Aquaponics - GreenHouse!

Remember, that Aquaponics greenhouse we were building. Well, it's up and running!!!!

Here are some updates!

There are plants growing. They were planted on 7/14/2017 and sprouted 6 days later on 7/20/2017.
Unfortunately, there was an incident on 7/26 Wednesday where the water got left on at a trickle and the sump tank flooded causing the 10 or Koi fish that we had to not survive due to temperature changes.

The plants are doing well and seem to be growing. We got a nitrate and ammonia testing kit to monitor the chemical levels. We will get some goldfish hopefully tomorrow. They should be more hardy than the Koi.

We got 33 bags, a whole pallet, of hydroton. They are expanded clay pellets. To wash them, Nick constructed a special sieve to wash off the powder that coats them as that is not healthy for the system.
The pallet filled up 5 of the tanks that we have set up.

Chair Re-upholstery

Our chairs were looking pretty yucky. So one day we just decided to re-do them. We got some fabric from hobby lobby. Our criteria for fabric was that it be easy to wipe down. We got the pneumatic stapler tool from Harbor Freight and some staples and spent 2 night redoing the chairs. We would have been done in one evening, but one of the chairs needed a new seat completely, which we cut out using a jig saw from a piece of plywood and two chairs needed new cushioning, which we cut out from 1" cushioning we got from hobby lobby. On the super broken chair that needed plywood, we double stacked the cushioning to make it super comfy.
The overall process was pretty easy and after we got the hang of the folding and pulling tight it was fairly simple.

We purchased 2 yards of fabric and that was enough to cover 6 chairs with fabric left over. We were lucky because 1 yard could be divided into quarters and each of those covered our chairs perfectly.
We did 4 of the same chairs and then 2 mismatched ones.

After

Before

New in the front, old in the back

Old 

Flax Seed Warming Pillows

For Christmas, we made some flax seed heating pillows (some with lavender in them!). They were really fun to make! We got flax seed from our local Sprouts and the materials from Hancock Fabrics a while ago. The flaxseed we got is a little moist, so the first few times they are warmed up in the microwave they may be moist, but after that they should be dry. The pillows are great for sore muscles and stay warm for up to an hour under covers. If desired, they can also be stored in the freezer and used as a cold pack when needed. We used all cotton fabric and string in order to make sure they would not melt in the microwave.
We sewed up 3 sides (inside out) on the sewing machine, on the 4th side, we left a hole enough to fit in a funnel to get the flax seeds in there.
After filling with flax seeds (and lavender (optional)) we sewed up the hole on the sewing machine as closely as we could so the ridge would not be noticeable.

Final Product

Our Gifts!

Wrapped in a bow!

Sewing machine setting

Sewing machine setting 2

Sewing machine setting 3

sewed on 3 sides

empty pillow

open hole for flax seed pouring

Flax seeds

material 

material

Aquaponics Green House

We are currently in the process of building a green house which will house our aquaponics system.
We have currently put up our frame for the green house, still need to put up the side walls and doors, then it can be covered in plastic. The greenhouse will hold growbeds made out of IBC totes and fish tank from the food grade IBC Tote.

Here is what it currently looks like 12/8/2016: