Portable Farms

[Landman]

Hi Guys

I picked this up off http://www.keelynet.com the other day and visited the company's website, which appears down today. Anyhow here's their information which for "localvores" should be of huge interest:

Portable Farms(TM) LLC announces the availability of their new invention, Portable Farms(TM) which offers an easy way to grow 100 pounds of home-grown fish and 400 heads of lettuce (or other table vegetables) per year in a small 6 foot x 8 foot space. Units can be scaled to feed several families, a small neighborhood, or an entire village. The fish and table vegetables can be eaten or sold locally to stores or restaurants. A Portable Farm(TM): * Is affordable and pays for itself * Requires only minimal upkeep (less than five minutes a day) * Requires only minimal space * No soil, no watering, no weeding, no fertilizers or pesticides, no hand feeding fish * Can be Solar Powered and fully automated * Offers a wide variety of choices of table vegetables * Raises Tilapia and catfish (both herbivores -- vegetarian fish) which can be raised on a vegetable protein plant (duckweed or algae). Portable Farms(TM) grows: Lettuce, basil, peppers, sage, parsley, cilantro and most herbs Flowering plants: tomatoes, strawberries, peas, squash, eggplants Colorful flowers Hybrid Tilapia or catfish, or other fish depending on availability and local regulations. For more information: http://www.portablefarms.com

As I said, the site is down at the mo'.

Also if you haven't visited http://www.keelynet.com yet - do so. Make sure you pan down the page properly to get to the good stuff. It's an incredible roundup and ongoing archive of all the latest technological innovations from around the globe - including a Japanese water-powered car - which means water-powered generators - which means free fuel, free heat, free food ... and a cost of living plummet ... and the final liberation of humankind from the yokes of oil baron dominance (now ... where's me red flag ...?). You'll also find energy gathering curtains, permanent light panels that don't require power and this ...

How plastic bags could solve fuel crisis
Mr Ketteringham, 75, had been working as a business consultant and came across the technology - which has been working in China for several years - through working with executives from a leading energy firm. He said: “They came across a working plant and the inventor, a Beijing professor, who had been awarded a diploma for his invention.” After engineers had checked out that the technology actually works, a market study of waste plastics in Europe was undertaken, and Mr Ketteringham was sufficiently impressed by the potential to form his company and acquire the world-wide patents for the process. He explained that all waste plastic, not just bags, could be used. Through a process operating under heat, called “catalytic cracking”, the shredded plastic was converted back into oil that could then be turned into high-grade diesel and petrol. A successful demonstration plant was operating in China. The next step was to upgrade the plant to meet European design standards. “The beauty is that the plastic bags don't have to be clean. They can be covered in grease and, in fact, a lot of plastic cement bags are used in China,” he said. One plant, costing about £5m to build, would be capable of processing all the waste plastic from an area as wide as Norwich, Yarmouth and Ipswich, and could produce about 1.5m gallons of fuel a year. Conversely the fuel could be used to generate more than three megawatts of electricity. If a local authority took up the technology it would have enough fuel to run all its vehicles as well as solving its waste plastic disposal problem. He said: “With oil prices soaring over $135 a barrel, we can produce it at $46 a barrel.”

Whoops sorry - this second bit doesn't belong in this part of the Forum .. but what the heck Life is about to get better!

[MKG]

Fascinating site!!! Got it bookmarked, as it'll take ages to read through.

And yes, the Portable Farm site is still not available.

[Thomzo]

Erm - is this a joke but this is off their website:

"Portable Farms™ LLC will NOT be developing and manufacturing their signature perfume, Eau de Ick."
The kit costs USD 2,000!

Still - food for thought

Zoe

[Landman]

Fascinating site!!! Got it bookmarked, as it'll take ages to read through.

And yes, the Portable Farm site is still not available.

Hi Doug

The website is up and running again

[Landman]

Erm - is this a joke but this is off their website:

"Portable Farms™ LLC will NOT be developing and manufacturing their signature perfume, Eau de Ick."
The kit costs USD 2,000!

Still - food for thought

Zoe

Hi Zoe,

The website's on line again. Your best bet would be to study the kit and system in great detail and see if you can replicate it using UK sourced parts - or, see if you can become the UK Agent and get your demo. unit at cost....

Micro farming goes on a lot in Canada - why when I bought a Cottage in the outback a few years ago, the woodshed was full of plant pots, thousands of them, and there were racks of nails along the wall, whilst back in the main barn I flicked the switch to be blinded by banks of fluorescent lighting ........ A neighbour said the two brothers were involved some joint venture ... I guess market gardening ???. .....

[Odsox]

Portable farms is an old idea, the "portable" bit is the only new idea as most systems use concrete tanks.
It probably works well in warmer climates but I don't think it would work too well in the British Isles as you would need to heat the water to about 25 - 27c to keep the fish alive all through the winter. Carp would probably be a better idea for northern climes, just like monks used to do many hundreds of years ago but I think they would need a bigger tank than most people could accommodate.
If you're 'into' hydroponics it does make sense to incorporate something else in the water though

[MKG]

Yep - started looking into this last night. Tilapia are out because of the heating needs pointed out by Odsox. Just about the only livestock I could come up with which would be worthwhile (unless you have a decade to wait) are Crayfish and European Catfish. Signal Crayfish may be OK for the south of the country where licencing has been relaxed - but certainly not this far north, where the native cray is still hanging on. The European Catfish is so popular now with anglers that they're paying an awful lot of money for small ones to introduce into their waters. So - not allowed one, can't afford the other.

Anyone know how to fillet a stickleback?

[Odsox]

Just had a closer look at the Portable Farm set up and I'm a bit sceptical about the fish rearing side of the venture.
The tanks must be pretty small to get it all in an 8 x 6 space and still have room to physically work. Also the fish "tanks" look to be more like barrels complete with lids and I would guess about 2 foot in diameter by say 2 foot high judging by their picture.
The Tilapia that I've bought in fishmongers are about a foot long, that seems to me to be the fish equivalent of battery farming and presumably in the dark too.

[MKG]

Agreed - that was my impression too. But only if you restrict yourself to a small space (8x6 might breed 100lbs of tilapia, but they'd be only four inches long, I think). My immediate thought, though, was that it would be easy to integrate this idea into a fairly large pond. But then you're into slow-growing temperate species - hence the catfish suggestion. If they weren't so expensive to buy as fry, I'd try it.

[Odsox]

Don't get me wrong, I think this is a good idea in principle. It's getting away from the monoculture that is so frowned upon by the permaculture brigade. I think most gardeners with a smallish greenhouse grow mainly tomatoes with maybe a cucumber tucked in a corner somewhere, as I do, which really is monoculture without most people realising it. Changing to hydroponics and using the water system to grow something else at the same time makes sense, and if chosen correctly is technically almost free.
As you pointed out, the challenge is finding the appropriate "something else"

[Thomzo]

Not being in to gutting fish, I was wondering if I could link up my existing ornamental pond in some way. At the moment there is a rather kitsch waterfall feature which needs a revamp as it is badly overgrown. The pump is clogged with algae so not being used and the whole pond is looking like a mess. It needs a good clear out.

I could use the existing pump (once cleaned) to pump the water through a series of chambers containing gravel and plant up those chambers with a mix of edibles and ornamentals.

Now, to find something to use as the chambers? The plastic trays they use are very practical but not very pretty if they are going to be part of the garden pond set up. Any suggestions?

Cheers
Zoe

[Ellendra]

I think the basic idea behind the system is good, but the kit they're selling is junk. I might try and modify the idea to raise perch or trout . . . hmmm . . .


Fish, fish, yummy nummy fish!

[Bluemoon]

Mmm, interesting, but I'll need more time to read it all properly. Thanks for this though.