The Yardstead

After submitting the article for raising catfish in a barrel, I decided to go to youtube and look for some videos on small fish farming.  I found aquaponics.  Aquaponics is the cultivation of fish and plants in a recirculating system.  Essentially you have a tank to hold your fish and you pump the water into hydroponic beds to grow vegetables.  Then the water is pumped back into your fish tank.  The plants clean the water of nutrients that the fish provide through their waste products.  In an ideal situation the most you add to the system after set-up is fish food for the fish and approximately once a month a dose of chelated iron for the plants.  As you harvest your plants, you can plant more to continue to use the fish waste as nutrients.

I plan to do more research on this topic and then start one of my own.  I hope to find most of the materials for free.  As usual I will be sure to take pictures and give some progress reports as I go.  I will also write a more detailed article on aquaponics as soon as I learn more and start our system.