Chicks Dig Scars » Aquaponics

Refilwe – pics

emile — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:56:29 +0000

Some more pics of Refilwe and their setup:

Donated: 3x3m corner posts, 44 x 3m Y-std's and some long treated poles

Donated: Standard high pressure water pipe, I think over 50m, not sure.

Fish farm / vegetable enclosure. Dams will be somewhere to the left, with the earth worm farm to the far left. Front and right are vegetable beds being constructed and filled with compost.

Beds are filled with grass and cardboard and then topped up with organic compost.

Thoughts and other things on Thursday

emile — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:09:44 +0000

Wow, what an eventful, fun filled and absolutely tiring day! I had some prawns last night, which led to deep conversations with George during the night.

When I got to work this morning I could hardly speak so the boss was kind enough to let me go feel sorry for myself elsewhere. Freedom!!

A cosy morning in bed and then back to work. I decided to not wait until Saturday to move the remaining stuff to Refilwe, but rather get it done this afternoon – pics to follow. My storage requirement is rapidly shrinking – woohooo! I’ve also seen the progress the guys are making and listened to James talking to the volunteers: they are serious about a self sustaining organic environment – I’m so excited to be able to witness the evolution of their project.

I have placed my bets and I’m now absolutely certain it was the best thing I could have done with the equipment. Sure, I could have sold it and probably bought myself a plane ticket to Europe or somewhere else I want to go, but it would have been a tedious and drawn out process with little satisfaction. I KNOW I’ll be going back to visit these people again and again, and seeing my small contribution grow into something more than the sum of the parts will be priceless.

However, the night, not eating and the hard work caught up with me, so I let my inner girl out and soaked in a hot tub… but only after making food fit for a king – a weird mix of mince, pasta and stewing sauce. Awesome!!

The weekend is looking good too: spoiled for choice of entertainment and company tomorrow night. An almost errand free Saturday, followed by more difficult decisions regarding which excellent entertainment offerings to peruse…. Life’s tough! Muahahahahaha!

PS: The girl in the pic looks tired, like me, so that’s the reason for the pic. Promise.

Update: Aquaponics / fish farm project

emile — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:28:44 +0000

This past Saturday I dropped of the bulk of the equipment I’m donating to the Refilwe charity / community project. the guys have already setup a nice big shade net enclosure, sorting their worms and are busy setting up the vegetable garden. Setting up the dams, pumps etc will follow shortly.

A few odds and ends I still need to take through and then just tag along for the ride. It’s a beautiful spot, with the sound of running water from the stream nearby. Some pics below, more to follow as the project progresses:

And another one goes

emile — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:49:32 +0000

Another week unceremonially bit the dust.

It was a short one, but we’ll miss it no less.

After all it was a good little week, and all weeks go to heaven, I think.

The status report:

Wild-wild-outside:
Short holiday in the Freestate went well, no climbing done but got in PLENTY of sleep. Was worth it.

Projects:
Went to see Jaco from www.Refilwe.org, and we’ve got a partnership of sorts up & running. They’ll start preparing and let me know when I can drop of the equipment for our aquaponics project. I’ll stay involved and poke my nose in as much as I can, and try and come up with a manual of sorts. The idea is to get the fish farming up to speed and then slowly introduce the vegetable beds, adjusting as we go along.

BlogSale:
I’m desperately trying to organise shipping for the Draganflyer. Raul from Spain is a keen buyer, now I just need to deliver it… which is easier said than done, unless you’re willing to spend more than a plane ticket’s price on sending over a large suitcase weighing 12.5 kg. But we will persist, myself & I – I’m sure something suitable will pop up.

…and all the rest:
Then there’s the weekend. What to do, what to do. Hmmm. Got some climbing lined up with some friends. Then there’s the garage to clean out. And my “dumping room”. Eish. When that’s all done I may just have the space to start that elusive bouldering wall project. But I reckon it’ll go quick. Plenty time to play around

Time flies like an arrow

emile — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:03:10 +0000

and fruit flies like bananas.

Life’s been happening thick & fast this past week or two. I’m sorta settled in my new place, quite nice if I say so myself. Bit of a rush decision, but it worked out well in the end.

Moving from the smallholding means no more space for my aquaponics project, so I’ve decided to donate all the equipment to a school or organisation who will accept it, on condition that they use it specifically to set up an aquaponics system and allow me to participate in the project. Read the corny marketing thingy called “Teach a man to fish” for all the gory details.

I’ve sent it to my friend Pletterpet (he’s a member of Rotoract) as he reckons they may want to take me up on the offer – holding thumbs…. Elmarie is still very keen, so there’s an extra set of hands too.

The bouldering wall is on hold until I’ve sorted out the space issue in my garage, but it looks like I’ll be able to fit it in there. Not sure what the landlady will say, but I think if I keep it a freestanding structure as originally intended and not drill any holes, everyone will be happy.

The hangdoghas been neglected of late, but that will get sorted ASAP. There’s some climbs I’m aching to free

That’s it, I’m done.

….for now