Gardening--- A Great Winter's Adventure??? Aquaponics, Composting, and Greenhouses (oh my!)

I live in the the North-East and am sadly plagued by 6 months of dreary cold weather, gray skies, and short days, 2 months of slightly less dreary weather, and 4 survivable months of uninhibited outdoor delight! Needless to say- in the 6 reasonable months- one must get a lot done in a little bit of time in order to produce any successful garden.

As my first blog mentioned- I am a father. I have a 12 year old step-daughter, a 3 year old son, and am expecting twins this very August. Unfortunately none of them come along with a spending account (which would be nice especially for my budding fashionista 12 year old and what I consider to be a nasty addiction to all things Apple). With that said- I try and save pennies wherever I can and to live a little healthier. Vegetables and Fruit are expensive so to defray costs and increase access to this resource I have been doing my research....

In turn I have come up with several very interesting projects that vary in cost, time investment, and returns.

First: 

Aquaponics. This is a new concept to me and so far everyone who I have brought it up in conversation to have quickly written it off as a way to grow weed. This has not made the idea go 'up in smoke' for me yet (see what I did there?? :). As I am sure that is likely true- the idea behind it is still fully functional. The concept puts together the idea of Hydraponics (growing plants in water) with Aquaculture (growing of aquatic animals in tanks). The idea is that the two can be symbiotic. A tank is traditionally set up with a pump to several growing beds. Plants survive on the fish excrement and in return the fish get filtered water and everyone wins (except for some of those 'dirty fish' that like to swim in their own crap water- this is a bad day for them). (For more reading- check out my beloved wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics). There are several viable plans to maintain a fully functional Aquaponic setup. This version of gardening comes in a variety of sizes and setups ranging from very small tower set up to a very large industrial setup. I live in a limited space so- Ill likely opt for a smaller version at least as an experiment before incorporating a larger one. Here's a neat setup I found on Pintrest (no- its not just for girls!!):

There are probably some changes that I would make to this to simplify it but otherwise- its small, it can be done indoors, and there's not to much overhead involved. My fish of choice would probably be Talapia as my reading indicates that's a fairly popular fish for this type of setup. 

Eventually my dream is to have a much larger outdoor greenhouse setup--- While surfing the world of YouTube- I did come across this very nice setup which looks very impressive:

(He has a variety of interesting videos- check them out!)

Inevitably when dealing with plans we return to the same problem--- We live in a terribly cold icebox from hell (haha). So- how do we combat this horrific problem? Moving to Florida is out- as I believe that one ill-fated Spring-break may have corrupted my 'Upstanding Citizenship' for that state... but i digress. There are several other options that will at least get you part of the way through the colder parts of the season.

Which leads me toooooo-

Second:

Greenhouses- Greenhouses come in temporary, semi-temporary, and permanent structures. They vary in cost, size, and complexity. So- for me- putting up a 60-120ft long would not only incur the ire of my neighbors but also likely not be very space appropriate. Here are a few different setups that I found and liked-

For the poor man (such as I frequently am) there are setups and guides for greenhouses that are made of old resources such as old windows that can be gotten from installation companies and dumps. I like this idea because it not only saves you money- but also re-purposes 'trash' to become once again productive. Here are some that I found just searching around- I did look on Craigslist.org locally- and did see that are groups that sell old fairly large windows for 5 or 10$ depending on the size.

Greenhouses only get you part of the way through  and can maybe extend your growing season a month or 2 on either side but you will need more. Certainly there are people who put in heat systems but that's just wayyy to rich for my blood- so I've come across some other ideas-

Third:

Composting!

Everyone loves a good composting. Its probably the easiest thing to do! Composting is more or less- the decomposition of plant material. Based on my reading- they frown on composting of meat or bones because they report its a complicated process and takes too long to break down. Most sites also frown on the use of human waste--- because- well you are dirty birds honestly! So for all intents and purposes- composting is relegated to plants and animal wastes. The process is the combination of nitrogen rich items and carbon rich items that little microbes enjoy snacking on. During this process of fermenting- temps in the heap should run around 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This is fairly toasty and if properly integrated into a greenhouse could provide some additional heat. Stinkyness you say?? Well- typically- monitoring the process is possible using  proper ventilation and the appropriate use of various types of items like leaves. Check out this link for information on composting and instructions on how to build simple compost bins (3 sections bins are recommended)

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM683.pdf

Composting is good for kitchen scraps, leavens, grass clippings, and a good source of nitrogen  is chicken poop! and... well everyone loves chicken- so without further adu-

Fourth:

DIY Chicken Coups

Lucky for me- East Norriton allows chickens to be kept on your property. There are a few people who have chickens in the area- usually 3 or 4 as more than that becomes unwieldy. Maintaining any animal can be a difficult and burdensome activity but the rewards can be great too. For a quick bit of info on all things chickens- check out http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-raise-backyard-chickens-in-your-city-the-basics-of-raising-chickens . For those of you who might be squeamish at the eventual dismemberment of your back yard pet for an evening meal--- you can always teach them to play the piano (?).

Fifth: (ever look at the spelling for fifth--- if fifth was a person- i bet I wouldn't like him (or her)

Water and Water Management-

Aquaponics, gardening, composing, chickens... they all need water- and that can come at a hefty fee depending on the size of your operation and set up. To help defray costs- you might consider rain water collection. The easiest way to do this is utilizing rain barrels which can be connected to your rain spout.  They typically come in 55 gallon setups and you can get them with hose or other connections depending on your budget and how fancy you want to get. You can find commercial setups on google ranging in the 120$ range or others on craigslist from local craftsmen in the 80$ range. 

Ok- well I can only blabber on for so long- but alas I am done for tonight- check back as i start work on a small aquaponic system and work on putting together a larger greenhouse project for this summer. I also have some neat, quick DIY projects I've come across which i'll show off as I complete them.

As always I am interested in any info you may want to contribute. I am by far no expert- and come from this as a new school of learning. You can always teach a middle aged dog new tricks! :)