanks plus a maiden’s hair fern which has finally established itself…and once it is ready I’ll be transplanting a hydrangea in hopes the flowers will turn a slight pink color due to the slightly high Ph (6.6)

Tank two:
  My main guy. Been running since the beginning of this project with the original filter. Going strong, a couple new fish…guppies and a weather loaches…plus lots of new guppies from breeding. The top left box has 3 huge poblano pepper plants growing. No fruit but a lot of blossoms so far. Both Basil’s, rosemary, mint & avocado are holding strong through the winter.

   If things go as planned next week I will be able to invest in some new parts, rearrange this tank a bit and have two boxes growing instead of just one. I’m hoping to get them going now in hopes of gorgeous crops with an early spring planting.

Tank three:
   Seriously, this is always a show stopper! The plants in this tank are voraciously growing…they are starting to take over the light and I’ll have to figure out a new solution soon. Things in this tank are good as always. The plant growth (underwater plants that is) seems to ebb and flow as well. It happens in spurts, not all at once. Currently the Java moss is on an upswing and my hair algea has diminished a bit. I did add two Siamese algea eaters awhile back…both those and 3 of my rasporas have disappeared, I can’t figure out why but parameters in the water are holding steady and the other fish seem happy.

Where does this project go from here? Continued experimentation and expanding grow beds. There is a chance I will be moving in a couple months to a bigger place, and I’m excited to see what kind of room I’ll have to expand. This spring and summer should be a great season for growing all new herbs and veggies if I can get an early planting to catch the light.

Stay tuned for all the developments of the FoodStream.

Memberships for Bourgeoisie Brunches – Support Community & and AP!

Many of you know that I am a mobile chef here in the PNW. Much of my blog for the past year and a half or so has been aquaponics. This particular post will be about my business, Bourgeoisie Brunches. My business and income from Bourgeoisie is what helps to support my AP until True Blue Aquaponics can  get off the ground with projects.

I’m excited to announce that Bourgeoisie Brunches now has a membership program, The Brunch Club! Membership grants certain privileges (depending on what level you buy) and discounts, plus helps to support local business and local community. Below are the levels and rules for membership. Please share this post with your foodie friends and those interested in helping local business…the better Bourgeoisie does, the more time I’ll have to spread the AP word…and the closer I’ll be to having a greenhouse to grow most of the food I need for classes!

Buying a membership is a way to support local business & help your community while getting discounts on your favorite services by Chef Ricky.

Different membership purchase levels have specific privileges (see pricing below)

Membership Levels

*Amuse Bouche $200    Referral Credit = $30 for every referral who buys a membership

The amuse bouche level is the basic level of support for BB. This level gets you a 10% discount on services when booked. (Ex:$175 job only subtracts $157.50 from your remaining total) The remainder for the next job can take the discount of the original membership once, to retain discount membership must be renewed. 

*Appetizer $500       Referral Credit = $60 for every referral who buys a membership

The appetizer level is a step up from amuse bouche. This level gets you a 10% discount on services when booked plus a higher referral credit. (Ex:$175 job only subtracts $157.50 from your remaining  total) The remainder for the last job can take the discount of the original membership once, to retain discount membership must be renewed. 

*Entree $750.     Referral Credit = $120 for every referral who buys a membership

The entree level is a step up from appetizer and grants additional privileges. This level gets you a 15% discount on services when booked plus a higher referral credit. (Ex:$175 job only subtracts $148.75 from your remaining total) The remainder for the last job can take the discount of the original membership once, to retain discount membership must be renewed. 

*International Tapas $1500    Referral credit = $200 for every referral who buys a membership

The tapas level is a step up from entree and grants additional privileges. This level gets you a 20% discount on services when booked plus a higher referral credit. (Ex:$175 job only subtracts $140 from your remaining total) The remainder for the last job can take the discount of the original membership once, to retain discount membership must be renewed. Tapas level supporters also get 10% off their first grocery bill and admission for 2 at half price to Friday night classes at Chef Ricky’s apartment

*7 Courser $3000.    Referral Credit = $300 for every referral who buys a membership

The 7 courser level is a step up from tapas and grants additional privileges. This level gets you a 25% discount on services when booked plus a higher referral credit. (Ex:$175 job only subtracts $131.25 from your remaining total) The remainder for the last job can take the discount of the original membership once, to retain discount membership must be renewed. 7 courser level supporters also get 15% off their first grocery bill and admission for 4 at half price to Friday night classes at Chef Ricky’s apartment. (4 people is a full class for Fri night classes, so pre booking of an empty class is required)

*Royal Feaster $10,000.    Referral Credit = $400 for every referral who buys a membership, $1,000 for every referral who buys a Royal Feaster membership

The royal feaster level is a step up from 7 courser and grants additional privileges. This level gets you a 30% discount on services when booked plus a higher referral credit. (Ex:$175 job only subtracts $122.50 from your remaining total) The remainder for the last job can take the discount of the original membership once, to retain discount membership must be renewed. Royal Feaster level supporters do not pay for their first grocery bill and receive 10% off all subsequent grocery bills. They also receive free admission for 4 to one Friday night class at Chef Ricky’s apartment. (4 people is a full class for Fri night classes, so pre booking of an empty class is required)

* Membership prices are a one time payment for future services and the internal support of Bourgeoisie Brunches. All memberships have an expiration of one year from date of purchase except for the “Royal Feaster” level, which does not expire. Balances from expired memberships do not carry over to the next year.

* Grocery cost & gratuity for each event is not included and is paid separate by members

* Anytime Chef Ricky is booked, cost of services come out of membership purchase price at specified discount value

* If services go beyond purchased membership price, remainder of balance is due. All privileges of membership pricing level will be recognized by chef to apply to remainder for that event. To retain privileges for future events membership must be renewed.

* Memberships may be used to book any service by Chef Ricky/Bourgeoisie Brunches (Ex: mobile class, Friday night class, in home catering or to make reservations for a French Connection) as well buying the gift of membership for other people at the discount level of your purchased membership. No referral credit will be given in this case.

*Unlike one time or occasional clients, members need no deposit to book Chef Ricky for a date. Appropriate rescheduling and cancellation times are appreciated to keep my calendar open for all clients.

* Members may extend their benefits to others to buy services as as gift. You will receive your full discount on gift purchase, but that party will be responsible for all groceries or additional costs.

* Membership only pays for services or privileges associated with purchased level. Additional fees such as groceries, travel fees, lodging, etc are due in full at no discount unless otherwise stated or agreed upon with Chef Ricky.

* Though members retain certain privileges over non members, at no time will other customers be bumped out of a booking so members can book Chef Ricky.

Aquatic Moths are Visiting my Tanks

Aquatic moths…I had no idea they existed. Not to confuse anyone, it is the larval (caterpillar) stage that is aquatic. The larvae start out looking quite reminiscent of maggots, which is what I thought they were at first WHEN I FOUND THEM IN MY TANKS! I completely freaked out. I saw some floating with some dead floating plants and assumed a fly somehow got in during winter, preferred the rotting veg to my trash can, and laid eggs. So I scooped them out of the one tank and fed them to my hungry loaches in the other, lol…I showed those maggots! But they weren’t maggots.

After the initial horror (flies are fine and needed creatures, also valuable food for fish…but I don’t want a bunch hatching in my apt) I was sitting in the fish room, looked over at my tank and saw this in the pic below (orange circle)

That weird little bundle of vegetation then started to move! A little head came out and it was dragging itself downward. OK, maggots don’t make cocoons out of plants and they drown…what the hell was in my tank? I obviously missed a bunch of them because they hide in cocoons made out of the plants in the tank…sneaky. I needed to know so got into research mode.

After researching cocooning larvae of ponds and only coming up with caddis fly, they have similar cocooning behavior,  I was frustrated…because the larvae of everything else does not look like these guys.

My friend Steph came over and I was talking about these (she loves AP stuff) so we pulled one out to show her what was inside the cocoons. The bug inside was no longer maggot like, it was a small, green caterpillar!  An aquatic caterpillar.  That’s when I finally typed that phrase into Google. Follow the link here to see the web page…to much to copy/paste.

Their pic in the upper right is a great close up of what was in my tank, and the first picture I saw that matched. These guys can also stay in the larval stage up to a couple months (over winter), are found in CA, and do the plant cocoon behaviour.  CA is important because that’s where my floating plants shipped from, they must have hitched a ride.

This morning while having coffee in the fish room I saw this guy on the tank glass. It took me forever to get this pic with my phone…he is only about half the size of a dime and extremely hard to focus on.

One must have hatched last night and climbed up. They need to wait for their wings to dry before flying. I’m allowing them to hatch as there only a handfull left after my mass murdering of them. Plus, the adults rarely feed (only on plant nectar if at all) and most live only a day. Plus, they tend to not leave aquatic areas…so I suspect I’ll see them fluttering around the junglely pond that is the fish room.

It constantly amazes me what kind of life you can find in water, the water in you own apartment. These will most likely become fish food as the rest hatch over the next few days/weeks and will then be gone…unless they manage mate…but there are so few I doubt they will.

Thanks for reading about my curious visitors, stay tuned in the coming weeks as I finish up my veggie highlights and also introduce some new videos on bell siphons I’m building for the new filter boxes on the 55 gallon rectangle.

True Blue Aquaponics has a Greenhouse Up!

Ahhhhh, the gray skies of Seattle in the background and the cold, wet mud in the foreground, LOL! So it isn’t the prettiest picture…but fall has brought the erection (take a moment to chuckle) of a greenhouse in Alex’s back yard.

True Blue plans to use this greenhouse for an active veggie & fish farm, an experimental space to try new ways of doing AP & as a class space to teach. All the credit goes to Alex for the build out. He has found some great ways to use recycled materials (door, frame, pallets for compost, etc) to build inside and out. I’ll be joining Alex in his work as time from Bourgeoisie permits. I’m excited to get a shovel in the ground.

Here is the beginning of the “tank” for the fish. It is about 2 feet across and a brick wall will extend up the sides to form a wall…maybe a foot and a half to 2 feet high. Alex isn’t sure and we have to see as we go. Fish will be here with plans to have grow beds directly over the top to drain in.

That’s Alex, super proud in his new greenhouse! Behind him you see a blue container. That is his worm compost bin. The tan part of the back wall behind that are a series of three compost bins that we are hoping will help to warm the greenhouse. Alex has a lot of experience with compost and says they can get up to 140F when they are decomposing. All 3 bins are outside the greenhouse, but have plastic covering the tops and tilting up into the greenhouse to vent warm air into it.

These are old food barrels he got a hold of. These (plus 4 others) will be cut and used for fish tanks/growbeds on this side of the greenhouse for experimental purposes, to see what improvements we might be able to do with AP.

Here is an outside shot of the series of compost bins. Obviously the building phase is not complete, but Alex has ingenuously made all three outside walls (pallets) on hinges and with sliding bolts, for ease of shoveling The end product in the last bin will be spread throughout his amazing yard and garden.

I’m not sure how long the rest of the build out will take, but we can’t to see the end product!
If you have any questions, want to take classes, need an installation  or simply would like to donate time/materials please email us at alex@trueblueaquaponics or ricky@trueblueaquaponics.

Slight Deviation from AP – Let’s Talk Supporting Others in Need

 

Just a quick post to all my fans, especially in the PNW, about a passion of mine. Get Hitched, Give Hope is close to my heart. The events, the people who run it, the volunteers. They all do amazing things to help others and put on one hell of a show every year. To quote their website;

“Get Hitched Give Hope’s mission is to bring the community together through niche events like our annual bridal auction gala while raising money for a great cause.

Get Hitched Give Hope is proudly powered 100% by volunteers in order to maximize donations to our beneficiaries. Board members, team members, designers, performers, and event staff have donated an endless amount of hours, services, and products to make GHGH’s mission a reality.”

There are only 3 days left to buy a ticket to attend. Come bid on dresses, flowers, pastries, classes…yes, I’m on auction for my cooking classes…among many other fabulous things for you, while raising money to help others. Not in the PNW? You can donate to help the cause as well. Find them on FB here & Twitter here to follow along all year for smaller events (I’m on the fun-draising committee) and for the big event every fall/winter.

Thanks for reading and donating!

BE A GIVER!!!!!

Chef Ricky

 

Veggie Highlight – Poblano Peppers

The poblano pepper. So happy to have a few of these growing in my system. These peppers are so delicious and versatile. Sauted, stuffed, roasted, dried or added to sauces (mole, yummm) these peppers are a great addition to any kitchen.

Slow to grow from seed, these plants take about 200 days to fruit. So no peppers this winter…but maybe this spring, lol. So far these guys are enjoying the system really well, the one in the pic above is the largest and fastest growing right now.

A little more detailed information below:

The poblano is a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico. Dried, it is called a chile ancho (“wide chile”). The ripened red poblano is significantly hotter and more flavorful than the less ripe, green poblano. While poblanos tend to have a mild flavor, occasionally and unpredictably, they can have significant heat. Different peppers from the same plant have been reported to vary substantially in heat intensity. A closely related variety is the mulato, which is darker in color, sweeter in flavor and softer in texture.

One of the most popular peppers grown in Mexico, the bush (of the species Capsicum annuum) is multi-stemmed and can reach 25 inches (0.64 m) in height. The fruit is 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15 cm) long and 2 to 3 inches (5.1 to 7.6 cm) wide. An immature poblano is dark purplish green in color, but the mature fruits eventually turn a red so dark as to be nearly black. Poblanos grow in zones 10–12 and do best with a soil pH between 7.0 and 8.5. Poblanos typically prefer full sunlight and may require additional support for the growing fruits during harvest in late summer. A poblano takes around 200 days from seed to harvest and requires soil temperatures of at least 64 °F (18 °C) to germinate.

Preparation methods include: dried, coated in whipped egg (capeado) and fried, stuffed, or in mole sauces. It is particularly popular during the Mexican independence festivities as part of a dish called chiles en nogada, which incorporates green, white and red ingredients corresponding to the colors of the Mexican flag. This may be considered one of Mexico’s most symbolic dishes by its nationals. It is also usually used in the widely found dish chile relleno. Poblanos are popular in the United States and can be found in grocery stores in the states bordering Mexico and in urban areas. After being roasted and peeled (which improves the texture by removing the waxy skin), poblano peppers are preserved by either canning or freezing. Storing them in airtight containers keeps them for several months. When dried, the poblano becomes a broad, flat, heart-shaped pod called an ancho chile (meaning “wide” in Spanish); from this form, it is often ground into a powder used as flavoring in various dishes. “Poblano” is also the word for an inhabitant of Puebla, and mole poblano refers to the spicy chocolate chili sauce originating in Puebla.

I didn’t know that the heat levels varied depending on when they picked! Love little details like this. Anchos are one of my favorite to use for my from scratch chile paste marinade …plus a couple chipotles

Pictures and updates to come…but the tomatoes vines are starting to fail. Light is the issue…and powdery mildew is beginning to form. The vines will be removes soon, and some sprouts rearranged. I’ll keep you updated on nitrate levels and see if some additional houseplants need to be added for additional uptake.