Hydroponic/Acquaponic Giveaway

KP's Simply Fresh
S 6234 County Road PF
North Freedom, WI 53951

I'm the secretary of the nonprofit Troubled Times, Inc which a decade ago ran a hydroponic and aquaponic lab in my basement. We were even featured in the Baraboo News Republic, as you were recently. This lab has been closed for almost a decade and the equipment set aside, idle. We are looking for a home for this equipment, as it is clear it will not be used again in a lab setting in my home, and has been reduced in value over the years by depreciation. Frankly, I am looking to give this away, to a good home, and was given permission by the Board to do so to the University of Wisconsin, who considered the gift but declined (dialog below). I will forward the email with attached photos I sent to the BooU rep. If you could use any of this equipment, please let me know. The fish tank setup was similar to what I see from your website http://kpsimplyfresh.com/index.html including a filtering system with PVC pipe between the filter and tanks.

 

The big result from our efforts was to learn that one could make their own hydroponic nutrient solution from worm compost beds! We ran 3 parallel growing cycles, simultaneously - commercial hydroponic solution, worm bed drainage solution, and plants grown in the water recycling from and to the fish tanks from the filtering system. I personaly counted buds, leaves, and produce for comparison, and the worm beds equaled the commercial solution, though the worm bed solution produced a slight yellow tinge to some of the leaves. We also learned that galvanized tanks in a closed system will not work as zinc leaked into the water eventually killed our catfish.

 

Nancy Lieder

 

Nancy Lieder
Monday, August 02, 2010 8:36 AM
RE: Troubled Times GIFT of Hydroponics and Aquaponics Equipment - Photos

Being new to the area, I don't yet know much about local non-profit organizations who would be able to use it. The only ones I'm familiar with are the Leopold Center and the ICF, which I'm sure you've inquired with. Another possibility might be a local food co-op? We had several discussions about taking the hydroponics system off your hands for University use. It sounded like a great idea, but ultimately we have decided that we don't currently have the proper resources in terms of staff and facilities space to operate and care for it. Thank you for offering it to us.

 

Best regards,
Asst. Campus Dean for Administrative Services
University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County

 

University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 9:25 AM
Re: Troubled Times GIFT of Hydroponics and Aquaponics Equipment - Photos

If the University system can't house this equipment, do you know of any nonprofit that would be interested?

 

Nancy Lieder

 

Nancy Lieder
Monday, June 14, 2010 1:05 PM
RE: Troubled Times GIFT of Hydroponics and Aquaponics Equipment - Photos

I have forwarded the information to several of our faculty and the Dean. We are all interested but we need to answer our internal questions (where will it be housed, who takes care of it, etc.) before we give a definite yes. I will hopefully be able to get an answer to you in the next couple of days.

 

Best regards,
Asst. Campus Dean for Administrative Services
University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County

 

University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County
Saturday, June 12, 2010 8:45 AM
Troubled Times GIFT of Hydroponics and Aquaponics Equipment - Photos

Here's some photos of the equipment: Hydroponics: P71..350 and P71..344 P606..8 and P606..10 in action. Lots of fun down there in my otherwise dank basement! Acquaponics have several parts. The cow watering thanks of course will be scapped here for metal. They leak zinc in a closed environment and proved to be a problem in any case. P83..23 is the tanks, P83..19 is a fiberglass filter box that cleans out stuff like fish poo, P83..25 is a top filter that actually has specialized bacteria clinging to shredded plastic, as this is a normal cycle for aqua setups where these bacteria change the fish pee into nitrogen that can be used by plants. We grew plants in this fish water, and floating water cress. You can see this shredded plastic box positions OVER the tanks in one of the photos.

 

Nancy Lieder