Nathan Wrzesinski

Oyster mushrooms drastically reduce e.coli concentrations and it is ridiculously easy to grow.

Grow the other species in bags first. Once you have harvested the bags, soak them in compost tea then break them into spawn chunks and bury them mixed in wood shavings (not Cedar or Juniper shavings).

Oyster is very aggressive, it will even stun and digest nematode worms. Your other species needs a healthy running start if you already have established oyster mycelium.

Use the same media in your bag as you are going to be spawning to outside. Mushrooms can turn on/off dna code to grow better in their environment. if you spawn to the same substrate, it will already know what to do.

Feed your oyster colony wood chips, coffee grounds, and dead leaves.

Happy Hunting!

Go to your local restaurants around the area and ask if any of the food comes in 5 gallon buckets (think pickles, jalapenos, soy sauce, you name it)
Cut up your seed potato (or leave it whole) and put them at the bottom of the bucket and sprout them.
As the plant grows, add soil above. I have been wondering about stacking them and having the potato grow through. but I don't have a whole lot of garden space right now.
Maybe I could do them in a milk crate that shares its walls growing arugula and spinach. I'll find the space just to try it out.


This lady got an 8x yield from her bucket potatoes!
http://livingthefrugallife.blogspot.com/2009/09/potato-buckets-experimental-yields.html

Here is a post I found from http://madbioneer.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-have-been-growing-mushrooms-for-years.html reaffirming the thought I had that worms ate mycelium.

"They eat the mycelium, weakening the mycelium and reducing its ability to produce mushrooms."

When looking for that link I found this one about oyster mushrooms that I thought was very interesting.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-stamets/oyster-mushroom_b_2522084.html

Where in it says that the oyster mushroom eats nematodes by stunning it with a chemical excretion and invading its body through it's orifices. So mixing live oyster mushroom mycelium and worms is probably a bad idea, they will go to war with each other and one will win.

However dead mycelium cant excrete and becomes easy worm food.

http://mtbest.net/worm_farm.html

Yes, you can! Mount best has a system in what appears to be a 2500 gallon tank.

We are stupendously excited to announce that Project Upcycle has moved out to Ceres park ranch!
We have spent the last week cleaning and organizing the lab and can finally show some pictures!



The view from the outside looking in. The pallets are being used for everything, but the best pallets are being saved for the "Lets raise a (tiny) house" series we want to record. We plan on raising a tiny house on a trailer with internals in 24 hours time. The house is going to be raffled off to raise money for a shipping container that we can convert into a sealed modular house that we would be able to document and compare different insulation systems. We would like to get a flatbed trailer to put it on so we could tow it around the country teaching people about renewable energies!



3000 bottles, stacked and organized off the ground. We are collecting them for some fellow upcyclers that will be turning them into glassware!


And it wouldn't be Project Upcycle without some positive graffiti. Hakuna Matata is Swahili for "there are no worries"

Lookup the better bell siphon.

Double post

Eric Gerber wrote:Hi all,

I am planning my aquaponics setup. I am in Central Texas,

Eric

Why are you trying to fight nature? ALL Tilapia is illegal in Texas without a permit. It is a serious pest, and it doesn't like our weather (above ground tanks aren't subject to the geothermal cooling that lakes are, your water temperatures will rise to reach equilibrium as your air temperatures rise. )

Which brings me to my next point. Texas Perch, Bluegill, and Catfish. All of these fish are accustomed to living in the Texas heat and taste delicious. Not only that, but you can go out fishing and catch your tank stock.

If you absolutely insist on Tilapia and you get the permit, you could also geothermally maintain the temperature in your tanks. Dig down below the freeze line (rent a backhoe) and bury several water holding tanks with a volume greater than that of your fish tanks. These will make up your heat sink and cool/heat your water. (The temperature below the freeze line around here is 68 degrees year round) circulate water from this tank to your fish tanks to maintain water temperature. By controlling the flow, you can control the temperature and recreate the environment these fish can thrive in. Another advantage is that you can stock more fish in your above ground tank because the plants have more time to filter it.

Matthew Clark wrote:Wouldn't mosquitoes and the disease they spread be a problem with this system in use in a tropical environment?

Actually, the opposite happens. The fish eat the mosquitoes, eggs, and larvae. The mosquito populations drop dramatically when using aquaponics systems. If countries that have problems with malaria would promote a national aquaponics campaign, thousands of people's lives could be saved every year.

Fun fact: Only female mosquitoes bite.