Frozen Fruit

I left describing the construction of the aquaponics system as I was adding a sump tank and a RFF.

I was hoping to bring you up to date slowly but event have intruded.

Last night the air temperature dropped to, -4C 

Water temperature this morning in both fish tanks is, 3C

The fish are OK.

I have two fish tanks. In the large IBC four Rainbow Trout and in the smaller 225 ltr tank 30 European Perch fingerlings.

I have a 300 W heater in the Perch tank and slowly the water temperature is rising.

One pump in the sump tank floods the whole system for fifteen minutes every hour.

We call that 15/45. At night to keep heat in the system it stays shut off.

15/45 from 8am until 10pm.

Fish don’t like big temperature fluctuations so slowly, slowly bring up the temperature.

The top of the fruit pot is frozen but the main grow bed is OK.

Fingers crossed

Tomato Thief

Shaving a Pig

Should I use an electric or wet razor? This was the dilemma I faced on Christmas Eve. It’s a special event.Let’s go for the close cut of the wet razor!

Whilst washing his face I had noticed quite a bit of stubble.

The blow torch had reduced it considerably but some of those irritating patches remained.

It was while I was tackling a particularly tricky bit round the chin I happened to glance up his nostrils. After a good twirl the cotton buds were still coming out green.

A lick and a promise were not enough to wash this bad boy’s face!

OK face down in boiling water for ten minutes.

Now you are ready! Just a tad more Rosemary.

Into the oven. As with most meat very hot to start and then reduce the temperature.

About four hours in total.

You need to wrap foil around the ears and the nose to prevent burning these extra special bits. We took turns to baste him in honey.

Onto the serving plate. A cocktail stick secured the customary apple.

It was carried through to the dining table.

The smoke coming from the super clean nostrils added a nice dramatic touch.

Pig’s snout anyone? Or would you prefer an ear?

It tasted delicious.

The cheeks were particularly good!

Luba's Chicken Pate

Luba was our friend.

She grew up in Beirut.

Long ago before the troubles came.

She told stories of a home in an apartment block built around an open atrium.

At night in the summer heat they would lean over the balcony facing the atrium chatting to neighbors.

Many neighbors many languages. She spoke more languages than I have fingers.

One Christmas she made a large amount of chicken pate.

She put the pate into the cups of a tea set.

Cheaper than buying Tupperware, “She said”

I have one sixth of the tea set.

I don’t remember the recipe for the chicken pate.

I remember Luba.

Catching Fish

Twenty five trout fingerlings were added on July 25th.

We were happy

So happy we could have jumped for joy!

Unfortunately the trout did. Straight out of the tank!

I had not realized how high out of the water the fingerlings could jump.

Our long forgotten wicket keeping skills helped.

One memorable evening Mrs Fishcake caught two in one over. However she broke a heel and declared. What she declared I cannot repeat but a plastic mesh net was quickly fitted.

The ideal temperature for trout is 15C. Above 22C they get very stressed and die.

This was turning out to be one of the hottest summers for many years.

The pump in the fish tank is controlled by a simple timer. It runs fifteen minutes in every hour. 15/45 By varying this timing you can, in a small way, affect the temperature. Pumping more in the night and less in the heat of the day for instance.

The summer heat continued.

Each morning I checked the temperature.

Slowly it was rising. The daily water temperature swing was about three degrees.

When the morning reading showed twenty I knew I was in trouble.

We froze water in plastic milk bottles and added them to the fish tank.

21.9C

Increasing the amount of water in the system will reduce the temperature swing.

It was time to expand.

Two 225 ltr ex olive barrels were added. One as a sump tank the other as an RFF.

Beetroot and Vodka

As I have previous said,’We love soup”!

My recipe for beetroot soup or,’ Borch’ is as follows;

Clean and trim the raw beetroot. Boil with a peeled onion until a knife will go through it.

Cool.

Peel the beetroot.

Liquidize the lot.

You can add additional water.

Serve hot or cold.

We add lemon juice and sometimes sour cream.

Mrs Fishcake read an article in a newspaper that said, ‘beetroot was a super food and  good for you’

A carton of beetroot juice appeared in the fridge.

We were out of tonic water.

Vodka and beetroot juice.

Contented smiles all round.

TROUT FINGERLINGS

Trout fingerlings are high up on my Christmas list.

Mrs Fishcake just dropped a hint that our little Angel fish was buying them. Yippee!

She moved out of our tank several years ago and now lives nearby in a very nice pond.

However I am worried.

She is famous for her exquisite packing of Christmas presents!

Please Not newspaper! Please No salt and vinegar!