Peter Ward
04-11-2010, 05:11 PM
G'day. I have no idea how these threads work, so here goes.
Until a few years ago my late wife and I were attempting to develop a small property in rural SA along permaculture lines, but accepting the discipline of staying within its 320mm annual rainfall. I recently moved to Nairne, SA, with more rain but a lot less land (900m2). I've set a goal of producing one tonne of produce annually. A large part of that will come from new fruit trees, but I'm starting to get the hang of planning a veggie garden to complement the small supply of eggs I get from my 3 chickens.
When I moved from the country I found a new home for the geese I had used for grazing, but brought with me 2 male runner ducks and a couple of female Cayugas for snail and slug control and also as a manuring strategy. The new setting obviously suits them, and I have just been presented with 2 broods each of 10 ducklings, a somewhat embarrassing amount of poultry for a small block. I assume there is a spot somewhere on the forum site for posting a notice advertising their availability.
The other main feature of the project is a simplified aquaponics system. In an unused part of the front garden I've dug an ornamental pond (around 2.5m wide and 1m deep) and stocked it with 60 rainbow trout. The water circulates through a gravel bed for bio-filtration, but instead of growing productive plants in that (as in a "proper", closed aquaponics system) I have left it more as an ornamental feature and my son, James, who is probably known to some of you, calculated the flush rate I need to maintain suitable water quality - about 60-80L/day. That amount drains courtesy of a very small fall on the block to the back garden where I move a hose around to water and fertilise the fruit trees and veggies. A bit of a work in progress, but the first part - the fish - is going well and should be ready for culling around the new year. The second part - the 60L flush - should prove itself in the coming summer.
That's probably enough from me. If you'd like to talk ducks or aquaponics, my number is (08) 8188 0201.
Cheers, Peter Ward
Until a few years ago my late wife and I were attempting to develop a small property in rural SA along permaculture lines, but accepting the discipline of staying within its 320mm annual rainfall. I recently moved to Nairne, SA, with more rain but a lot less land (900m2). I've set a goal of producing one tonne of produce annually. A large part of that will come from new fruit trees, but I'm starting to get the hang of planning a veggie garden to complement the small supply of eggs I get from my 3 chickens.
When I moved from the country I found a new home for the geese I had used for grazing, but brought with me 2 male runner ducks and a couple of female Cayugas for snail and slug control and also as a manuring strategy. The new setting obviously suits them, and I have just been presented with 2 broods each of 10 ducklings, a somewhat embarrassing amount of poultry for a small block. I assume there is a spot somewhere on the forum site for posting a notice advertising their availability.
The other main feature of the project is a simplified aquaponics system. In an unused part of the front garden I've dug an ornamental pond (around 2.5m wide and 1m deep) and stocked it with 60 rainbow trout. The water circulates through a gravel bed for bio-filtration, but instead of growing productive plants in that (as in a "proper", closed aquaponics system) I have left it more as an ornamental feature and my son, James, who is probably known to some of you, calculated the flush rate I need to maintain suitable water quality - about 60-80L/day. That amount drains courtesy of a very small fall on the block to the back garden where I move a hose around to water and fertilise the fruit trees and veggies. A bit of a work in progress, but the first part - the fish - is going well and should be ready for culling around the new year. The second part - the 60L flush - should prove itself in the coming summer.
That's probably enough from me. If you'd like to talk ducks or aquaponics, my number is (08) 8188 0201.
Cheers, Peter Ward