An update on waiting and aquaponics.

I'm still waiting and praying for my number from State Board. I'm hoping it will be soon, as in today would be great. In the meantime I'm learning how to cook tasty vegetarian food and it's a lot of fun. I made eggplant moussaka and it came out pretty tasty. Tonight I'm going to try to make a nice coconut curry.
I've got a ton of websites bookmarked for recipes and I think we even saved a bit of money when we went shopping. It's a win win so far!

Transplanted peppers

We had so many pepper growing in the aquaponics bin that we transplanted some of them outside. At first they were a bit floppy looking, but in a few days they got used to the dirt and are now growing happily. Soon we'll have to plant them in the ground, but for now they are happy.

Baby lentil plants!!!

I tried to sprout lentils and it didn't work. I followed the instructions, but after 4 days of rinsing twice a day and keeping them in a dark cool place all I had was a smelly jar of icky lentils. I had noticed that there was a small number of sprouts in there so we carefully got them out of the jar and sorted on a paper towel. We wound up with about 15 tiny shoots. We put some in the aquaponics and planted the rest in a pot. I haven't seen any in the aquaponics yet, but 2 of them are holding strong in the pot. I just moved them outside today and I hope they survive! I've found that I actually like lentils and can't wait to grow some!

Parsley and cilantro

We've added parsley and cilantro to the aquaponics bin. Rory love them and it's fun to try to grow things there. There's even some lettuce still growing too!

Tasty yet tiny.

The peppers are great but small. If we let them get red they get a bit of a bite. The seeds were from a bag of roasted pepper that I just tossed in to see if they would grow. Boy did they!

Lots of pepper plants!

The peppers in the bin are still cranking out like crazy. They are really tasty too! I really need to replant more of them now that the testers are doing great. When I get my fancy beans to plant I'm going to need room, but for now I don't have the heart to shock them that way. 

Everything is growing now so I'm happy. It's a real warm tingly to use food we grew in a recipe! And it tastes better too! 

Waiting for the storm

I'm working from home today due to the storm warnings about Hurricane Odile causing flash floods. I live in Tucson, the desert. Last Monday was a crazy rain day and this one is supposed to be even worse. So far it's just been drizzling steadily, but I'm not driving in it. What scares me is that the flash flood warning is through tomorrow evening. I've never heard of one so long here.
I went outside for a walk/run in the real world again this morning. I had wanted to do it yesterday, but it was raining yesterday morning. I'm on week 2 of Zombies, Run 5K and I'm loving it. If you join look me up; my screen name is Eibhir. Betty was taken.
For week 2 I get to run for 30 seconds in a row. I did fine in my living room yesterday, but that's about 10' one way then turn around. In the real world after the first 20 seconds my knee was twinging so I went back to walking. I also seem to be faster in my living room than in the real world, I would have figured the turning would slow me down. It was great, I started before the sun was out and as I rounded toward home I saw this pretty little flower.

Pretty purple flower.

I love the photos my new phone takes!

The other day the husband and I rescued some beetle larvae and I thought you might like to see them.  His dad had cut down their tree and they needed a new home. They are cool and dry to the touch. Also a bit squishy feeling and their little legs are very pointy. They were released near a palo verde tree. I hope they like it there.

Palo Verde Beetle Larvae

My aquaponics are still going strong. Well the tomatoes are, all the lettuce was crowded out by them. we put a plastic sheet around them to keep the cooler off. They are big, but no fruit yet.

Tomato plants

They roasted pepper seeds are also doing well. For something that was cooked they seem pretty hardy. If you look closely they even have small flower buds forming. I can't wait to see what kind of peppers they are, they bag just said roasted peppers on it.

Roasted peppers thriving.

I hope you all have a great day and try to stay dry. I want the storm to get here already!

Have Fun!

Update on the fish and plants.

I was knocked out of commission for over 2 weeks by the worst cold or flu ever. It was so bad that all I did was watch TV and crochet until I fell asleep. I even lost about 10lbs while not moving more than it took to go to the restroom and back to bed. I'm now the proud owner of 26 snoods and will have to get a picture of them up soon.
In the meantime here are more pics of the lettuce and tomatoes. The lettuce are actually starting to form lettuce like leaves now and the tomatoes seem to have shrunk in height since we lowered the light.

Lettuce with actual lettuce type leaves!

Tomatoes look shorter to me.

Also here's an update on the tailless ciclid fish. His tail is growing back and I've named him Shaggy. He's really friendly and wants treats every time I walk past his tank. He can also count and knows when I short him a pellet. I feed him twice a day with five pellets and he gets agitated if I only drop in four. Such a smart little guy!

You can just see his tail growing back.

It's about and 8th of an inch long now.

Aquaponics and a cute fish

The lettuce is growing great, but I think we may need to lower the light. I'm not sure what baby lettuce should look like though.

Monday

It seems to be coming up a bit stringy, but the stalks seem strong so I'm not sure. On Friday we'll get more chain and see if it bushes out more then.

This morning

The tomato plants are really growing well and I gave one to a coworker because we needed the room. I'm not sure how long it will take for them to fruit, this is the first time I've gotten them larger than an inch or so. It's too cool! We're growing our own food! Now I want chickens! That's not going to happen though.

They are about 6" tall!

The ciclids ate this ones tail and were starting on his side so we got him his own tank. The conditioner made the water look like pee, but it's good for his slime coat. I wasn't sure he would make it, but after a few days he now flirts for food and seems healthy. He also plays peek-a-boo with me.

Hello

I wonder if his tail will grow back. That would be cool. I'm trying to figure out what to name him, Nibbles just seems wrong. ;)

Feed me please!

Aquaponics and my new bag

My lettuce is starting to sprout and it's amazing how fast it's growing. In less than a week it's already over an inch tall. I can't wait to harvest! We're thinking of moving a strawberry plant in to see how it does. This is such a fun experiment! 

Tuesday

I can't believe how fast they are growing! They are almost doubling in size daily. Soon we will have fresh greens! Bwahahaha!

Wednesday

Last Wednesday I got a new bag that I hoped would work for carrying my camera on my bike. Yes I am one of those people who will return something if it doesn't meet my needs.
I'm pleased to say it works great, especially after a few modifications. The bag is the Lowepro Streamline 250. It has enough room for my camera, it's small accessories, my Nook, and a bunch of random personal items. It will even hold a file folder so I've been taking it to work, actually I've been taking it everywhere with me and I'm quite happy.
It has padded pockets and a nice roomy interior, although the camera does push into there. You can expand the main pocket, but I haven't needed to yet. I only have 3 complaints about it and I was able to fix 2. I added a grab strap so it's easier to grab ( I almost dropped it once when I didn't have a firm grip on it); I put a strap pad on the shoulder strap because the rough edge was literally tearing me up; and even though I like the slate gray it comes in, I added a bit of decoration you the front.
So far it's been a week and I'm still loving it; which is good because I'm sure the warranty is now voided. It's great to carry my camera everywhere again, I had really missed it!

Before Bettyfication.

After Bettyfication.

Spring means growing things

So far I'm loving the warmer weather. It's great to see everything in green. Soon enough it will all be back to summer brown.

My mint is going crazy.

I'm trying to have food plants again this year. I'm starting them from seeds and so far the tomatoes are actually growing. This weekend they will get there own pots. I also have two strawberry plants that are starting to have leaves. I'm keeping them in pots so the strays can't dig them up and so I can bring them in when it gets really hot.

Tomatoes ready to re-pot.

Inside we are going to try our hand at aquaponics with the fish tank. In about a week it will be ready for the lettuce seeds. It's a new experiment and I'm really excited to see how it turns out. We go through a ton of leafy greens here and it will be great to just pick as needed!

Lava rocks and water.

I love trying to grow things and hopefully this year more than my ancient mint plant will survive. It's going to be fun!