Amonia (undiluted left)

Nitrite (1/50 center)

Nitrate(1/20 right)

The farm is cycling ! since the 16th nitrites have appeared and since the 22nd, nitrates have made their appearance, and are seriously increasing since yesterday! This means that in less than 2 weeks, beneficial bacteria became able to start the process of nitrification, and the pH is starting to drop, wich is another sign that the nitrification is happening. Ammonia by the way, have disappeared since the 27th ! Today, there is still a great deal of nitrite. which mean that the water would not be safe yet to introduce fish.











The kit I am using to measure the different nitrogen forms is color coded, and as i explained in my previous post, i wanted to find a way that would be more reliable than eyes to evaluate the concentration (corresponding color on the chart). The website I have use to try to achieve that does not work as well as I hoped. This may be due to the fact that I am not able to produce standards of known concentration to input into the on-line free-ware  (but if I could do that I may feel confident of using my eyes to judge the color). This is still a quit cool attempt to replace a tool like a spectrophotometer.

Green onion, bok choy and the rosemary (in dirt)

Anyway my all point here is that the numbers dont add up, I have not added any ammonia to the system (past the day I removed the egg shells - realizing that they released a lot of it) and while the ammonia measurement did not seem to go over 20 ppm (I have diluted these 1:10), the color suggest that there is now 160 ppm of nitrate. Also, I have diluted the sample from the system when the colors develop in the darker range of the chart, so I do not over estimate the concentrations.
It is also possible that eggshells that may have fallen through the netting of the sock have kept releasing protein - hence ammonia- into the system.

More green onion, parsley and on top, the bell pepper

On the actual plants side: the parsley is doing well (better that the one potted in poting mix), the "saved" green onions are growing away and the bok choy as well. I also transplanted some bell pepper that grew in the my avocado pot (not exactly sure where theyre coming from - but most likely from the worm compost). The only thing that does not do well (as is pretty much dead) is the basil and the 2 roquettes that i planted (probably 2 early). I am wondering if the nitrite is responsible for that or if i damaged the roots of the basil too much...

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On the downward slide....
As much as I love rugging up & getting comfy on the lounge with the family I really am a Lizard at heart...
Have had a few mornings at 0°C or below without to much damage to the Veggie patch...
**Knocks on wood**
Only a month & a half to go before I can start to thaw out...
Potato Harvest...
I have been dying to get into the potato bags & in a weak moment the other day we emptied one....

Not the biggest harvest but they were the best tasting spuds we have grown... They went down well in a Chook, Mushroom & kohlrabi casserole...
The rest of the bags are being left as I fear we havent been keeping the water up to them enough for the spuds to mature properly... That has been rectified now as they have been fed with some worm cast tea & now will be watered every second day...

In the patch...
Not much has gone on in the patch except for harvesting the Snow & Sugar snap peas as well as the purple Kohlrabi & other assorted leaf veggies...
A clip from the 4th of July with a catch up on the beans, Beetroot & some more Carrots...

Left is a shot of the tiny Mushrooms from the Video as of yesterday... The Peat is starting to look a bit feral with some green mould moving in so I think it will be retired & we shall chalk up the $ lost as part of the learning curve...The other box hasnt produced any fungus as of yet even though we have been keeping a close eye on it...

     The black worm farm still hasnt been harvested as of yet... We should get around to it next weekend I think... Will be able to use the "Handy Dandy" Worm Harvester on it hopefully as this batch is a bit dryer than the last few... Right is a shot of todays pickings, just under 800grams of Sugarsnap peas a few carrots we are going to blanch & freeze...

Aquaponics... 

We made a start on the Barrelponics system on Monday...

Left The main frame for the bench is made from a frame of an old lounge, bits from a recycled futon lounge  along with some recycled timber & bolts... Right  One ½ barrel was found i a park after the January floods & the other was purchased at a 2nd hand store for $4... The black barrel  was bought from a local Produce supply store...
Koo has had heaps of fun helping with the build... The girls are using the Barrelponics as part of their science lessons so that should be fun...

Very annoyed with myself we the stuff up & will definitely be erring on the side of caution from now on... Feel really bad for what happened to the fish....
Thats abooot it for now so Have a great one all...
: )»

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