AP Inspiration. What Inspired You To Do This?

[Adam Shivers]

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalms 1:3

            I have been on a journey with God and I must honor Him in all of it. I have been "inspired" by a lot of things but I feel that God has placed them here to do so. I just want to hear others reasons and stories.

              I started off just wanting to grow food for my family and my vision has grown and is looking much more promising since joining this site!  -so many helpful people I don't even know what to say.

So many inspiring people on here as well wanting to teach others!

            THE PROMISE ABOVE IS ALL ABOUT LIVING A RIGHTEOUS LIFE!!! God will make us like Aquaponics if we live uprightly. God must love aquaponics! He started it and thinks it's the way for us to thrive.

[Alfio Contarino]

What inspired me to get into aquaponics was James Burke – Connections.  The Idea of different things being combined to create the world we live in.  Seeing that Aquaponics by standard definition is a combination of Aquaculture and Hydroponics, but I see it as part permeculture, part chemistry, part alternative life style.   Seeing these separate things and combining them into one.

[nathaniel taylor]

I just want to make tons of money selling and patenting stuff for sale on a web site, mine important data from a forum, then go on an extended speaking tour where i basically apostatized aquaponics for monetary gain.

 

Actually I was making air lift hydroponic pond in 1996 got way more interested in more art science interenet but came full circle after the desire to have my own fish pond.

 

I enjoy nature. I enjoy a animist type of spirituality. Swimming is my favorite pasttime and I have nearly drowned watching fish swim.

So here was an idea born of love that I found the timming right to join a very creative circle,. I figure if enough great minds chip at this stone, and share freely, we can make a huge impact.

I regret to see, like most endeavors that greed is rising, more workshops than you can shake a stick at. so I hope to combat that wryly and artistically.

The god part... ummm I 'm not sayin' god like stuff here. Its seems so simple yet the learning is within each of us. I feel more connected to nature by failing so hard to replicate it. A sweet cool water stream. A clean spring vibrant with life. A sea wall spilling coral. These are the some of the things that I am so fascinated by. I see the direct effects of my labor both positive and negative, there I understand my own  impact daily, with more awe and humility.

 

And I like to eat a well spiced fish hide. Or a perfectly steamed crayfish. A mint leave in tea.

 

And I like a good puzzle. each of us adding a discovery. Its amazing. We can progress extremely fast. And those of us in the knowledge, that no matter an idea, is born of many minds and pieced together out of sweat and blood! The next one is always there. I add the next. and they. I promise to surprise you. and ultimately support your spirit. No malice in this quest.

 

And to those that desire to profit, and hold wisdom, to be jealous of fellow tinkerers,  the days are not for us to profit, to be jealous nor withholding, but to do what is right.

 

Every time I mess up a variable, destroy life, I see its fragility. A likewise when, I get it right, I witness abundacnce! Aquaponics gives me a platform by which to practice. and meditate.

 

 

[Adam Shivers]

nice! yes, I never looked at it from this angle before!

Alfio Contarino said:

What inspired me to get into aquaponics was James Burke – Connections.  The Idea of different things being combined to create the world we live in.  Seeing that Aquaponics by standard definition is a combination of Aquaculture and Hydroponics, but I see it as part permeculture, part chemistry, part alternative life style.   Seeing these separate things and combining them into one.

[Chris McMahon]

I prayed to god and asked what I should be doing to flourish. I got a vision of planting seeds. That was years ago and I have worked through square foot gardening with some delicious success. Now I am on to starting Aquaponics. I see planting your own food as a great way to avoid GMO's and factory farming nightmares. I would also like someday to go commercial with it. I don't know what crazy laws are going to come from a bankrupt government in the future. I may just end up putting food on my table. That is far from a bad thing in my opinion. We live in a perfect system of nature so we should be using it.

 

[Wayne]

I just did the math. 1.2acres minimum to feed one person for a year. How many billion people are there?

How many acres of farm land?

How many acres are we losing to development?

What if there are a couple bad years for crops?

 

Okay, I really didn't do the math. The questions were enough for me!

It isn't hard to figure out we can't keep increasing population and losing land to grow crops.

Oceans and lakes are over fished. Insecticides and herbicides are polluting everything. 

Not to mention corporations that apparently will stop at nothing to make a profit.

 

I am a survivalist and member of 2013.org where people actually plan to live after the mythical 2012 apocalypse.

While researching better and safer ways to grow my own food I stumbled on to this forum. It answered so many questions and eliminated a lot of potential problems that soil gardening is prone to.

 

I wish there were more aquapons on the 2013 site because I believe Aquaponics is the best defense we have against world wide hunger.

 

No I'm not a nut, I just play one on the internet. 

[Larry Hill]

I've been looking for ways to become self-sufficient for many years now.  I'm planning to sell my current home and make my move soon to a more rural location.  I too am a "prepper" who sees the possibility of hard times ahead.  I also believe that how we currently live our modern life is unsustainable in many ways.

 

Like others have mentioned, I started with square-foot gardening, and have enjoyed it very much.  My tiny new AP system has mostly been used for sprouting seedlings for the garden out back.  (My system is rather small, though I hope to get a decent amount of food from it this winter.)

 

I had read about aquaculture, along with LOTS of other things I've been researching while I wait to make my move to the country.  My plan is to at least have chickens too once we get there.  And I've studied up on LOTS of other things, like cattle, sheep, etc. 

 

I'm really not sure how I first found out about aquaponics.  It might have been YouTube.  But I found my way to Friendly Aquaponics' website and got the bug.  I bought their manual for their tiny systems, and built my current system using that resource. 

 

Now my plans for the new place have changed.  I plan to build two greenhouses, one heated, one not.  The heated one will have tilapia and warm-season plants.  The unheated one will be partially earth-sheltered, and heated/cooled with "earthtubes."  I plan to have another AP system in there with cool-season plants and either trout or perch.  (Trout are my favorite fish, both for their beauty and yumminess, but they are fussier about their conditions.  I KNOW yellow perch can live in just about anything, because I've caught them out of some water I wouldn't DARE eat anything out of, lol.)

 

[Adam Shivers]

that is awesome! I feel it's perfect even to just grow enough for your family! I hope to do this soon.

Chris McMahon said:

I prayed to god and asked what I should be doing to flourish. I got a vision of planting seeds. That was years ago and I have worked through square foot gardening with some delicious success. Now I am on to starting Aquaponics. I see planting your own food as a great way to avoid GMO's and factory farming nightmares. I would also like someday to go commercial with it. I don't know what crazy laws are going to come from a bankrupt government in the future. I may just end up putting food on my table. That is far from a bad thing in my opinion. We live in a perfect system of nature so we should be using it.

 

[Adam Shivers]

sounds like a cool site - does it help with preparedness under semi normal circumstances?

Wayne said:

I just did the math. 1.2acres minimum to feed one person for a year. How many billion people are there?

How many acres of farm land?

How many acres are we losing to development?

What if there are a couple bad years for crops?

 

Okay, I really didn't do the math. The questions were enough for me!

It isn't hard to figure out we can't keep increasing population and losing land to grow crops.

Oceans and lakes are over fished. Insecticides and herbicides are polluting everything. 

Not to mention corporations that apparently will stop at nothing to make a profit.

 

I am a survivalist and member of 2013.org where people actually plan to live after the mythical 2012 apocalypse.

While researching better and safer ways to grow my own food I stumbled on to this forum. It answered so many questions and eliminated a lot of potential problems that soil gardening is prone to.

 

I wish there were more aquapons on the 2013 site because I believe Aquaponics is the best defense we have against world wide hunger.

 

No I'm not a nut, I just play one on the internet. 

[Adam Shivers]

you sound a lot like me -we are in town and need out! I tried building a greenhouse here and failed but have kept quail for a couple years now (currently at 70 or so) -we have around 20 doves (the dove was our "gateway animal"!) and we have 5 laying hens. I'm sure the neighbors want us to find a nice place in the country as well! 

Larry Hill said:

I've been looking for ways to become self-sufficient for many years now.  I'm planning to sell my current home and make my move soon to a more rural location.  I too am a "prepper" who sees the possibility of hard times ahead.  I also believe that how we currently live our modern life is unsustainable in many ways.

 

Like others have mentioned, I started with square-foot gardening, and have enjoyed it very much.  My tiny new AP system has mostly been used for sprouting seedlings for the garden out back.  (My system is rather small, though I hope to get a decent amount of food from it this winter.)

 

I had read about aquaculture, along with LOTS of other things I've been researching while I wait to make my move to the country.  My plan is to at least have chickens too once we get there.  And I've studied up on LOTS of other things, like cattle, sheep, etc. 

 

I'm really not sure how I first found out about aquaponics.  It might have been YouTube.  But I found my way to Friendly Aquaponics' website and got the bug.  I bought their manual for their tiny systems, and built my current system using that resource. 

 

Now my plans for the new place have changed.  I plan to build two greenhouses, one heated, one not.  The heated one will have tilapia and warm-season plants.  The unheated one will be partially earth-sheltered, and heated/cooled with "earthtubes."  I plan to have another AP system in there with cool-season plants and either trout or perch.  (Trout are my favorite fish, both for their beauty and yumminess, but they are fussier about their conditions.  I KNOW yellow perch can live in just about anything, because I've caught them out of some water I wouldn't DARE eat anything out of, lol.)

 

[Wayne]

Most folks on there are prepping for economic disasters or civil unrest. Mostly about storing food and having shelter. 

 

There are some that are preparing for other disasters that may happen. (earthquakes, flooding, solar flares)

Most are striving to be self sufficient, living off grid, growing their own food. 

[Adam Shivers]

Awesome. yes, admitedly, I think these all seem like practical reasons to prepare.

Wayne said:

Most folks on there are prepping for economic disasters or civil unrest. Mostly about storing food and having shelter. 

 

There are some that are preparing for other disasters that may happen. (earthquakes, flooding, solar flares)

Most are striving to be self sufficient, living off grid, growing their own food. 

[Tom Barnhardt]

Same here I have been given a vision to start an Aquaponics farm to raise food for our soup kitchen and food pantries. And also provide a place to learn this as well. God has opned may doors and just provided a greenhouse. It is all for His glory.