Day 118

The nights are definitely getting longer and its getting much harder to get out to pick something after work and before dark.

But we are still getting produce from the patch.  It's really time to be pulling out the slow cooker and making those sort of dishes to warm you through but we are still experiencing the warmer days so its been a real hard thing to think of things to cook.  Winter vegetables and warm weather don't mix well.

Day 116

Another great "pick" from the patch today.  Much the same as yesterday with the addition of some spinach.

With some slow cooked chicken drumsticks, rice and wok tossed greens from the patch we were able to do Dinner tonight and Lunch tomorrow for under $6.  It's great knowing we are saving a heap on the vegetables and they are so much nicer and have 0 kilometres to travel to get to us which is helping reduce our carbon footprint.

Day 115

Another update and as you can see we have a lot growing.  I picked beans, pac choi, celery, chilli, coriander, a couple of very small carrots and some spring onion.  

And the meal we produced from it all.  The flavour of freshly picked and simply fast cooked greens is wonderful.   

I also did another youtube video which shows some of the Murray Cod and Rainbow Trout.  See it here.   Youtube

Day 111

Today I have for you a bit of a picture fest.  We did pick some beans for dinner and a heap of silver beet for the neighbour because we cant keep up with it but I wanted to show you some more pictures.

The first two are of a new "hot house" I found while we where on holiday recently.  Its basically 3 pieces of bamboo and some plastic.  Perfect for the grow beds especially when we have small seedlings in winter.  

A bit of a wide angle shot to show you just how well its all going now.   The grow beds are very full.  

Also while we were away we found another couple of "friends" for our daughters to put in the patch.

A dragon fly

And a fairy.

And last bu t not least, one of the heirloom seeds.  I have no idea what it is.  I think it maybe the Kohl rabi but cant be sure.  I am hoping it is because I love the stuff.  

Well thats another day in the patch with a few pics to show you.  We hope your enjoying the blog and feel free to pass it on to anyone you think maybe interested in aquaponics. 

Day 109

Beans and Broccoli was the pick tonight which was conducted in the dark.  Daylight savings has gone and by the time I get to pick it's night.  I think its time to invest in a head torch so I can see what i'm picking.  Nevertheless we still got a good pick and it was delicious.  

Day 108

Today's pick was a breakfast one.  Spinach, silver beet and chives.  These where wilted with butter and put on muffins with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce.  A perfect start to a Sunday.

Day 105

After writing yesterday's post I decided to go and search out just whats growing in the mixed seed grow bed.  Now that daylight saving has ended though it meant I was going to have to search by torchlight.  

This did however help me find many extra radishes that I had not previously seen.  They reflected brightly like warning signs in the night saying "pick me!"

I did find some carrot tops but not a lot else.  I'll have another look tomorrow and see if I can come up with some other things.  I might need to Google the stages of a swedes growth to see what I am looking for but for now... its radish eating time.

Day 104

I have a big dilemma.   I cant remember what I planted in the growbed that I mixed the seeds up in.  It's great to look around and hunt for something but when you cant remember what you planted then how can you look for it?

So I am glad to say I did a video of it and this is what I planted.  (see it here AP - Seeds - 310110)

Chives, Radish, Zucchini, Carrot, Beetroot, Cabbage, Dwarf beans, Leaks, Swede, Cucumbers, Broccoli and Silver beet.

So I know we have picked so far Radish and Beans.  I have noticed what I thought was spinach but its obviously Silver beet.  I will have to have a good look tomorrow for signs of the other things.

Also a lot of the Heirloom seeds are coming up.  A few new ones that I've never seen growing so again I am not sure what they are but time will tell.

Day 102

We're back.  We had an amazing holiday but the whole time we were away I wondered how the patch was going.

We had a relative kindly feed the fish while we were away and we offered a free for all on any produce they could eat but even with that I am still amazed at the amount that is in the grow beds.

The fish are doing very well and I netted a couple of the Murray Cod and they look very healthy.  I'll take some pictures tomorrow of them as I was running out of light now that daylight savings is over.

This is the difference in growth in 12 day of the seedlings from the last post.  We picked some of the baby pak choi tonight.

You can see how full it is looking here.  The beans and radishes are going full tilt in the background grow bed.  

Broccoli tree.

And the best part after just 12 days this is what we picked tonight.  Purple beans, Green Beans, Radish (2 varieties) Silver beet, Broccoli, Pak Choi, Beetroot, three Strawberries and Rhubarb.

Its a monster harvest.  and it's so fresh and organic.