Gardening Rhythms

Year Round Egg Laying for Chickens – How to get chickens to lay eggs year round

paul — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:59:12 +0000

Year Round Egg Laying for Chickens – How to get chickens to lay eggs year round. Chicken egg lay habits follow the length of the day. In summer, the day is the longest and chickens lay around 1 egg a day. In the winter chickens can lay one egg a week or stop all together. Chickens need around 16 hours of light per day to force them to lay one egg a day. This can be done with artificial lights in the chicken coop.

The video below shows how to add a simple timer, photocell and lights to your chicken coop to force chickens to lay eggs daily throughout the year. The timer, photocell and external lamp housing can be bought at the local hardware store. Enjoy eggs all year round.

For more information on backyard animals, Click here

Platystemon californicus – Cream Cups – California wildflower Annual

paul — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:45:57 +0000

Platystemon californicus – Cream Cups – Delectable cream and yellow annual growing under 1′ tall, with fuzzy nodding buds. Early spring bloomer but can be planted sequentially for later bloom.

California native plants are an acquired taste, but there are exceptions to the rules. Cream Cups is an excellent plant for color splash in your garden. The flower lasts over a month and they are drought tolerant. In fact, if you water it too much, you will lose flowers. They attract humming birds and other insects. In general, annuals die at the end of the season; therefore, they need to make enough seeds to perpetuate the species. This means they need to make a ton of seeds which in turn makes a ton of flowers. Perennials come back from year to year, so they are more lazy.

For other California Native Annuals for Showy Front Yards, Click here

How to plant:

They are almost impossible to buy in 6 packs. They can be sown regularly throughout the year with excellent results. You will have to grow them from seeds. Buy the seeds online before February and plant in flats. They germinate when there is a consistent amount of moisture in the soil. Plant them out in the garden (for instance in the front yard) just before the last rain of the winter season.

Watering:

Water until the plant is established and back off. They like dry heat. Tt needs good drainage, sun, and dry weather to grow to its fullest potential.

For more information on CA native gardens, Click here

Salvia columbariae – Chia – Golden chia – Desert chia – California wildflower Annual

paul — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:13:15 +0000

Salvia columbariae -Chia- Salvia columbariae -Chia- It grows in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Sonora, and Baja California and was formerly an important food for Native Americans. This is the seed for the Chia drink. It grows about 2 feet tall with a ball of blue flowers at the top. The drink goes for about $50 per liter.

California native plants are an acquired taste, but there are exceptions to the rules. Chia is an excellent plant for color splash in your garden. The flower lasts over a month and they are drought tolerant. In fact, if you water it too much, you will lose flowers. They attract humming birds and other insects. In general, annuals die at the end of the season; therefore, they need to make enough seeds to perpetuate the species. This means they need to make a ton of seeds which in turn makes a ton of flowers. Perennials come back from year to year, so they are more lazy.

For other California Native Annuals for Showy Front Yards, Click here

How to plant:

Watering:

Water until the plant is established and back off. They like dry heat. Tt needs good drainage, sun, and dry weather to grow to its fullest potential.

For more information on CA native gardens, Click here

Clarkia rubicunda – Ruby chalice clarkia – Farewell to spring – California wildflower Annual

paul — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:01:37 +0000

Clarkia rubicunda -Ruby chalice clarkia - Long-blooming showy pink-lavender flowers with dark red blotch at base of petals. Flower stalks 12 to 18 inches tall. Still blooming in September on the coast. Blooms the best time in July and June.

California native plants are an acquired taste, but there are exceptions to the rules. Ruby chalice clarkia is an excellent plant for color splash in your garden. The flower lasts over a month and they are drought tolerant. In fact, if you water it too much, you will lose flowers. They attract humming birds and other insects. In general, annuals die at the end of the season; therefore, they need to make enough seeds to perpetuate the species. This means they need to make a ton of seeds which in turn makes a ton of flowers. Perennials come back from year to year, so they are more lazy.

For other California Native Annuals for Showy Front Yards, Click here

How to plant:

Watering:

Water until the plant is established and back off. They like dry heat. Sun or part shade. Great for pots.

For more information on CA native gardens, Click here

Gilia capitata – Globe Gilia – California wildflower Annual

paul — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:53:04 +0000

Gilia capitata -Globe Gilia - Grows quickly, blooms heavily, dies with first frost. Can regrow following spring if seed falls on bare ground. Thrives on dry banks in the chaparral. Long bloom period. Plant fall or mid-spring to bloom with summer.

California native plants are an acquired taste, but there are exceptions to the rules. Globe Gilia is an excellent plant for color splash in your garden. The flower lasts over a month and they are drought tolerant. In fact, if you water it too much, you will lose flowers. They attract humming birds and other insects. In general, annuals die at the end of the season; therefore, they need to make enough seeds to perpetuate the species. This means they need to make a ton of seeds which in turn makes a ton of flowers. Perennials come back from year to year, so they are more lazy.

For other California Native Annuals for Showy Front Yards, Click here

How to plant:

Watering:

Water until the plant is established and back off. They like dry heat. Sun or part shade. Great for pots.

For more information on CA native gardens, Click here

Clarkia concinna – Red ribbons – California wildflower Annual

paul — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:42:41 +0000

clarkia concinna - red ribbons- This is an annual plant with erect, herbaceous stems. The distinctive flowers have four looping sepals of red or dark pink which look like loops of silk ribbon. The longer, pink petals have three lobes which are usually streaked with white. Flowers throughout the summer.

California native plants are an acquired taste, but there are exceptions to the rules. Red ribbons is an excellent plant for color splash in your garden. The flower lasts over a month and they are drought tolerant. In fact, if you water it too much, you will lose flowers. They attract humming birds and other insects. In general, annuals die at the end of the season; therefore, they need to make enough seeds to perpetuate the species. This means they need to make a ton of seeds which in turn makes a ton of flowers. Perennials come back from year to year, so they are more lazy.

For other California Native Annuals for Showy Front Yards, Click here

How to plant:

Watering:

Water until the plant is established and back off. They like dry heat. Sun and shade. Elegant container plant

For more information on CA native gardens, Click here

Nemophila menziesii – Baby Blue Eyes – California wildflower Annual

paul — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:32:24 +0000

Nemophila menziesii – This California wildflower Annual flower does not have to have an explanation. It has a small bold blue flower that lasts for a month or longer. They can be planted throughout the summer months.

California native plants are an acquired taste, but there are exceptions to the rules. Baby Blue Eyes is an excellent plant for color splash in your garden. The flower lasts over a month and they are drought tolerant. In fact, if you water it too much, you will lose flowers. They attract humming birds and other insects. In general, annuals die at the end of the season; therefore, they need to make enough seeds to perpetuate the species. This means they need to make a ton of seeds which in turn makes a ton of flowers. Perennials come back from year to year, so they are more lazy.

For other California Native Annuals for Showy Front Yards, Click here

How to plant:

Watering:

Water until the plant is established and back off. They like dry heat. Sun or part shade. Great for pots.

For more information on CA native gardens, Click here

Clarkia unguiculata – elegant clarkia – California wildflower Annual – Mountain Garland

paul — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:23:14 +0000

Clarkia unguiculata – elegant clarkia – California wildflower Annual flowers have hairy, fused sepals forming a cup beneath the corolla, and four petals each one to 2.5 centimeters long. This flower with its pink, red or purple flowers arching gracefully in a bouquet for almost a month. One of the wildflowers that can out-compete weedy grasses. the selected form of this annual….makes a showy addition.

California native plants are an acquired taste, but there are exceptions to the rules. Clarkia unguiculata is an excellent plant for color splash in your garden. The flower lasts over a month and they are drought tolerant. In fact, if you water it too much, you will lose flowers. They attract humming birds and other insects. In general, annuals die at the end of the season; therefore, they need to make enough seeds to perpetuate the species. This means they need to make a ton of seeds which in turn makes a ton of flowers. Perennials come back from year to year, so they are more lazy.

For other California Native Annuals for Showy Front Yards, Click here

How to plant:

They are almost impossible to buy in 6 packs. You will have to grow them from seeds. Buy the seeds online before February and plant in flats. They germinate when there is a consistent amount of moisture in the soil. Plant them out in the garden (for instance in the front yard) just before the last rain of the winter season.

Watering:

Water until the plant is established and back off. They like dry heat. Plant them in direct sunlight. Great for pots.

For more information on CA native gardens, Click here

Fruiting Edible Mushrooms Indoors

paul — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:06:10 +0000

Fruiting Edible Mushrooms Indoors for large yields can be difficult. The biggest problem is keeping the newly emerging mushroom moist and away from carbon dioxide. If you ever bought a mushroom brick or loaf from a mail order or super market, your yield can be small if the brink is not kept in the correct conditions. Below is a description of conditions aimed at producing the maximum yield of mushrooms from any given mushroom medium.

For more information on growing a mushroom garden, Click here

For a video how to grow mushrooms in your own home, Click here

Moisture Conditions

The internal and external moisture conditions of the mushroom brick needs to be kept very high. Water needs to be provided at the underside of the brick or straw to keep the mycelium moist. Capillary action moves the water up into the mushrooms. To flower mushrooms, keep the brick in a closed plastic container with a lid. Below is a picture of a sealed board on top of a plastic storage bin. The whole business can be kept in a dark corner of the kitchen.

Pin Heads

When you start to see pin heads on your mycelium, it’s time for fruiting. Prepackaged mushroom loafs need time for the mushroom roots to gather enough energy from the straw, saw dust or compost to fruit. Until you see pin heads, keep the package in a cool dark corner and check it once a week until you see pin heads. When the mushroom roots think they are running out of room to grow, they believe they are going to die; hence, they think they need to reproduce and keep the species alive. They send up pin heads. Below is a picture of pin heads on Oyster mushrooms.

Carbon Dioxide Control

New mushroom pin heads need oxygen to start growing their familiar mushroom caps. Carbon dioxide prevents the mushroom from totally flowering. While mushroom are growing, they throw out CO2 into the air. A mushroom pin head will continue to grow longer and longer until it hits oxygen or air. To prevent long stringy mushrooms, holes are drilled about 3/4 of an inch from the bottom of the internal container. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air; hence, CO2 collects on the bottom of the container and then pores out into the main, larger tub away from the pin heads. About every other day or so, the main tub needs to be opened and fanned. Just fan out the CO2. It collects just above the water level.

This configuration prevents CO2 buildup and allows air to touch the pin heads.

Indoor Mushroom Garden Setup

In this example a storage bin is used to house the mushrooms. Two other food containers are inserted into the large bin containing the brink and/or straw. About 1/2 inch of water is kept on the bottom of the tub. This keeps the moisture level up in the whole tub. For more space between the mushroom containers and the water in the tub, another plastic container can be put upside down under the bricks.

About 1/2 inch of water is kept in each individual containers. This water keeps the saw dust and/or straw moist.

Don’t forget to drill holes in the containers to release the CO2. In this case, one whole is drilled at every corner. 1/2 inch of water is left on the bottom to keep the brick moist.

Keep the lid on top of the tub all of the time. Place the whole business in a dark corner in the garage or kitchen. Please remember, a cooler environment will produce mushrooms at a slower rates. Keep an eye on the water levels to prevent drying out. Once a brick dries out, soak it in a tub of water for a day or so and put it back into above tub.

Using Dead Fish as Aquaponics Fertilizer – Decomposing Fish

paul — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:01:17 +0000

This is an explanation of using dead fish as Aquaponics Fertilizer – Decomposing Fish. Throughout the year, I harvest my fish or they die on their own. For the ones that die on their own, I normally throw them in the compost bin; but I found a way to use the Aquaponics system as a compost bin for those dead fish. Aquaponics is a complete life cycle system where wastes from the fish (include the fish itself) are reused and fed to the plants. The same thing can happen with decomposing fish.

For more information on general Aquaponics systems, Click here

Experiment Setup:

The set up is easy. The Aquaponics system is set up in a “non-fish feeding” configuration. A Non-fish feeding system requires fish to eat algae off the walls of the tank. Through the past few years, fish like Crayfish, Goldfish and Tapiola have been used in my Aquaponics system for producing ammonia. This selection of fish also eat algae and are scavengers. These are excellent fish for a non-fish feeding Aquaponics. I don’t have to provide food for the fish. The other requirement is that sunlight directly hits the tanks and fish throughout the day. Algae grows on the insides of the tank. Of course, the tank has to be made of glass. In this application we are using a 500 gallon system. This project is done on a high ballets and established Aquaponics system. These methods should not be done on systems less than 2 years old.

For more information on water conditioning, Click here

For more information on fish selections, Click here

For more information on automatic flood/drain planting beds, Click here

The experiment is very simple. Let a fish die, let it sink the bottom and check all of the chemicals in the Aquaponics system. Observe other fish’s health. Observe algae growth and plant growth. One 1.25 lbs Tapiola fish recently died because of temperature stress. Fish killed by other fish or some form of physical harm is OK to keep in the tank. I would remove any diseased fish and through them on a high carbon mixed, cellulose compost.

How much Ammonia can a fish take?

Obviously, when a fish starts to decompose, two things start to change right off the bat; the ammonia and the pH. The insides of the fish have anaerobic bacteria beginning to wake up. They blow off methane as their by product. This inflates the fish and causes it to float to the top surface. Second, ammonia is beginning to be released into the water. The first line of defense for preventing the water in the tank to go out of kilter with too high ammonia and nitrites is the mucus membrane on the outside of the fish. If you have ever tried to pick up a fish, it is very slippery and wet. This membrane coating the fish is used to protect the fish from disease and carry the microbes for changing ammonia into nitrites and nitrites into nitrates. This is why new fish tanks can cycle simply by putting in the fish. The fish comes with all of the equipment (bacteria) needed to cycle a new fish tank.

For more information on tank cycles and nitrate-nitrite cycles, Click here

The real problem is dealing with the sudden addition of ammonia in the tank. In most cases, a larger system can take the sudden change and wake up sleeping bacteria for changing the ammonia into nitrites. But there is a danger of poising your fish. Below is a chart describing how much ammonia a fish can handle in the short term. In this experiment, the water temperature is averaging 12 C and the pH is around 8.0. The maximum amount of ammonia the fish can handle is 0.95.

In addition to the ammonia change, the pH needs to be watched. Below is a chart of fish type vs. pH count.

Results:

See below for data

Conclusion:

So far, so good. The test fish has floated to the top of the water and stayed there since. As you can see from the picture, veggies are growing and the water chemicals are staying very stable. Ammonia is the only chemical rising and lower in the water. The ammonia level is less than 0.95 ppm, which is within range for fish to survive. And they are. I have had no new fish terminations since the start.

A big influx of algae growth occurred about a week or so after the fish floated to the top. Plants are growing like crazy and there is no smell, so far.

Since the ammonia level is close to the limit of fish, I would not suggest pushing it and adding more dead fish. For this size tank, it appears that a 1.5 lbs fish for 500 gallons at 12 C is the maximum the system can handle right now. As time goes one, I’m sure there will be a system of units for measuring decomposition rates vs. nutrient absorption by the plants and algae.

Below is a picture of a pineapple guava used in a auto siphon and ceramic balls. It’s contained in its own pot. Since the fish experiment started, this plant has grown 6 inches. The pansies are added later.

Data charts:

Below is the data charts for this experiment and method. This experiment continues until the fish is totally decomposed. If you are interested in the upcoming results, you may want to bookmark this page and review it from time to time. In addition to the water chemistry, a list of pictures of the fish in various decomposing states are at the end of this posting

Date:Time	Nitrites	Nitrates	Ammonia	pH	Temperature	DM ppm	Picture/Description/Notes
11/25/2011 4:00 PM	0 ppm	0 ppm	0.15 ppm	8.2	16 C	271	Fish it laying on the bottom of the tank with algae growing all over it. It died in the morning of 11/25/2011.See Figure 1 for picture.
11/26/2011 7:00 AM	0 ppm	0 ppm	0.25 ppm	7.8	13 C	268	Fish is still on the bottom of the tank and is covered with algae.
11/27/2011 8:00 AM	0 ppm	0 ppm	0 ppm	7.6	13 C	274	All algae has cleared off the fish. Fish appears to be getting larger. Perhaps filling with gas. See Figure 2 for picture.
12/3/2011 8:00 AM	0 ppm	0 ppm	0.50 ppm	8.2	13 C	270	Algae is beiging to regrow on the fish. The fish is inflating with gasses. It has floated to the top. All of the other fish seem to do fine. There is a surge of algae growthing in the tank and in the planting beds. See Figure 3 for picture.
12/6/2011 8:00 AM	0 ppm	0 ppm	0.50 ppm	8.0	11 C	271	No change
12/14/2011 noon	0 ppm	0 ppm	0.50 ppm	8.0	11 C	283	Algae is beiging to regrow on the fish. The fish is inflating with gasses. It has floated to the top. All of the other fish seem to do fine. Decomposition be starting from the anus of the fish and working forward. Bubbles appear once in a while appearing to come from the fish.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3