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.

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.

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.

* 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…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.

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.

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

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.

The pond. Life is everywhere. In the mud, in the water column,  on the debris, under the floating plants and on top of them.

I’ve already posted some pictures about this tank. I want to breed floating plants & shrimp to feed my other tanks. Yesterday my floating plants arrived. Three kinds of duckweed and azolla…a fun little fern that lives symbiotically with cyano bacteria and can fix nitrogen from the air. I was so happy to get them and plopped them right into the tank, which I was finely convinced had matured nicely. I wasn’t so sure of its progress until I was adjusting the hose and felt the familiar slipperiness of bacteria growing a slime coat on everything.

Yesterday morning I also noticed some life in the tank that I couldn’t see before! I had to look up a few of these little bioindicaters because I had never seen them in a tank. Some short descriptions from various sources follow each picture.

This picture courtesy of Biodiversity Snapshots. It was such a good picture of this miniscule creature, my camera just gets little dots that are blurry. These guys scuttle along the bottom and swim lazily in the water feeding on detriment.

From my dear friend Wiki, the Pedia:

Ostracods are a class of the Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 65,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant) have been identified, grouped into several orders. They are small crustaceans, typically around 1 millimetre (0.04 in) in size, but varying from 0.2 millimetres (0.008 in) to 30 mm (1.2 in) in the case of Gigantocypris. Their bodies are flattened from side to side and protected by a bivalve-like, chitinous or calcareous valve or “shell”. The hinge of the two valves is in the upper (dorsal) region of the body. Ostracods are grouped together based on gross morphology, but the group may not be monophyletic; their molecular phylogeny remains ambiguous.

Ecologically, marine ostracods can be part of the zooplankton or (most commonly) they are part of the benthos, living on or inside the upper layer of the sea floor. Many ostracods, especially the Podocopida, are also found in fresh water and terrestrial species of Mesocypris are known from humid forest soils of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. They have a wide range of diets, and the group includes carnivores, herbivores, scavengers and filter feeders.

I seriously can’t get over how cute these little guys are…all stuffed up inside their shell, just legs and antennae out. Check out the diagram of them on the wikipedia link, fascinating. What else do I love? Free food growing for my fish. These are a great size for any of my smaller fish and larger fry. I’m sure they already exist in my other tanks…but in hiding or smaller populations as fish love them.

This picture, from infectiouslandscapes.org, is a close up a copepod, particularly one known as cyclops. There are all kinds of copepods, most are very small, and they are quiet common in freshwater everywhere. Even from our sinks. The adults are visible to the naked eye as these little, jittery creatures swimming in short bursts in the water column. According to wikipedia:

” Cyclops is one of the most common genera of freshwater copepods, comprising over 400 species .The name Cyclops comes from the Cyclops of Greek mythology which shares the quality of having a single large eye, which may be either red or black in Cyclops.

Cyclops individuals may range from ½–5 mm long and are clearly divided into two sections. The broadly oval front section comprises the head and the first five thoracic segments. The hind part is considerably slimmer and is made up of the sixth thoracic segment and the four legless pleonic segments. Two caudal appendages project from the rear. Although they may be difficult to observe, Cyclops has five pairs of legs. The long first antennae are used by the males for gripping the females during mating. Afterwards, the female carries the eggs in two small sacs on her body. The larvae, or nauplii, are free-swimming and unsegmented.

Cyclops has a cosmopolitan distribution in fresh water, but is less frequent in brackish water. It lives along the plant-covered banks of stagnant and slow-flowing bodies of water, where it feeds on small fragments of plant material, animals or carrion. Cyclops has the capacity to survive unsuitable conditions by forming a cloak of slime.”

Discovered these little guys came with the plants. Commonly called “scuds” these little shrimp-like crustaceans are now all over my tank AND a great source of food for my other fish. This guy is bright white…mine are yellowish green. Photo & info below from Wikipedia:

” Hyalella azteca is a widespread and abundant species of amphipod crustacean in North America. It reaches 3–8 mm (0.12–0.31 in) long, and is found in a range of fresh and brackish waters. It feeds on algae and diatoms and is a major food of waterfowl. Hyalella azteca grows to a length of 3–8 millimetres (0.12–0.31 in), with males being larger than females. Their colour is variable, but the most frequent hues are white, green and brown.”

These are like mini versions of ghost shrimp in terms of tank usefulness. They swim around into nooks and crannies cleaning everything by eating all the dead plants/animals.

These are all the identified and visible ones. I have a new species of freshwater snail I haven’t seen before, as well as a few insects who are living on top of the plants. Maybe more aphids…maybe some fungus gnats. There are too few and they are too small to tell right now.

The next few weeks will be watching the tank for growth of plants/animals and seeing how much I can actually feed my other tanks with this size…I might have to get a 50 gallon, LOL. I’ll also be collecting ghost shrimp when I can to start the breeding in this tank.

I really like the idea of doing AP for my AP tanks…it all just fits together so nicely Below is a recap video of the tan, enjoy.

Youtube is being cranky and won’t let the embed code work, LOL, please follow this link instead

To start, I know the purple bubble is funny…but I’m playing with a new app on my tablet

That being said, we have avocado growth! I noticed the pit splitting, which is supposed to be indicative of a root or sprout…so I got curious and lifted it up. There it was, not fully emerged yet,  but a completely visible tap root.

Oh the avocado! Now…I realize that this must become a big tree and needs lots of light to fruit. Which means this probably won’t in the PNW, but just to have one growing has huge potential for out of season, local avocados.

I use them in salads, guac, soups, dressings, sandwiches or just sliced with other veggies. So delicious and soooooo good for you. Let’s take a look at what the internet has to offer on deeper info…

I do love wikipedia…
The avocado (Persea americana) is a tree native to Central Mexico, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel. Avocado or alligator pear also refers to the fruit (botanically a large berry that contains a single seed) of the tree. Avocados are commercially valuable and are cultivated in tropical and Mediterranean climates throughout the world. They have a green-skinned, fleshy body that may be pear-shaped, egg-shaped, or spherical, and ripens after harvesting. Trees are partially self-pollinating and often are propagated through grafting to maintain a predictable quality and quantity of the fruit.

Facts I love – they are technically a berry and are self pollinating

Avocado seedling

The tree grows to 20 m (66 ft) 66 ft!? I’m going to need a bigger room, tank, fish….., with alternately arranged leaves 12 centimetres (4.7 in) – 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long. The flowers are inconspicuous, greenish-yellow, 5 millimetres (0.2 in) – 10 millimetres (0.4 in) wide. The pear-shaped fruit is 7 centimetres (2.8 in) – 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long, weighs between 100 grams (3.5 oz) – 1,000 grams (35 oz), and has a large central seed, 5 centimetres (2.0 in) – 6.4 centimetres (2.5 in) long. [13]

The subtropical species needs a climate without frost and with little wind. High winds reduce the humidity, dehydrate the flowers, and affect pollination. When even a mild frost occurs, premature fruit drop may occur, although the Hass cultivar can tolerate temperatures down to −1°C. The trees also need well-aerated soils, ideally more than 1 m deep. Yield is reduced when the irrigation water is highly saline.

Some quick nutritional facts about avocados from WebMD… Avocados are a good source of fiber, potassium, and vitamins C,K, folate, and B6. Half an avocado has 160 calories, 15 grams of heart-healthy unsaturated fat, and only 2 grams saturated fat. One globe contains more than one-third daily value of vitamin C, and more than half the day’s requirements of vitamin K.

Despite the lack of potential for fruiting, I adore the potential for a plant that can suck up nitrates during the off months.

Onto a not so pleasant topic, APHIDS!

Nasty little guys. Well, needed in the circle of life outdoors…absolutely! Ants farm them, lady bugs eat them and certain wasps need them to breed their parasitic young. Inside however…nightmare.

This was a filter I built for my friend Frankie a year ago. Lava rocks and plants. He had it in a 20 gallon AP tank. This past spring he transferred it to an outdoor water feature growing the buttercup on top and some water lilies floating in the pond part. There were also goldfish and snails happening and it was a gorgeous, natural pond. Winter is coming and Frankie doesn’t want the water feature next year…so he gave me back the filter and a free 20 gallon with all the parts I needed. In a previous post I mentioned using all these to set up a tank that would become a tank to grow duckweed, least duckweed, azolla & shrimp to feed my other tanks.

A couple days into setting it up I noticed small…very small…creatures crawling on the glass globe. I expected some foreign critters having gotten a filter from outside. I thought they were tiny spiders, which I was OK with. Then I noticed some bigger ones and reaked out! There were aphids in my garden room!

The castle could be under attack! LOL….it wasn’t that dramatic, but I was worried about migration to the rest of the room. I couldn’t release lady bugs…that would just be a different infestation. I can’t spray…that could throw off the eco system. So it was going to be drowning and protective planting. The closest migratory spot they might like is the big tank against the window…I got some sage planted in there, which they apparently don’t like. I’m also going to get some garlic in there soon.

Drowning. Aphids can’t live in water, and tons of rain slows there movement. Luckily there had been a glass globe with wet sides and a moat of water between them and other plants the whole time. I removed the whole filter and dunked it in a container of dechlorinated water deep enough to cover everything. You wouldn’t believe the amount of unseen aphids that came floating to the top! The surface of the water was COVERED. Thank goodness they float! Down the drain they went. Refill the container & a second drowning was underway. I left a lid on the container, did the same process to the other floating plants in the tank and went to work.

Home that night to find the last of the drowned aphids. I also decided it was a good time to remove the plants, rinse thoroughly, and repot in hydroton.

The tank now looks like this. No aphids and clearer water…found the cause when repotting. The plant was in a mud/silt center…so I rinsed most of that away. The tank is clearer, bacteria are proliferating & I’m on the constant watch for stragglers. I have only seen two so far and they have been eradicated immediately.

My shipment of floating plants are on the way, snails are propagating, and soon I’ll get some shrimp in there to start breeding. Can’t wait to see how the other fish take to fresh food!

Rosemary, a truly wonderful herb for so many applications. Pictured above are two twigs from my friends garden. I was so happy that they took root in early fall, and have gained about an inch of growth since. So far they seem to enjoy the aquaponics set up.

Rosemary is known for being distinctive and yummy in chicken and with potatoes…but there are so many more culinary applications! Did you know it goes well with pumpkin? In both sweet & savory applications! One of my favorite things with rosemary is to let a few leaves soak overnight with chopped rhubarb, honey & a dash of kosher salt. It makes for an extraordinary salad! 

My old friend wikipedia says:

Rosmarinus officinalis, commonly known as rosemary, is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which includes many other herbs. The name “rosemary” derives from the Latin for “dew” (ros) and “sea” (marinus), or “dew of the sea”, because in many locations, it needs no water other than the humidity carried by the sea breeze to live. The plant is also sometimes called anthos, from the ancient Greek word νθος, meaning “flower”.

Rosemary is used as a decorative plant in gardens and has many culinary and medical uses. The plant is said to improve the memory. The leaves are used to flavor various foods, such as stuffings and roast meats.

Since it is attractive and drought tolerant, rosemary is used as an ornamental plant in gardens and for xeriscape landscaping, especially in regions of Mediterranean climate. It is considered easy to grow and pest-resistant. Rosemary can grow quite large and retain attractiveness for many years, can be pruned into formal shapes and low hedges, and has been used for topiary. It is easily grown in pots. The groundcover cultivars spread widely, with a dense and durable texture. Rosemary grows on friable loam soil with good drainage in an open, sunny position. It will not withstand waterlogging and some varieties are susceptible to frost. It grows best in neutral to alkaline conditions (pH 7–7.8) with average fertility. It can be propagated from an existing plant by clipping a shoot (from a soft new growth) 10–15 cm (4–6 in) long, stripping a few leaves from the bottom, and planting it directly into soil.

“Not withstand water logging?” Generally water logging means O2 is being blocked from the roots by water. In my system water is always flowing and gas exchange can occur…so dissolved O2 levels tend to be high. It has rooted and is growing so far, so I think I’m in the clear.

I also love that in some regions it only needs the dew from the sea…how amazing!

Rosemary has been used for years in both culinary and medicine….treating everything from ulcers to memory problems. I’ll probably just continue to put it in my stuffing I’m looking forward to a bountiful bush of rosemary this coming spring. Thanks for reading, see you at the next highlight.