Backyard aeroponics: self-sustaining farm for Wisconsin cold
Tips, Tricks
Benjamin Staffeldt grew up on a farm and works in a garden center so when he and his wife Sara moved into a rental home (a duplex), it was only natural he'd want to start farming his (shared) backyard. They began with containers and then bought a kit greenhouse to extend the growing season and were selling to local supermarkets and restaurants, but the heating bills to farm during Wisconsin winters (with temperatures as low as -70°F) was cutting sharply into their profits. They knew they had to maximize greenhouse space so they decided to grow vertical and to grow differently. They experimented with hydroponics and finally settled on aeroponics. "So aeroponics is similar to hydroponics using water rather than soil, but it's mist," explains Benjamin. "It's a mist that comes on inside the growing chamber, and it comes on every 3 minutes for 10 seconds, it's a really high oxygen water that's hitting that root. The method was actually developed and is being used by NASA because it uses so much less water and the speed of growth is much faster." To fully customize the growing experience, they added a thermal wrap to their aeroponics towers which helps refract light to help keep the temperature stable within the grow chambers. They're now growing enough in their 10' by 12' greenhouse for farming to be Sara's full-time job. They're hoping to commercialize their hybrid system- what they call Art Garden. It's geared toward those looking to grow in a cold climate and in a small space (one unit fits into 4 square feet). This is all part of an increasingly customized growing world that Ben hopes might make farmers out of more of us. Art Garden: http://artgardenllc.wix.com/artgarden#!d-lets-talk/c1a9w Original story: http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/...
Comments
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great stuff. did your cucumbers and tomAtoes bear well?
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That doest look worthy of doing in winter
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It would be interesting to see if you could make one that would split apart to see if you could also grow the root vegetables.
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I doubt this is very cost effecient :/
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Interesting setup.
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Great video & truly inspiring. Thank you!
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just goes to show you that if you want something you will find a way. good job & thanks for the information.
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So how often are you watering inside the barrels?
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this seems so unnatural ..
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love what you have done. Would love to see it.
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Great video man!! You should look into growing watercress, the stuff will grow right through the winter in the right conditions. I live in Northwestern Ma and it is December right now and I just harvested some wild watercress from a stream. I am thinking about cultivating watercress in a little greenhouse with an aeroponics setup. Watercress is one of the most nutritive plants on earth.
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Beware of government making it illegal to have your own garden, let alone using your own land to grow food for sale. In the 1920s it was made illegal for farmers to grow wheat for feeding to their own farm animals. The left is so evil in their attempt to control and regulate the free activities of people. The main worry I see with your system, is being sued if someone gets sick or dies, or just thinks they got sick, from eating your food. You could be sent to financial ruin for the rest of your life if that happens. How do you protect against that?
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Just awesome 😊
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Awesome video. Love the personal touch!
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you may grow one or two good plants its when you try for 12 or more that it start to become a battle with just about everything to get a good harvest or any harvest
birds wind sun water bees hail what else could go wrong it it can go wrong it will go wrong best way to look at it and then some times you just get nothing back from it - grew one good cabbage then next year went for 20 and what do you know caterpillars so much
more than expected --- poison -
it's actually spray-ponics aka low pressure aeroponics. But nice job all the same
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For winter growing they need to paint everything they can black or reflective. They need to insulated the north wall heavily. Most cases theres no point of a paneled north wall. Use more concrete and radiant heat. Focus on trapping the suns heat in the winter during the day. Make sure every single hole is sealed. even tiny ones can cause more heat loss then you think. Great Stuff is really useful there.
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Maybe you could use a biomeiler to heat your greenhouse
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This is so awesome. I wish I had the ambition to do this. Good on you folks.
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hi are you using your buster pump aquatec 8800?and if you can tell me where did you put the misting heads? thanks
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