Washington County Weekend Post e-edition
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/137505
Gone Gardening continued from page 17... wasps, is their primary pest Fish tank and filtration system for aquaponic setup. have heard of Matt and Elise and their Lone Duck Farm, I believe it won't be the last as they become a more popular way of healthy eating! Matt and Elise's Lone Duck Farm organic products can be found in Settler's Park Market West Bend, Café Sourette in West Bend, and Sourette Soup, West Bend. They also sell directly on the farm and are open Tuesdays from 10a.m.-6p.m. and they are flexible on other hours, but please call ahead to make sure they can accommodate you. You can reach Matt and Elise at: 262-343-0840. Residential Professional Service & Quality TOPSOIL PULVERIZED & SCREENED • Black • Brown • Blended • Plant Starter • Golf Course Mix • Baseball Mix • Fully Aged Composted Manure • Special Mixes • Shredded Bark & Mulches 1-800-TOPSOIL Since 1959 262-677-2032 Convenient Pick-Up Locations Available PROMPT & DEPENDABLE DELIVERY SERVICE 1365 Spring Valley Rd. • Jackson s r r TM Mon-Fri 7-5 • Sat 7-11 Start The Summer Off Right. Wholesale & Retail Hemlock Mulch Premium Bark Mulch Cedar Mulch Wood Chips • Engine Horsepower up to 33HP • 50", 60", 72" Decks • Mows up to 6.5 Acres per Hour • Turf Boss Tires • OCDC (Operator Controlled Discharge Chute) • Stainless Steel Fenders • 5 Year / 3000 Hour Drivetrain Warranty www.dixiechopper.com 18 • Washington County Post Retail • 6 - 16 - 13 • Sand • Gravel • Sod • Peat Topsoil • Sand • Wash Stone Variety of Decorative Stone STRUPP IMPLEMENT, INC. Swiss chard growing in the greenhouse at the farm. Commercial 232420003 that the farm has large, rectangular tanks that are covered with smaller polystyrene "rafts". These rafts have a grid-work of holes that perfectly fit their growing medium-allowing the plants to sit directly in the water. Each raft then makes its way down the tank, with seedlings on one end and ready-to-harvest plants on the other. It's a great system backed by a lot of research and testing, though Matt and Elise are already looking forward to tinkering with it to add even more products! Although this might be the first time you Tilapia from the Lone Duck Farm, West Bend. Red, Brown, or Gold Environmental Mulch Pine Mulch Starter Mulch 262-644-9486 118 W. Washington St. • Slinger, WI 53086 (262) 644-5041 • (262) 644-6600 • Fax (262) 644-9625 Landscape Supplies 4455 Hwy 144, Slinger Mon-Fri 7-5, Sat 8-3, Sun 10-2 Delivery Available www.bechtelslandscape.com 231829003 control. If Matt and Elise need additional help, they use sprays like OMRI /organically certified and completely safe to humans and to fish. It is all very interesting what Matt and Elise have learned in just a few short years! Take aquaponics for instance. As they explained aquaponics to me, I thought it would be better for me to explain it as they do and how it relates to their farm. Aquaponics is the marriage of agriculture (growing fish) and hydronics (growing plants in water). In a nutshell, it's a system of raising fish and vegetables in a symbiotic relationship. Fish naturally produce lots of waste, which would be a problem in normal aquaponics-requiring lots of complex equipment and filters to remove it. However, with help of naturally occurring bacteria in the aquaponic system, the wastes break down into a nutrient rich solution that the plants can use. This solution then replaces the mineral salts (which are often a petroleum-based product) that normal hydroponic systems use; the plants are then able to pull as much nutrition from the water as they'd like, which makes for some healthy, very nutritious vegetables. The results are beautiful plants, healthy fish, and a happy farmer! The aquaponic system at Lone Duck Farm is a University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) raftbased system. This means 2327747001 lights of his car after work"! The Susnik's have chickens and some milkable miniruminants, that Elise said "they think they're really dogs and you guessed it, one lone duck who thinks he's just a chicken who loves bath-time!" And that is how the name of their farm came to be: Lone Duck Farm. Since Matt is a trained mechanical engineer he wanted to put his "smarts" to use as a full-time farmer. Matt grew up maintaining salt and fresh water fish tanks with his dad and the idea of melding aquaculture with growing food was too irresistible for him to pass up. This allowed him to grow an insane amount of food in a very small area. The two rafts in their greenhouse measure 72' x 30' and can put out approximately 300 heads of lettuce per week and that doesn't include the other growing structures and medium. Lone Duck Farm grows year-round, with some allowances for the season. Matt and Elise have found that they can keep tomatoes going until mid-winter in their minimally heated oasis, but "come the new year, they're gone!" Lone Duck Farm currently and continually provide lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, assorted other greens, mint, parsley, basil, chives, watercress, radishes, and pea shoots. Using beneficial insects like ladybugs, lacewings, and parasitic