Progress Report FISH

I attended the 2nd Annual Aquaponics Association Conference last weekend in Denver and learned some new things about my hobby. One of the sections addressed the care and feeding of rainbow trout. Today Spring Lake Trout Fishery delivered more than 60 trout ranging in size from 2 inches to more than 4 inches. They are slender little things but they will grow large and fat if they survive. Fortunately my water temperature is in the right range, which is likely a bit too cold for my tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberry vines and probably explains why only the bed of mint is truly thriving. I redesigned my grow trays, making them hold more water in keeping with the idea that they are semi-deep water culture instead of being NFT. I purchased seed for growing winter crops that the trout lecturer indicated were successful crops to use with trout. A raccoon or some similar pest got into my greenhouse a couple of weeks ago on the night when my latest grandson was born. All but two inches of the fish tank were emptied. Fortunately the gold fish I already had in the tank survived. At this point the gold fish are fat and doing well, but the Spring Lake man indicated that as the trout grow larger they will probably eat the gold fish.

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Death of a Tree

My neighbor on the north died this past year and now the great tree in his yard is also going. It is a mighty Chinese Elm. It has taken nearly a week for the tree to have all but the major branches removed. Perhaps I should mourn for the tree, but it had long since passed the dimensions common to the breed. Towering far above the 60 maximum. It is likely it was nearly the end of its life span in any case. But though I should feel some sorrow for the passing of such a magnificent specimen, I cannot regret it. The tree produced prolifically, sending the white discs of its seeds drifting through the neighborhood like a pernicious snow. The bottom picture shows the seeds caught in a coco fiber basket. This is not atypical coverage, and each seed can produce a little weed with a strong root that invades gardens and lawns. Somehow it even produced seedlings in my aquaponics grow bins which I seek out and remove. Good riddance tree.

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