At the end of July we had a major debacle with the aquaponic system. I was topping off the water in the system, and left the water running. Tap water has lots of chemicals that are poisonous to fish, and unfortunately I woke up to a whole lot of dead tilapia. It is a testament to the overall resilience of these systems that not only is the system back on track, it is healthier than ever.
I ordered forty new tilapia from White Brook Tilapia Farm, and within a couple of days had closer to fifty new fish. They have thrived, and are eating voraciously. My impression is that they have doubled in size (at least) in the past three weeks.
All of our plants are growing very quickly. Foliage is still doing better than fruit, and my Curry Leaf plant is still at death's door, but herbs, cucumbers and lemon grass are going crazy. I culled three tomato plants, and the remaining plants have already filled the free space. I still have more tomato foliage than fruit, but there are a few small tomatoes which I am hoping will grow.
The standout plants right now are my two cucumber vines.
Cucumber Jungle
The cucumber plants seem to be growing faster and faster as the vine gets bigger. They have many flowers, and are starting to set fruit.
Baby Cucumber
The little tiny cucumbers are popping up all over the vine, and I am expecting them to continue to grow quickly. In addition to the cucumbers, the basil is thriving and like the other herbs is one of the crops we are already using regularly in our cooking.
Italian Basil
We picked a big bunch of basil today and made roast salmon with pesto for dinner. It was essentially just salmon filet with pesto spread on top and baked at 350 to a 135 degree internal temperature. The baked pesto does not end up the prettiest shade of green, but the taste is fantastic. Eva wolfed her portion and went back for seconds. Not often we have such an enthusiastic reaction to such healthy food.