Monday, February 16, 2015

Basement homestead

Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't have a basement in her dugout house. Or in her tar paper claim shanty. But if she did, I bet she would have tried her hand at aquaponics.

I am many things, but I am not a dabbler. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it. And it is going to be awesome! I read this post on aquaponics (and as I was reading it, P sent it to me because he was also reading it), and decided that I had to learn everything I could about it. And it's brilliant and simple--fish and vegetables all taking care of each other and feeding me.

Like most things that are simple, it quickly became complicated. I found the best stock tank EVER on craigslist for $50, and sent P off to get it in his SUV. Suzukis are big, right? And 150 gallons isn't really that huge, right? Ha! It took a second trip, with a homemade luggage rack on top of his car to get it.
Any tool can be the right tool. And why would you buy a fancy luggage rack for your car when you could make one out of 2x6s and some carpet scraps?
And I loved every minute of it. The problem solving, the craigslist haggling, the driving on surface roads all the way to the North Side from Burnsville with a tenuously attached stock tank on the roof….Laura would be so proud.




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