As my Montonegra winter renter always says "different question".  He is 92.  Here is my different question, What does sustainability mean to you and what are you doing to bring it to fruition ?  This morning while collecting soursop fruit under the tree I had an epiphany ( a moment of sudden revelation or insight).  "Sustainability is happening at my farm."

I am raising chickens both for the meat and for eggs.  This sustains me but I must somehow sustain the chickens.  I am raising…

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A while  back I read a blog on this site called "What I Learned After The Storm".  These words still ring in my mind "learn to grow 50 things people do not know are edible".  I have repeated this often to people and to people who tour the farm.  They have deep meaning to me.  Permaculture says "a weed is just a plant in the wrong place.  I have learned to grow many things people do  not know are edible.  I am not doing it to keep people from crashing my gates but to share with everyone what…

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Aloha everyone fronm the  land of paradise.  Everyone may not think it is paradise but to me it has been paradise since 1964 when my feet first toched Hawaiian soil.  I can remember almost 60 years later the very feeling I had when I stepped down from the airplane "My soul said you are home".  I left once for an extended period of time and regreted it for a lot of reasons.  One my health went to pot (deterioated) but most of all I mourned for 14 years for Hawaiil.  When I returned in 1998 my…

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Sounds like a strange name doesn't it?  Actually it was a really big food thing combined with a sustainability event.  We were given the honor of having a booth at this event.  I t cost us $30.00 but that is because we were friends of the people who put it on.  We took 4 of our small systems and a solar generator.  We almost couldn't go because we had no source of electricity.  God at the last minute reminded me that my friend had a solar generator with a battery.  I knew she didn't like to…

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Aloha eveyone

This is an update to my last blog about waiting.  I told you that I ended up getting the cinder blocks for 50 cents Well the price is now down to 50 cents.  I go to pay for them tomorrow before he owes me. Dave is the guy whotold me about how Cuba survived the last 40 years or so, with our embargo and the fall of the soviets.  He told me about the movie on You tube.  I watched it and was amazed. There was this guy named Roberto moderating the movie and explaining all the…

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I looked up the origin of this phrase and found it really isn't known but someone used it in a poem but the last line was that it comes to late.  I want to tell you of a story that the waiting pais off big time.  Kirsten (this site) is my partner in crime for looking for all things aquaponic.  We have been waiting together for quite some time for things that are economical.  I have wanted hallow tile blocks for almost 1 year now.  I need to raise my original troughs off the ground.  I want…

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That was what Kirsten and I told the participants in our class at the Honolulu Board of Water Supply on the 28th of April.  We told them that Earth Day was the 22 of April but we felt we all should honor the earth every day.  We had given a class on Economical Aquaponics for World Water day.  We were so well received that they had a spill over crowd and we gave another class on the 28th. Mostly the participants are an over 40 group who are very excited about aquaponics.  Some have started…

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The first thing I want to say is You people who grow in the winter are fabulous.  I couldn't pull it off.  I think about you (seriously) when I am out complaining about the hot sun and the lack of rain.  We got our first rain in 10 months the other night. Hallelujah It was about an inch.  I live on the dry side of Oahu.  I am so impressed when I read what all of you are doing.  It makes me believe that this movement is here to stay.  Keep it up we need everyone of you. 

Things here on…

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I guess it is about time for some Hallelujahs and Thank You Jesus for this year that has almost passed.  There is so much to be thankful for.  First, I have a crew of 4 wonderful hard working WWOOFers living here.  They will stay at least 3 months which makes it really good.  You don't have to constantly retrain.  Tales is from Brazil and he is a biologist and loves the aquaponics.  I can trust him to take care of the fish ,  His friend Sandro is from Brazil also.  He has cleared all the…

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Aloha All

David H said we haven't read our thankful posts we wrote in 2010 so I thought we should post our 2011 thoughts on thankfulness.  I have wanted to write a blog on how I feel for some time but never seem to get the time to do it.  I want to say that I am very thankful this Thanksgiving for many things,

I reached my 71 st year if life this month and discounting a few aches and pains am halthy.  I do wish my body felt as young as my mind.  I have the most wonderful…

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The party is over, the house keepers have cleaned all rooms, and new people have taken the rooms we occupied. A new conference is scheduled to take the places where we met.  I sat up the other night after all had quieted down and I couldn't sleepand wrote this but my computer wiped it out. .  The adreneline level was high even if I can't spell it. Now my  levels have quieted down but my feelings are still the same.  We just pulled off a miracle.  We need to stand up and shout MAHALO…

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I came home from work this afternoon totally exhausted.  I have to do all the chores before I can consider lying down.  Dogs to feed, cat to feed, two pot bellied pigs to feed just to name a few things.  I have to run to the neighbors and pick up compost material, some one is coming at 630 pm to get some duckweed Oh and I forgot 19 tanks of fish to feed along with 4 nets of fry to feed.  All pumps have to be checked as well as all water levels, look at the plants and see how they are…

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It is uncanny that on a day that I set about to make my fish happier that the thing about PETA should come up.  I thought I would add to the comments on the PETA forum but I don't want to give them the time of day.  I want to talk about my fish.  We have all this about plants, pictures of how well our vegetables are doing and very little about the fish.  I love my fish and I have a desire for them to be comfortable and normal as I said once before.  If you saw my video on Matt's Miracle you…

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I was reading the blog by Kobus about marketing.  I was trying to visualize what I wanted to market anyway.  I spent 10 years selling the fruits from my trees to the flea market here in Hawaii.  I suffer from severe  burn out from people trying to get my produce for less than nothing.  The thought of having to go out and sell my vegetables and fish makes me want to run away.  Every time someone comes and asks me what am I going to do with the fruit of my labor I am lost.  Yet when I get to…

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This evening as I was finishing up my work on the aquaponics and feeding tthe fish for the evening I was over come by the feeling of being BLESSED.  So since the new year is about to start I think it is a good time to think back and see how much we have been blessed by different things that have happened in our life this year.  I have been especially blessed in the Aquapoincs realm.  I have been totally blessed in finding this site not too long after Sylvia started it.  I…

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I was very excited a couple of weeks ago to see these tiny little sparkling fish in amongst the guppy babies. I hastened to get them out and into a small aquarium in my house. They big Tilipia will consume them quickly. Over the last 2 weeks I probably have saved around 200 babies. I am excited about this because my only source of baby Tilipia wants $1.00 per fingerling. I just told him no way. He had been charging $.50 but decided he wanted more. If I can raise my own I am just that much… Continue

I have been told that if my leaves are yellow I need to add iron to my system. Does anyone know how to get proper iron that won't harm the fish. My fish are healthy and water is good but my leaves are yellow. My systems are after the Friendly Aquaponics people in Hawaii. I am going to tell them about your site, I took a 4 day class last year and am going back in April. I know though the more info I can get the more successful I will become. I already have people wanting to learn about it. I am… Continue