Godney Aquaponics


Godney Aquaponics
In the village of Godney, with the beautiful back drop of the Glastonbury Tor, Melv and Sal are embarking on a new venture. Fed up with the poor quality of veg in the shops, they have the ambition to set up an aquaponics system to provide fresh vegetables and salad crops for the village, and with a little help from their hens a supply of fresh free range eggs too.


What is Aquaponics??


What is Aquaponics??
Aquaponics is a sustainable method of producing quality food with minimal external inputs. It is a system that combines conventional aquaculture (e.g. fish in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. Water from the aquaculture system is fed to the hydroponic system where the by-products are broken down and are utilised by the plants as nutrients, and the water is then re-circulated back to the aquaculture system.


Friday, 30 March 2018

Aquaponics antics

With the conventional beds now completed and seed sowing underway the next step in the polytunnel was for Melv to construct the frames for the flow beds. With plans for four in the future, we set our initial sights on two.


To hold a substantial amount of water constantly, Melv commenced building what turned out to be significant structures, with a substantial framework to form beds 1.2m wide by 12m long.

 
These were then to be clad with thick plywood, to provide the bed that can then be lined with a waterproof material.
 
 
Not one but two...


The second soon started to take shape - now Melv had worked out the construction technique.

 
 
 
Despite their size - looking back down the polytunnel their linear structures seemed to make it look even bigger and it already felt massive!!
 
 
One last bit to go and you can start to visualize an abundance of veggies growing

 
All finished and ready for the liner
 
 
The polytunnel starting to take on the appearance of a tunnel ready to produce, all we need now is a bit of warm weather and for spring to take off to see our hard work  begin to come to fruition.
 
 
 
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