Bread Rising Celebration Through the Eyes of Bread Tweeters

On Monday, March 7, Bread for the World celebrated a successful  #BreadRising capital campaign with a dinner featuring powerful reflections by Rev. Carlos Malavé (Christian Churches Together), Gayle Smith (U.S. Agency for International Development), Kelvin Beachum (professional football player and anti-hunger activist) and Rev. David Beckmann (Bread for the World). Talented musician Joy Ike also performed and offered a short reflection. Three...

Franciscan Sister Wins Food Netwoks Chopped Contest Seeks to Bring Attention to Issue of Hunger

"Perhaps being on national TV and winning this competition will bring some attention to the issue of hunger and to the reality that Gods love is so strong and so big, he can take this little nun from Chicago who never went to culinary school to compete. ... Literally nothing is impossible with God." -Franciscan Sister Alicia Torres Sister Alicia Torres,...

Homesteading Author Map

There are a lot of homesteading and gardening books out there in the sustainable living sphere of influence, many of which are very useful, very entertaining, or both.  However, it goes nearly without saying that a lot of the advice from an author in sunny, warm, dry southern California wont be the same as the advice from an author in rainy, cold...

Marking WorldAidsDay

Photo by Elaine VanCleaveGod of overflowing love, we come with joys and sorrows. We come in turmoil an d chaos, struggling to create one world in hope. Let your loving justice inspire our hearts as we pray...God of our hope, make us one as we walk with all who live with HIV or AIDS. Encourage our hearts and open our hands.  from Worship Resources...

Home operated fish farm can make money!

I have always been a supporter of small scale aquaculture farms used by family farmers to grow their own fresh fish for personal consumption or for sale. Fish farming can provide additional income to suplement that of an existing agriculture farm or it can be established as a Hobby Type part time business.Fish farms have been established using ponds...

Trellis Review

Earlier in the summer, we wrote about a multitude of trellises we were trying; some were based on well-thought-out designs, others were the fastest thing we could put together with what we had on hand.  Now that its the end of the season, which designs performed well, and which crashed and burned?  Lets take a look.The only ones that really...

Alternative Aquaculture Systems

Industry OverviewThe Aquaculture industry blossomed rapidly, and became a significant supplier of food over the last couple of decades. Aqua Farming is now practiced worldwide, each year it increases in scope and significance. The aquaculture industry grew out of necessity, the chief reason being that the traditional practice of hunting and gathering...

Commercial aquaponics

we specialize in the commercial integrated production of fish and plants, known as aquaponics.We are dedicated to providing the best services and information about aquaponics around the world. Our Director, , is an Dutch scientist with a PhD in Applied Biology, with a thesis topic specialising in the optimisation of commercial aquaponics systems....

How to start an aquaponic system

Starting an aquaponic systemIntroductionThis experiment is an introduction into the functions and management of a small aquaponic system. Like a home aquarium, an aquaponic system requires special attention in the first weeks, since the microbial community in the water and in the plant boxes need some time to get established.Learning goalsKnow why...

Garden Protection Plan

When we moved to our new place last August, we had just enough time to put in a small fall garden and get a few meals of kale from the 9 x 3 bed.  We also had enough time to raise a few meat chickens, and were planning on scaling up both endeavors considerably this spring.  Although it was a little painful through the fall to not have a full-size...

Pollination in an Aquaponics system

One of the challenges of growing in an indoor aquaponics environment is that we don’t have nature’s pollinators available to us. But is this a big problem for most aquaponic gardeners? It depends entirely on what you are growing. The only time that you need to worry about pollination is when you are growing a plant to harvest its fruit (e.g. tomatoes,...

Strata de Mayo

Well, it happened again.  We accidentally blinked, and another three weeks flew by.  Fortunately, we remembered just in time to post a strata recipe for May (or maybe we didnt depending on where Blogger thinks we are).  And no, we totally didnt plan to post this closer to Cinco de Mayo, when it would have made way more sense.  But...

Waste to green or ruin

Over 3000 years ago peoples in Asia began to practice poly culture, a process development in which they successfully learned how to recycle agriculture wastes to improve the yield obtained by farming a secondary source of protein( yet eventually equally or more important than the initial crop), that protein source was fish. Now let us go further back in an effort to explore the role of fish as a part of the diet: Fish and shellfish have been part...

500 liters Aquaponis setup Early days

After removing the NFT system i deceided to set up my next big, or rather my first big Aquaponics setup. A 500 liters fish tank with a 300 liters grow bed. The grow bed was filled with 20 mm grav...

Have Chicken Will Travel

We got back the other day from a wonderful trip home to Wisconsin to visit family and friends.  We usually make the sixteen-hour drive to and from Denver in one shot, alternating shifts and driving through the night.  Preparations for being away typically entail making snacks to keep us awake, packing clothes, gifts, and other food, and finding...

What Equipment You Need for an Aquaponics System

 What Equipment You Need for an Aquaponics SystemAn aquaponics system is a symbiotic marriage of plants and aquatic animals cultivated in a recirculating environment. There are various types of aquaponic systems used for growing vegetables or plants. Knowing how big you want your aquaponic system to be before you purchase it will allow you to...

Circus Performance to Benefit Five Albuquerque Organizations

Photo from Albuquerque Aerialist Collective websiteWhat do the circus and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity have in common?  The answer is this is the week when a fundraiser called Circo for the Community will take place at St. Johns United Methodist Church, 2626 Arizona St. NE (map), on Saturday, January 23, 6:00-8:30 p.m.  The next...

Homestead Happiness April Week 4

Plenty of bee-related news has us kind of giddy this week.Our new bee package arrived on Saturday.  The local distributor sold more than 1,500 packages, which meant it was a total zoo for picking them up, and that our bees will have some competition for the neighborhood flowers.  Still, its nice to see such an interest in beekeeping, and...

Videos from Interfaith Vigil in Old Town Albuquerque

A couple of days ago we posted a few images and quotes from the program at the Interfaith Vigil in Old Town in Albuquerque on the eve of Pope Francis Address to Congress on Sept. 24. Here are a couple of videos from the same event Sister Joan Brown welcomes participants and urges us to reach out to one another in the spirit of Pope Francis Donna Detweiler and Rev. Anita Amstutz led participants in the Interfaith Vigil in Old Town Albuquerque on...

Pictures of my first Aquaponics growbed

Here are a few pics of how the 70 liter Aquaponic system looked a few months after it was setup.I had to also build a cage around it to keep it from being destroyed by monkeys. Yes we have some monkey trouble here once in a whi...

April May Linkage

We didnt get the April linkage post out in a timely fashion, so here is a special two-month edition of the links we love. (Arent you lucky?)Hope you love them, too! Steam distiller for essential oilsDans Workshop blogWheat Hay for GoatsWhat to do with not-so-good tomatoes Root Simple Hot SauceGrafting plums and pearsPropagating a shiitake mushroom log for freeHow to grow morel mushrooms (forgot to include this one originally!)Annas most reliable...

Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces Summarizes Pope Francis Visit to the U S

In a piece published in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Blog "To Go Forth," Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces summarized Pope Francis visit to the United States on Sept. 24-27. Bishop Cantú wrote the piece in his capacity as chair of the USCCBs Committee on International Justice and Peace.  Here are  the themes that Bishop Cantú summarized...

Water Wheel Prototype

19th century water power is alive and kicking!....er, spinning! My water powered biowheel* prototype is complete. Pumped water powers this overshot-style wheel (I'm not quite ready for the Pelton wheel yet), which turns two attached drums. The drums are wrapped with multiple layers of fiberglass screen to provide surface area for nitrifying bacteria to colonize. As the wheel rotates, the bacteria will get a...

Homestead Happiness April Week 1

Overwintered crops, physical acquisition of seeds, workable soil, and gypsy ducks made us happy this week.The chard and garlic under the row cover are really taking off.Compared to the stuff planted the same week last fall outside the row cover, this garlic is at least an order of magnitude larger.  Plus, the chickens may have eaten the unprotected...