New Arrivals

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Last week we were already in the mood to prepare for next Spring. In fact, we had already started a tray of various vegetable and herb seedlings in our Growing Spaces greenhouse dome. We continued our endeavor this week by adding the second element to what will be a closed loop ecosystem: fish.

Early, we had settled on Tilapia as our fish species of choice. The reasons were many fold: they have been used in Aquaponic systems before (so there is a lot of information and data); they mature rapidly (within 6 months under proper conditions); they are easy to breed (one female will produce 200-1000 eggs per spawn and will spawn every 4-5 weeks); and finally, they are a good source of protein (their white flesh and "non fishy" taste have made them a popular dish).

There are many varieties of Tilapia and we settled on the more popular species, the Blue Tilapia. So this week we picked up 300 Blue Tilapia "fingerlings" and added them to the large water tank in our greenhouse.

Blue Tilapia Fingerling (DoA)

We expected some losses as we gradually introduced the fish to their new surroundings. By the time we emptied the bag containing the fingerlings, a half dozen or so were already dead. Nevertheless the majority looked to be in perfect shape swimming in schools as they found their new freedom in our 3000 gallon tank (in a tank this size we can accommodate over 1000 fish). At the time, the tank temperature had gradually gone up to 16.5 degrees (some 3 degrees higher than the previous week).

Water temperature has now become a major concern. Optimum temperature for Tilapia is over 20 degrees C. Last week, we were concerned about the survival of our fish and with the cold weather now upon us, temperature fluctuations to below 15 degrees is a great concern. Because the greenhouse is operated "off the grid", it is impossible for us to adequately heat such a large volume of water.

In any case, we are pushing ahead hoping that some fish will survive what will be 3 grueling winter months. If they do, they stand a much better chance next year when the water tank has had one full summer of exposure to warm temperatures (our tank was filled with our cold well water in September). Also, once we have one full year of operational experience, we will have a better feel for the type of fish which may survive our environmental conditions on a year-long basis.

In order to begin filtering some of the fish waste we decided to add some water plants to the tank. We opted for Duck Weed which apparently Tilapia also enjoy as a source of food.

Our water tank is showing signs of life with both Tilapia and Duck Weed

We are now monitoring things very closely. Right now, the cold water is just not conducive to much activity from the Tilapia.

In the meantime, the environment in the dome itself remains conducive to plant growth. Our original potted plants (fennel and strawberries) are doing very well and the seeds planted last week have started to germinate.

Lettuce and others have started germinating

On the farming front, it was also time to prune our Kiwis, starting with those newly trellised last year. This is where we now get a better feel for where and how these fruits grow. Kiwis grow on the third year shoot of a vine. These vines can be distinguished by their colour. The most recent shoots are lighter brown and the older vines turn grey.

Late harvest Kiwis showing the different year growth of their vines

Even though the Kiwis have taken very well to their new trellises, the pruning process is still very difficult. When we extracted the Kiwis from rampant Wild Grapes and Roses last year, we were left with unstructured vines which had not be pruned for many years. The result is that it may take a few years for us to properly train all of these vines (while maintaining fruit production).

The old Kiwi vines have taken very well to the new trellises, but it will take years to train them

As far as the Ward Manor is concerned, we are finally coming to the end of the outside renovations.

The wood working and troughs are almost done. Gord (one of the talented workers on the Tucker Construction team) commented that it must have taken them years to finish the wood work back in the 19th century; even with modern tools, he considered it an incredible task to rebuild all of the external finishes.

Some of the rebuilt and restored external finishes waiting to be installed

The wood was also painted with a primer and we expect to do the final painting in Spring (where we will be changing the colour to something more appropriate of the times). Meanwhile, the team also worked on fitting new storm windows to protect their Victorian counterparts and provide a touch more insulation.

Fitting new storm windows

All that will remain is the iron work and the rebuilding of some columns for the west wing veranda.

This progress has allowed us to commit to the next phase of the project: landscaping.

Our effort here is focused on the back ridge which is a mess and the front of the barn where we have an ineffective parking lot. So this week, we started work on some "hardscaping" of the parking area.

Extending the delineated parking area on front of the barn

Because of the gradients involved (both on front of the barn and on the ridge behind the house), we've started to take the first of many deliveries of massive armour stone. Luckily we have ample space to temporarily store these.

Our first stone delivery

I will close this week with an amusing event. One evening, Christine screamed as she entered the dining room.  It turns out, we had a bat in the house. I'm not sure how it got there, but perhaps all of the work on the outside of the house scared the little rodent and forced him to find a more suitable shelter.

Either way, it was an evening of comedic dance as two full grown adults try to capture and/or chase a little bat out of the house. You don't often see that in the city.

A small bat, comfortable atop our study

PS. It turned out that the best way to calm the bat was to turn the lights on. He proceeded to make himself comfortable atop our study. Once there, things were a lot easier for us.