Aquaponics Gardening- Step by Step Guide to Raising vegatables and fish together -by Sylvia Bernstein (Reactions from Chapters 5 and 6)

         In Chapter 5 and 6 explains more in depth about location, environment, and system design.

“How much control you have over these factors depends entirely on the climate where you live and where you decide to locate your aquaponics system.” - Sylvia Bernstein (page 41) I wasn’t aware of the many elements you have to think about. Temperature, the amount of water, materials,and etc. varies according to location of an aquaponics system. 

            It was interesting to learn how there’s more than one way to design an aquaponic system. Some common systems are the CHIFT PIST, CHOP, or Hybrid Systems.  We can study these systems into our own design or better yet enhance the designs in order to accommodate the system and work properly due to climate and location.

Aquaponics Gardening. Step by Step Guide to Raising vegatables and fish together. by Sylvia Bernstein (Reactions from Chapters 1,2, and 4)

            I found myself becoming more curious and excited to learn more. They way Sylvia Bernstein writes is very enjoyable and its easy to understand. So far it has been a great source for information and inspiration in developing sustainable lifestyle.  

            After reading chapter 2, I discovered more reasoning for Aquaponics and working towards a sustainable lifestyle. Understanding the global perspective is important because  the choices we make to create a solution as a whole in society could affect earth and every living thing in it.  

“When the wind changes direction, there are those who build walls and those who build mills” –Chinese proverb (page 25)

Reaction to chapters 5 and 6

When reading through the chapters, these last two went more in depth on the external factors that can affect the system. Though I had not thought of them before, it is only logical that things such as light and water spillage xontribute to the efficiency of the system. It was also interesting to read on how external factors affect the plants and bacteria more than the fish, when I would assume that it would be the orher way around. the more I read aBout these sYstems the more I understand the labor and care that must be put into them. While going over the different types of systems available, such as the barrel phonics, it seems as though one can build a system quite easily. Though what will ultimately predict your system's productivity will depend on how much you care for them.

Chapters 5 and 6

This may be a naive thing to say but I didn't realize there was so much thought behind aquaponics/gardening/sustaining plant life. I mean yes, I understand that the things don't miraculously pop out of the ground on their own, but how many other amazing type cultures like aquaponics exist? Bernstein has refined aquaponics to details in these chapters: light sources, system types, and the generalities of "I want to start...where do I even begin?" To marry this with my precedent, Sweet Water, I'm starting to understand a little more how their system works. They partner a tank with a bed of plants. The tank is depressed in the ground so that the bed height is accessible to the human while standing. Sweet water has a flood and drain type system where the bed is above the tank. From the reading my best guess right now is that they have a CHIFT PIST  system, since there are pumps present to return the water to the plants. More research to come...

Reaction to Chapters 1, 2, and 4

Reading these chapters got me thinking about how we could use the information to tackle the task of answering our essential questions. The basics of what hydroponics, aquaculture, and aquaponics are could easily be translated into a series of simple diagrams, much like the one on page 2 that describes the aquaponics cycle. (I will work on a few drafts of these to bring for Tuesday's meeting) The section on hydroponics got me thinking that the information about the nutrients could also be translated into a diagram, specifically about their "lifecycle". This might show the energy that goes into extracting the nutrients from the earth, how far they travel, thus using fossil fuels, and the energy required to process them. Reading the chapter on world demographics and the projection of population growth got me thinking about spatial requirements. It would be interesting to see a ratio for current farming methods and methods such as aquaponics to be able to compare their ability to feed the world population. I viewed chapter 4, "Before You Start", as somewhat cautionary. It seemed to say, "Hey, remember there are a lot of things to consider before you go out and get all of the pieces. Think about them carefully."

Chapters 1,2,4

As a new comer to the whole idea of aquaponics, I found that Bernstein explained very thoroughly the founding of aquaponics and how it differs from aquaculture and hydroponics. Thinking about aquaponics at a larger scale I'm starting to wonder a few things. One, is there a natural way to get the water from the tank back to the plants and so forth, at a larger scale like evaporation. Two, Is there any way to add plant life to the currently existing fish farms to help offset the amounts of ammonium in the water. Lastly, and this is a larger than life scale: Is there anyway to crea aquaponics at a human scale, meaning, instead of fish as the benefactors (and I understand the relationship between fish and plants) is there a way we can use the philosophy of aquaponics in our daily life? Is there some type of process  we can do as humans similar to aquaponics that can help the environment more? I'm looking forward to the next chapters.

Reaction to Reading

The reading was informative and provided precise information on the aquaponics system, its definition, and how it can provide a solution tonthe increasing demand of fish and its effects on the environment. The aquaponics system is also compared ro hydroponics and aquaculture which were relatively unkown concepts to me. This method of cultivation of fish and plants is an alternative to regular farming and it is interesting to understand how much damage agriculture ican damage and contribute to global warming.