Aquaponics Update

Well its been a few months, and I got to say its been pretty stable, had a pump die on me but have redundancy  built in so was no big deal.
As you can see the plants are doing great, they seam to favor that we are now in the cooler months and thriving.
 Most of whats growing was from seeds than I just dropped into the grow beds in no order or pattern.
the result is an amazing jungle assortment of plants.
My goldfish are double the size of when I placed them in.
no blockages or block bell siphon to report, water seams to be very clean and full of the right nutrients.
Plants Growing
Green Bell Peppers ( capsium)
Basil
Parsley
Cilantro ( Corrianda)
Tomatoes
Celery
Bok Choy
Strawberries
Mixed Lettuce
Peas

After trying several methods of food production I think Aquaponics is a must in garden growing.
If I had a yard I would concentrate on bigger and more Aquaponic systems than any other form.

Chook Died

Very Sad
one of my 2 chooks just suddenly died?
it was fine in the morning, fed them as usual in evening its laying on its side barley moving, little latter its dead.
The remaining chook is very distressed and seams to be missing his buddy.
Any advice on the cause.
Is it ok for one single chicken to be on its own!
could it have started its first egg which got stuck!
oh well thats nature but still dosent feel good!

Dehydrator

I purchased a Dehydrator, have wanted one for ages, as after reading up i think its a more preferred way to store dried food.
I was most interested in drying corn, carrots and strawberries which I loaded up on my 5 trays.
It went all night a total of 12 hours and its amazing how small it looks after its dried, the best of it is that all the nutrients are still there .
After drying some stuff I couldn't wait to try it, The Strawberries are like leathery to taste but flavor is awesome.
next a bowl of soup dropped the peas and carrots back into it and after about 3 mins you have perfectly good tasting veg,
Will be adding to my stored items with this new found skill, its a must have, smaller more compact packets and no additives.
Oh I forgot to mention I also got a vaccume sealer and bags to pack and store the things i dry.
Great resource for Dehydrating http://www.dehydrate2store.com/
and of course I got the Dehydrator and the vaccume sealer from my favorite place ebay.com

2 Trays of Strawberries 

Carrots, Corn and strawberries 

My 5 Tray Dehydrator

Vaccume sealed Strawberries

Chooks

I finally got My Chooks ( Chickens)
2 Silkie hens, I went for this type as they are more domesticated and because of their silkie feathers they are unable to fly.
I used a plastic fence mesh to cover any gaps on the balcony, then i let them loose.

First off they mad a mess every where and on a tiled floor it was hard to keep clean from chicken poop, and no matter how many times i placed a bowl inside a tray with food they would chuck it every where, so I decided that I would need to make a cage.

This was better but still very messy.

then after a little gardening and changing some pots over i thought of a great idea!

i used the end section of my balcony and placed a small wood coop about 2 meters from end and closed it all in, I also placed my worm bin on top to make it higher.

Then i just tipped soil all over the deck in the pen area. now when i feed them they make as much mess ass they want, and poop back into the soil so they have created a perfect compost pile with them doing all the work.

Now I will rotate the soil into my planters as i replant autumn and spring and place old soil back in pen, perfect.
I did leave some of the veggies in the pen area of which they destroyed the rhubarb leaves and my spring onions striped to soil, but dont ever touch Tomato, Basil , Rosemary or gooseberry plants.

all in all i am happy with the outcome and there is no smell and very little noise just the odd cluck