July Aquaponic Update

Those people who follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram know I started an aquaponic system earlier this year. An aquaponic system is a closed ecosystem where fish and plants are raised together. The system is self sustaining, and after it gets going it will accelerate as the fish grow, nitrogen fixing bacteria become better established, etc. If you are interested in learning more about these systems, The Aquaponic Source hosts a large discussion forum and provides many other resources.

I set my aquaponic system up in January, but it did not successfully "cycle" until mid-May due to some errors I made in maintaining the system chemistry. Cycling is the process of getting the nitrogen fixing bacteria established to convert fish urine to nitrites and nitrates. Without it, no fertilizer is created to support plant growth and ammonia builds up, eventually killing the fish.

The results of successfully cycling my system have been dramatic. After having about ten fish die as a result of excess ammonia, the remaining 25-30 tilapia are thriving, and have roughly quadrupled in size. The plants are mostly thriving, growing quickly and appearing healthy and vigorous.

The two biggest exceptions to my comment about the plants thriving are two culinary perennials I planted before the system cycled, kaffir lime and curry leaf plant. Both of these are used in Asian cooking, and the curry leaf is critical to South Indian cuisine. The kaffir lime is surviving, but not thriving (above). The leaves have yellow speckles and it has only put out a few new leaves (which seem to appear an entire branch at a time).

The curry leaf plant (not pictured) I think is almost dead. It puts out a few new leaves, but they have been curling up and falling off. Now that the system has cycled I am going to try starting with a fresh plant.

My tomatoes are a mixed story. The plants and foliage are growing vey well, and the few fruit are juicy and delicious. However, few new fruit are setting. My theory is I planted too many plants, and the system is too recently established to provide the nutrient density to support active fruit production. I am going to try pulling out most or all of the current plants, and seeing if a few plants of small tomato varieties can produce better. Photos below show the few fruit produced, and the dense tomato foliage with few fruit.

Herbs have been my biggest success so far. We now use basil from the aquaponic system, including Italian, red and Thai for cooking and garnish. It is absolutely thriving. Our thyme is more vibrant than any thyme I have grown outside, and we also have Mexican oregano and tarragon that are doing well. The only exceptions on the herb front are cilantro and parsley. They have just not done well. I am not sure the problem, and I am going to try these again starting myself from seed rather than buying plants.

I also have two other plants that so far are doing well. I have a recently planted jalapeno that has started to flower and put our new leaves. I will be interested to see if it suffers the same problem as the tomatoes, all leaves and no fruit. I also planted lemon grass, and it loves its new environment. I have a suspicion that within a few months it may take over more space than I want to give it. Fortunately it is a versatile plant and I am sure I can find ways to use however much I can produce. If nothing else it makes great gin & tonics.

Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls - Rams Head Live, 6/6/2013

I took Will and his friend Jamie to see Frank Turner and his band in Baltimore on 6 June. I have to say, it is wonderful to have a child with great taste in music. I can't imagine my dad taking me to a concert when I was 15 and both of us having a blast. (Actually my dad was great, but he never took me to any rock concert.) Jamie's dad is also a Frank Turner fan, and saw several of his SXSW shows, but unfortunately had a conflict and could not make this date.

I love seeing bands in bars or clubs. I have pretty much given up on arena shows unless I can get tickets in the first 10 rows. I would rather be in a place that is general admission and I can get close enough to see every detail of the performance, the emotion of the band and feel the energy of the performance. The best time to see a band in a club is when they are just breaking, and maybe won't be playing clubs much longer. Frank Turner is certainly in this category. He is already playing arenas in his native England. Here he is with his band earlier this year at Wembley.

Rams Head is of course far smaller than Wembley, but Frank Turner was on fire, and the audience was totally into the show. Will and Jamie knew every lyric, and there was plenty of audience participation.

Frank Turner is a very high energy performer, but I find it a little difficult to categorize his music. A simple description would be English Folk Rock, but then Fairport Convention is in that category, and Turner is far edgier and very contemporary. He comes to more traditional music via a punk band and brings a punk attitude. However he is very well educated (Eton) and his music and lyrics are deeply anchored in English history and culture. I described him to someone as an English Springsteen, and while imperfect I do think there is some truth in that comparison. He calls his music English Country which I guess works too.

All of The Sleeping Souls were tight. The photo above is drummer Nigel Powel, and I also especially like their guitarist Ben Lloyd, who barely ever stood still and is partially blurred in every photo including the one below.

Frank Turner is big fan of tattoos, and even has a song 'Tattoos' on his latest album which sounds pretty biographical. I think I saw a mention in his Twitter or IG feed on getting some new ink recently on his current US tour. Anyway, the art on his arms when he is playing is pretty cool.

Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls are back in the Washington area on 1 August at the Fillmore in Silver Spring, MD. Details here. He and his band are great live performers, with interesting original songs.

June Aquaponic Update

It has been over ten weeks since ANY blog update, and more than that since an update on my aquaponic system. I have made a lot of progress.

After several frustrating months trying to get the system to cycle (establish nitrifying bacteria to convert fish waste into nitrites and nitrates) I sought help from the internet (specifically The Aquaponic Gardening Community). I was to the point where fish waste was building up, raising ammonia levels in the water causing the fish to start dying. And my plants were not growing at all.

Fortunately the main fix was easy. My water pH was too low, the nitrifying bacteria could not live, and hence no cycling. When I fixed the pH, it was pretty amazing how fast the cycling progressed, really over a period of only 3 - 4 weeks. Once the system began to produce nitrates, the plant growth exploded.

The above photo shows a small kaffir lime plant. The leaves in the background were on the plant when I put it in the grow bed. Before the system chemistry was corrected, they were turning white and falling off. I thought the plant was going to die. The healthy left foreground leaves have all appeared in the last six weeks.

Lettuce was one of the first things I planted in the system, probably in February. The plants did nothing, barely staying alive, until the system cycled. Now they are thriving. It is really too warm for lettuce and it is a little bitter, but it is great to see it growing so fast and know that in the fall and winter I will be able to produce great salad greens.

I have planted Thai and Italian basil, and both are growing quickly. These are the first plants I am really harvesting and using. The basil is delicious, and it is so great to be able to cut it, chop it, and have caprese salad with fresh basil and none of the waste that comes from buying bunches of basil at the farm market or grocery store.

My tomato foliage is thiving, and the plants are starting to set fruit, though I have had far more flowers so far than I have baby tomatoes. I understand that it takes a while to create enough nutrients in an aquaponic system to support fruit growth (as opposed to just foliage like basil or lettuce). I also think I was overly ambitious with the number of tomato plants I planted. I need to thin them out in the hopes that those remaining will have enough nutrients to set and produce fruit, but it is a hard decision to pull out plants (even though I would try to move them to outdoor containers).

This post has focused on the plants, but my tilapia are also much healthier since I sorted out the system chemistry. They are growing, and I think have doubled in size (at least) since I introduced them to the system a couple of months ago. I did have about a dozen die before I got the system working correctly, but I still have 25-30.

I have a few further corrections to make, and I continue to experiment with plants. I ordered chelated iron which I am hoping will help a few plants that are turning yellow or still not thriving (parsley, cilantro, curry leaf). I added two lemon grass plants today, and I think they will do well. Actually hoping they don't do too well - I have a suspicion I will be dividing them frequently. I have other herbs that are well established, including some tarragon and Mexican oregano. Overall while the system has a ways to go, I am at least seeing its potential, and the fantastic pace at which plants grow in an aquaponic system.

Eating & Learning in Boston's North End

With a recent work trip to India followed immediately by Spring Break, I am behind on updating this blog. After my return from India Will and I visited my sister Edie in Massachusetts, and now I am in SoCal for four days.

In Boston, Will and I enjoyed a guided food tour of the North End, then returned the next day with Edie to explore further, and do some shopping. I am really becoming a fan of guided city tours. Our tour in Boston was provided by Michele Topor's Boston Food Tours, and our tour guide was Jim Becker. The tour was packed with information about Italian food and the history of Boston's North End. Jim was a great teacher and entertaining guide.

I especially appreciated the fact that Jim worked hard to steer clear of the more touristy aspects of the North End. Authentic is an overused word that is hard to define. Authentic Italian American cuisine is certainly not authentic Italian cuisine, but it is also a step up from from 'tourist' Italian American cuisine. Jim was great at explaining the differences and how they developed over time.

My son Will asks "why do you have to take pictures of everything". After looking at the photos I took in the North End, my personal reaction was "damn, I was paying so much attention to Jim that I missed a lot of photos I should have taken". With that said, I did get a few good shots, and of course recollections of the places we visited. These are actually a composite of the tour and returning the next day to shop, eat and reprise the tour with my sister.

Polcari's Coffee

Polcari's Coffee is one of my favorite spots in the North End. I had been there previously, but learned a lot more on this tour. Polcari's has been in operation since 1932, selling coffee (of course), spices, grains and other dry goods. Walk in, and you are engulfed in sweet smells of coffee, cinnamon and other spices and the sense of being transported back in time by the wood floor, glass canisters and variety of bulk spices and dry goods.

**Part of Polcari's Huge Selection of Spices and Dry Goods**

At each place we visited, Jim provided some interesting food lore. His background as a chef was certainly evident and helped make the tour far more than a series of visits to interesting shops. One of the key lessons at Polcari's was on the difference between Cassia Cinnamon and Ceylon (real) Cinnamon. They are both tree bark, and have similar flavors and aromas, but cassia is less expensive and is commonly sold as cinnamon. I knew they were different, but had never compared them head to head. Smelling cassia side by side with real cinnamon was a revelation. The aroma of cassia made me think of fireballs and other cinnamon candy. The aroma of real cinnamon brought to mind the best pastries or cinnamon flavored rice pudding. It was a little milder, but also more complex with scents of a range of spices and flowers. In the future for baking and desserts I will be using Ceylon Cinnamon.

One of the wonderful aspects of the North End tour was how friendly everyone was in the shops we visited. I wanted to take a picture of the old scale at Polcari's. The nice guy behind the counter (whose name I embarrassingly failed to get) staged the scale with espresso beans, and then posed in the photo.

Monica's

Monica's Mercato and two associated restaurants are the collective project of the Mendoza Brothers, whose mother and family are Italian immigrants to the North End via Argentina. Part of our take home dinner on Friday came from Monica's Mercato, and we visited Tratorria di Monica for lunch on Saturday. All of their food was drool-worthy.

I can vouch for the sign that says "Best Italian Sub in Boston". Will and I shared one on Friday, and it was delicious. The Mendozas have their own bakery, and the sub roll and contents were both excellent. I am not eating much wheat these days, but the North End was a justifiable excuse to cheat.

One of Jim's lessons at Monica's Mercato was on the difference between salami and sopressata. While both are cured sausage, salami is typically made with ground meat and has a fine grain texture while sopressata is made with chopped meat and hence has a course texture.

Monica's Mercato (like most of the places we visited) had a small interior, but it was densely packed with delicious and colorful food.

Trattoria di Monica

We had lunch Saturday at Trattoria di Monica. Our wonderful waitress (another name fail on my part) said the broccoli rabe with sausage over sweet potato gnocchi was her favorite. I would have been sold anyway, and it was delicious. Will had a sausage sub, which as normal with him disappeared before I had even noticed its arrival. That seems to happen with 14 year old boys and food.

Jim took us to a lot of other places in the North End. We ate wicked pastries at Maria's, met Albie at Alba's Produce, learned the difference between the two types of real balsamic vinegar at DePasquale's and tasted delicious limoncello at Cirace & Son. When people retire to Florida it baffles me. If I ever have the luxury of retirement, I will move to somewhere like the North End where I can be in the midst of a continuous lesson in delicious food and wine.

The photos below show more of the mouthwatering North End neighborhood.