November 6-11, 2015.



November 6-8: Structure Build

November 9-11: Biological Systems Build

Maysville, Missouri, USA

Build Yourself. Build Your World.

The Open Source Ecology Aquaponics Workshop is a 6 day immersion experience where we build Open Source Ecology’s largest weeked construction project – an 800 square foot aquaponic greenhouse. The overall workshop is broken into two 3-day sessions, where participants can choose either or both. In the first workshop, we will build the greenhouse structure with polycarbonate double-wall glazing, with ponds and hydronic heating, at a cost of $4000 – or 3x lower than industry standards. In the second workshop – we will build the integrated biological modules for an integrated greenhouse with ecological pest management. This is another workshop where OSE is pioneering its Extreme Manufacturing approach of rapid building with multiple teams working in parallel on modular components. We are aiming for the most integrated, yet practical and affordable, greenhouse in the world.

In this workshop, we will push the limits of rapid building together with diverse ecological integration. Participants will gain an appreciation for the productivity that happens when modular design is used, such that the multiple components – both mechanical and biological – can be assembled rapidly from open source blueprints, like IKEA furniture. This is an example of the radical modularity that OSE is pioneering, just like we are applying to the heavy machines of the Global Village Construction Set:

The greenhouse structure consists of building roof, wall, and door panels – 37 panels in total – with openable vent windows. The glazing material is double-wall polycarbonate. The two ponds are 3’ by 30’ long, and 3 feet deep – for approximately 5000 gallons of fish area. The greenhouse will be heated by hydronic tubes running through the ponds, so participants can learn about effective in-ground heat systems

The biological systems that contribute to a diet and are included in the build:

Grow beds for plants and fish: Plants are fed by the fish water. We will utilize sand beds, hanging towers with growing media, compost beds, and other growing tower systems.

Plants are fed by the fish water. We will utilize sand beds, hanging towers with growing media, compost beds, and other growing tower systems. Strawberry gutters: Strawberries grow from ceiling-hung gutters, as a small fruit that can be grown effectively in aquaponics.

Strawberries grow from ceiling-hung gutters, as a small fruit that can be grown effectively in aquaponics. Duckweed production: Duckweed is a primary producer low on the food chain, providing 3 kg of wet duckweed fish food per day from hanging troughs.

Duckweed is a primary producer low on the food chain, providing 3 kg of wet duckweed fish food per day from hanging troughs. Spirulina algae: A superfood that produces 10 grams of dry mass per day per square meter of growing area – our systems will produce about 100 grams of per day from the spirulina bioreactor. The bioreactor will consist of 3 square meters of water troughs and 7 more square meters equivalent from transparent panels hanging above. This is 300 calories and more that 100% of the recommended daily intake of protein for one person!

A superfood that produces 10 grams of dry mass per day per square meter of growing area – our systems will produce about 100 grams of per day from the spirulina bioreactor. The bioreactor will consist of 3 square meters of water troughs and 7 more square meters equivalent from transparent panels hanging above. This is 300 calories and more that 100% of the recommended daily intake of protein for one person! Mushrooms: Oyster mushrooms are grown on straw in vertical towers consisting of stacked 5-gallon buckets. This produces 5 lb mushroooms per bucket or about 30 lb per tower per month – on a floor space of 1 square foot – so an average of 1 lb of mushrooms per day from 1 square foot! The CO2 produced by mushroom respiration enhaces plant growth in the greenhouse. If we have 4 towers, we have 4 lbs of mushrooms per day – 640 calories.

Oyster mushrooms are grown on straw in vertical towers consisting of stacked 5-gallon buckets. This produces 5 lb mushroooms per bucket or about 30 lb per tower per month – on a floor space of 1 square foot – so an average of 1 lb of mushrooms per day from 1 square foot! The CO2 produced by mushroom respiration enhaces plant growth in the greenhouse. If we have 4 towers, we have 4 lbs of mushrooms per day – 640 calories. Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae: Fed on kitchen scraps and offal from a local butcher shop, these can provide 5 lb of BSF larvae fish and chicken food per day from a footprint of only one square meter! That would make for about 3000 calories if you ate BSF larvae directly – or half of that if converted into fish, with a 2:1 feed conversion ratio.

Fed on kitchen scraps and offal from a local butcher shop, these can provide 5 lb of BSF larvae fish and chicken food per day from a footprint of only one square meter! That would make for about 3000 calories if you ate BSF larvae directly – or half of that if converted into fish, with a 2:1 feed conversion ratio. Chickens and redworms: Chickens provide eggs. If we set up redworm composting under them, how much of a chicken’s diet can be provided from worms that feed on chicken droppings? 5 eggs from our 5-chicken cage are 400 calories.

Chickens provide eggs. If we set up redworm composting under them, how much of a chicken’s diet can be provided from worms that feed on chicken droppings? 5 eggs from our 5-chicken cage are 400 calories. Aerated compost tea: Biological pest control includes spraying compost tea – a brew of beneficial microbes, fungi, and protozoa – on growing plants. We will build a 55 gallon compost tea maker in this workshop. Together with beneficial insects, banker plants that attract insects, companion plants, and hedgehogs for slugs and snails – we will manage various pests without chemical sprays.

Biological pest control includes spraying compost tea – a brew of beneficial microbes, fungi, and protozoa – on growing plants. We will build a 55 gallon compost tea maker in this workshop. Together with beneficial insects, banker plants that attract insects, companion plants, and hedgehogs for slugs and snails – we will manage various pests without chemical sprays. Biotope: This is planned for the future as an important addition to the ecology of housing, but will not be built during the workshop. This is a structure outside of the greenhouse that attracts beneficial animals: wasps, frogs, snakes, bats, and bees. Bats eat large quantities of insects, and deposit them for us in the form of a fertilizer: bat guano. The bees collect nectar from miles around. Using biological bee keeping methods (top bar hive), we can harvest honey by opening the beehive once per year. Average honey crop is 40 lb, so about 1/10 lb per day – 150 calories per day! The important thing about bees is also that bee pollen could be collected, which is a superfood just like Spirulina.

Our system will produces 2850 calories per day from fish, chicken, spirulina, mushroom, and BSF – not counting any of the vegetable crops – which is enough food for a complete diet for one person. This does not include any of the ve. This is not counting any of the vegetables and fruits in the growing beds and towers! Combined with the system outside the greenhouse – a chestnut grove, hazelnuts, edible landscape, and outdoor raised beds – there is the opportunity for a house that produces all the food for its inhabitants even on the scale of an urban 1/4 acre lot.

The goal of OSE’s integrated aquaponic greenhouse build is to demonstrate the limits of what can be produced by a smart, affordable, and practical design. We are optimizing for minimum inputs. What fraction of calories, and what fraction of nutrition – can an 800 square foot greenhouse provide in practice? We will engage in a 1 year personal experiment to determine how much is possible and practical. We will document the progress and the challenges encountered to determine a practical limit. If we limit allowable maintenance time to 15 minutes per person per day – can we achieve the full system as described?

Workshop immersion involves concept and practice, and includes a crash course in carpentry skills. Participants become engaged in a part of OSE’s development process, where we produce open source blueprints for the infrastructures of civilization. Participants are introduced to basic principles of collaborative literacy – how the collaborative mindset can be used to solve wicked problems.

This workshop is intended for people interested in immersion, hands-on skills training and practical results. This immersion course may be especially useful to people who would like to master their own livelihood as responsible stewards of the land. We are especially seeking participants with an entrepreneurial mindset to expand open source aquaponics into the mainstream of home food production.

We are inviting those individuals who are interested in learning about aquaponics, and those who are considering aquaponics greenhouses or local food production as a business. We are explicitly calling out social entrepreneurs interested in starting open source aquaponics enterprises, where the collaborative efforts of many enterprises contribute to a constantly improving enterprise ecosystem. Because the aquaponics greenhouse is complex in terms of many moving parts, we think that open source collaboration is necessary for the improvements needed to make ecological aquaponics systems robust and productive – while using integrated pest management and local resources as much as possible. To help spread this work, we are also inviting dedicated documenters and videographers to participate in the event – email us to discuss the requirements.

The overall workshop is designed for people interested in transitioning from Zero to Steward and Maker. We welcome both complete novices and those with experience, as those with experience will also learn a number of skills. The critical part is willingness to learn. There are 3 tracks offered in this workshop:

Aquaponic Greenhouse Structure (Nov 6-8): Extreme Build of a 800 square foot greenhouse with pond over a weekend.

Extreme Build of a 800 square foot greenhouse with pond over a weekend. Integrated Biological Systems (Nov 9-11): Build and install the biological systems: plants, fish, mushrooms, spirulina bioreactor, chickens, redworms, black soldier fly larvae, duckweed, and heat-producing compost, and compost tea production.

Build and install the biological systems: plants, fish, mushrooms, spirulina bioreactor, chickens, redworms, black soldier fly larvae, duckweed, and heat-producing compost, and compost tea production. Both Workshops (Nov 6-11): Complete 6 day workshop – both the Structure and Biological Systems of the aquaponic greenhouse.

Have questions? Drop us an email: info at opensourceecology dot org

Instructors

Marcin Jakubowski – Marcin was trained as a fusion physicist. He left academia right after finishing his Ph.D. to start a farm – in Missouri. For the last 7 years, he has been working on the Global Village Construction Set – a set of enabling tools and machines for building regenerative infrastructures. Marcin is passionate about creating the Open Source Economy – a new operating system for Earth. See Marcin’s bio.

Peter McCoy A self-taught mycologist with over 14 years of accumulated study and experience, Peter is an original founder of Radical Mycology, a grassroots organization and open-source movement that teaches the skills needed to work with mushrooms and other fungi for personal, societal, and ecological resilience. Peter is the lead cultivation expert for the Amazon Mycorenewal Project and Open Source Ecology. Apart from his work with fungi, he is also a community organizer, street medic, zinester, artist, musician, lecturer, and teacher.

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Remote Instructors

We will have the following sessions in the form of teleconference live feed.