Portable Farms ? Aquaponics

I don't remember this subject being discussed in these forums. A search didn't give any result.

Does anybody have some experience/contact with this kind of "farming" or these very company ???


TIA.

http://www.townsqr.com/snsaqua/page2.htm

http://backyardaquaponics.com/index.htm

http://www.greenoz.info/green.php

If you look up Aquaponics, you'll find quite a bit more.

Nishnabotna linked one of my favorites: Backyard Aquaponics, which has an awesome forum with sections dedicated to members established systems to different types of fish and plants that work well in Aquaponics and a lot more. I'm not a member, but I must confess that I dig through the forums every few months and dream. I am thinking about ordering the "International Information Package" from them.

A few more are:
Urban Aquaponics, which has an interesting blog on Aquaponics
and
Practical Aquaponics, which has a forum (Aquaponics HQ) where a few people show off their systems and exchange ideas.

Most of the good sites seem to be from people located in Australia.

I've lately started to read up on this. Serious plans next year. Part of it is an excuse to be able to build a straw bale structure

thanks for the links..
more reading to do ...
sadly, living in a flat in Paris, I can't start experimenting....
But it's on my list of projects, those I will be able to work on, when retired and living in a house, in the country.

Alain: no balcony or sunny window? Think big, start small?

no balcony ; only sunny windows are in the living room.
No way I will transform my living room in an aquaponics farm ...
Or should I think about it ...

Just a thought --

I'd be very open and up front with neighbours if trying this sort of thing. Last thing you need is people thinking it's a ganja grow-op. Next thing you know, men in black are bashing down your front door ...

I was looking into just this sort of thing a couple months ago and decided to just plant some vegetables in pots. I had never done that before because I had the wherwithal to garden. But this has worked pretty well with minimal trouble. It gave me the opportunity to get early starts by buying plants (tomatoes and green peppers), and then planting squash and zucchini. That's all I have this year because I knew the two squashes were prolific with few plants and I didn't know how well it would work. But in the beginning when it was cold at night I would just bring them inside. Now of course I don't need to do that. I have lots of tomatoes right now and will be interested in seeing how long I can keep the plants producing. The green peppers have lots of small ones on now; likewise the squash, so things are just starting. Basically got a head start and plowed nothing. I'll do more next year.

Some more aquaculture and hydroponics links

http://rps.uvi.edu/AES/Aquaculture/aquaponics.html
http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/aquaponic.html#resources
http://www.sharingsustainablesolutions.org/?page=184
http://www.growingedge.com/basics/start.html
http://www.highlife.com.au/man/index.htm
http://c.webring.com/hub?ring=hydroculture;list
http://members.tripod.com/~busiweb/hydro/index.htm
http://www.townsqr.com/snsaqua/page2.htm
http://www.gardner44.freeserve.co.uk/Barrelfilter.htm

Joel's Backyard Aquaponics is wonderful!

I was a member of the Permaculture Institute of Australia when he first started experimenting with aquaponics. The Aussies have been buying his info kit, and they've been raving about it. Then he set up his own website, and has built up an excellent forum.

He has worked though the problems, finding out what worked and what didn't, learning all the way.

Check it out!

Sue