Happy Hippies build a farm!

[Darryl Martin]

Just closed on our little 5 acres in Hoquiam, WA! We are VERY exited! Our plan is to start construction in July on a fully sustainable aquaponic system(trout+channel cats supporting a 30x70 hoop setup)+lions mane and oyster mushrooms(for farmers markets and restaurants)+couple a Dexter cows and some chickens and rabbits for our own consumption. Wish us luck!   

[Darryl Martin]

Very cool..... haven't

 been able to here due to preparing for the move....soon tho

[Anthony Payne]

Right on. The thing I have been chasing this week is morels. 

[Darryl Martin]

Thank you Marie  and Anthony.

Ok Anthony here is the idea. Keep in mind  I have NO practical experience and this concept is the result of massive research. I plan on building a small system at first to test the setup and then duplicating several times if successful. Our main income source will be Lions Mane mushrooms and 3 types of Oyster mushrooms ( i am a wildcrafter and amature mycologist who has successfully propagated and cloned several different types of mushrooms as a hobby). I want 1000 logs in the first year with a 5000 log goal in 3. This is way cheaper to start than the aquaponics setup and will allow us to begin to bootstrap the rest of the plan in about 6 months with a 2 year completion goal.. Now the aquaponics setup. This setup is very cheap and I only expect it to last about 5 years to prove my concept and be able to find the funds to build a more permanent system after working out the kinks.. 1st step will be an in ground trout(using WA ground temps to cool water) run 25'x4'x5' outside of the greenhouse. Only 20' will be utilized for trout as the last 5' will be my sump. The run will use 3' of water on the low side with 4' on the deep side dumping into a 5' sump. Utilizing EPDM this should be self cleaning. Only filling to about 1500-1750 gallons should allow for room for a shutdown of systems should the need occur. This is pumped at 3000 gph(allowing a twice hourly water exchange) to a 12'x58" catfish tank(also only filling to 1500 gallons) INSIDE the 30'x70' hoop greenhouse. My thoughts are the catfish can tolerate worse water conditions and the tank provides a heat sink while warming water for the plants. This is gravity fed to a 3000 gph vortex filter(air stones here to replace some depleted O2) to strain solids(the solids are fed to a vermiculture setup located under my flood and drain beds to handle my waste products) before being being ran through a small  bio pre-filter(size to be determined) to remove some of the ammonia and such. Now we pump to the top of the greenhouse to supply vertical grows on the way to flood and drain beds on each side of the greenhouse and drain to an in ground sump OUTSIDE the greenhouse to cool water for the trout and maintain my 3000 gph flow. The outside tank is covered to prevent water overload from rain. WHEW! That was alot...lol. Hope this VERY simplified version answers any questions, comments wanted and appreciated! By the way..... the worms will help provide missing calcium, potassium,magnesium and iron to the system by pumping worm tea runoff to the vortex as a supplement. The casings go to a half acre summer garden with excess being sold off. 

[Anthony Payne]

Well is that 30 feet x 70 feet ? Well how big are you thinking? Growing year round in Washington you guys get most of the heavy rain, will this over flow the big tanks? Or is this stoned thinking that a 30 inch x 70 inch bed you can live on and sell food? This would have to be a very big green house to make a living on. I have the same dream but the capital to start is a hill. I'm thinking 5,000 to 7,000 gallon tanks.

[marie]

  Good luck,hope it all works out for you. marie