permaculture

[georg parlow <g.parlow@gmx.at>]

> That's amazing Georg. It would be interesting to see pictures of your
> duckweed pond, pool or wetland.

Hi Lawrence - see https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/30599070/AP/IMG_0218.JPG 
 and https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/30599070/AP/IMG_0258.JPG -  
it is not easy to see, all of my 7 sump tanks are covered with duck  
weed - it's the blue things under the growbeds.


> that purpose). Could you describe your BSF and crawfish systems? Is  
> flowing
> cold water required for crawfish production?

well, as I said, my BSF system didn't work - it is a blue 200 gallon  
barrel laid on it's side, with a lid cut into the top side, a little  
pipe with a faucet on the bottom (to harvest the compost tea), and  
some 40mm pipes cut lengthwise leaning in the compost to act as  
ladders so the larvae can self-harvest by climbing out on them and  
then dropping into a container unfer the end of the pipe - ut this is  
the part that didn't work. I had some larvae allright (to little, most  
of them were dead by the time the arrived at my place via mail), and  
they transformed lots of compost, but I never harvested any larvae. I  
will report on my new layout as soon as I have a working model - and I  
am confident, I got in touch with a lady growing BSF for food, and  
will get together with her to inprove my model according to her  
experience.

Crawfush system not yet exisiting. It is planned to have a simple,  
rather shallow trough with some decaying plant matter in it - the  
water flow goes into this and then via overflow on to the fish tank -  
any escapee is munched, and ever now and then I just scoop some out  
with a spagetthi sieve and throw them in with the fish. I am also  
thinking of growing a bigger crawfish - maybe the common yabby, Cherax  
destructor, in the DWC bed under the plants. This would be mainly for  
food, and if they propagate too profusely, feeding the small to the  
fish.

Best,
Georg