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.


Wednesday, 10 July 2019

The productive polytunnel

There is no getting away from it the polytunnel creates a microclimate of its own and it certainly is a very productive place. It doesn't seem long ago that we were removing the winter plants, such as the black cabbage and chard that had sustained the village in greens over the winter and started to prepared the beds for the new season.

Next it was planning what to plant where and we then methodically worked on placing stakes and strings to support the individual requirements of the different plants.
 Stakes for the aubergines and chillies


 and strings for the tomatoes

We have used bubble wrap on the beds that are home to really heat loving varieties such as peppers, chillies and aubergines, to keep the soil warm and try to cut down on watering a little.

 To maximise the space we have invested in some large planters that can be placed around the side of the tunnel particularly good for growing melons and cucumbers that can be supported via the frame.

However without this photographic record looking in the tunnel now it is hard to remember how sparse it looked just a few months ago, as now it is a riot of green growth


From fennel to cucumbers...


Peppers to sweetcorn...


A tunnel of melons...


And a eclectic mix of courgettes, asparagus, aubergines, agretti and red orach, a jungle of rich ingredients.
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