Inner City Santiago

pathfinder_05 · **Posted:** Sun Nov 21, 2010 11:59 am

Howdy Gang,

Well, for now I'm stuck in suburbia, but the long term plan is to buy a plot of land somewhere outside the city one day.

But for now I have to be clever with space. The photo below shows against the wall 80 lettuce, 9 spinach, 9 Chard, 4 cherry tomatoes (silver hydro pots on window frame), 5 cucumber (in hydro drippers below tomatoes), 2 extra cucumbers in a white flour sack, 2 pickling cucumber plants in the other flour sack (far left center) - and a whole heap of seedlings waiting their turn for space.

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The next photo, in the middle, is the main hydro area - a huge mix of alsorts. Then at the top is a soil area.

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Behind me, when i took the photo is a bit more space where my aquaponics set up is going. Eventually this whole garden will be AP growbeds with the fish tanks sitting in a sheltered driveway.

So there you have a guided tour of my rented house (moved out an apartment block after that frickin huge earthquake!!!).

I love all your photos and am sooooooo jealous of the huge plots you all have.

Chat soon.

Brian

earthbound · **Posted:** Sun Nov 21, 2010 2:33 pm

Hey Brian, great to see you making good use of the space you have, males me feel a little guilty for not using my space that I have at home... Nice one...

:thumb:

gnash · **Posted:** Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:59 am

Thats a good use of space, how hot does it get for you?

pathfinder_05 · **Posted:** Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:45 am

Howdy,

A scorcher for us here is 37 C. But is obviously feels hotter due to the concrete surrounding us and no wind (the Andes are stunning to look at but cause a nasty wind block trapping dust and smog all round us!). My back yard is 100% covered in that sunscreen mesh. Which in winter/rainy season will be replaced by thick plastic sheeting.

Even in winter the backyard is 100% sunshine - if the sun is shining, my yard has rays in every spot! Couldn't have found a better yard if I looked.

I found some past weather info for you to look at. I enjoy being part of this forum and the BYAP forum because you all (the majority) are in the southern hemisphere and in the same weather/seasonal pattern as I am ..... and not to mention of course you are all a hoot to be around :cheers:

(I've never used smilies before - is this one appropriate?) ... or is this better? :thunbs:

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These charts show freezing temperatures in winter but that is probably from the valleys going up into the hills, it is extremely rare for the city to freeze, but I shall be ready for it anyway.

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Chat later guys and girls. :wave:

<--- that has to be the right one for goodbye!

chillidude · **Posted:** Mon Nov 22, 2010 5:13 pm

Welcome to this forum and the AP one pathfinder !

pathfinder_05 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 02, 2011 10:08 am

Hi everyone, hope you all had a good festive season.

:drink:

I took it easy and have been busy tending to my jungle.

I know you all love photos, so without further ado, I present to you (drum roll) 'Progress'

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In this fine, but awfully cramped, picture we see ...... erm ....... a sea of green. Nestling within the greenery are plum tomatoes, normal tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, runner beans, beatroot, swiss chard, cucumber, pickling cucumber, zucchini, sweet/bell peppers, spicy peppers .... and a partridge in a pear tree!

Next we have ......

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... a view of my raised grow bed (hydoponic) full of chard and other veggies. The grow bed is an old upside down cupboard. For those wanting a shallow growbed, all furniture has this weird 'trough' built into the bottom of it.

Finally, may I present to you, the hanging gardens of Santiago.

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Here we have pvc piping, recycled plastic bottles and plastic tubs and buckets. This area is almost ready for the pump to be turned on so the whole system is irrigated with hydroponic solution in one go.

The space to the bottom right of the photo is for a 4ft x 4ft aquaponic growbed and system I'm half way through.

So, there you have my latest progress report.

Also, so far I have been eating chard, a cucumber, there are some green beans in the freezer, I've sold some lettuce - and I tried a fried green tomato!

You all take care.

Brian

dufflight · **Posted:** Sun Jan 02, 2011 1:43 pm

Some nice plant growth there.

Faye · **Posted:** Sun Jan 02, 2011 6:19 pm

You sure have packed heaps in to a small space there, well done :thumb:

Tristrin · **Posted:** Sun Jan 02, 2011 9:12 pm

Welcome to the forum Brian. Great use of space, love the verticle garden :thumb:

earthbound · **Posted:** Wed Jan 05, 2011 6:09 pm

Wow, you have a lot of string supports there Brian, looks like it would start getting hard to walk around.. :lol:

pathfinder_05 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:42 pm

Hey EB,

Yeh, maneuvering around my jungle is a chore, but it is what I have to put up with to cram it all in.

I have worked for many many years in the Amazon jungle and I guess, subconsciously, I'm trying to save the rainforest by putting one in my backyard

I couldn't put stakes in the ground or sticks due to the solid floor and, also the main reason ...... a ball of string is way cheaper than a bundle of bamboo sticks - I am so damn skint right now !

Don't worry, I'm going to be keeping you all posted on developments - especially when I get my first troop of monkeys or see signs of a jaguar!

Brian

pathfinder_05 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:21 am

Lunch is served!

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My first ever full salad.

:joy:

Makes it all worthwhile.

On the chopping board is a tomato of an unknown variety, a pickling cucumber unpickled, young spring onions, beetroot leaves and swiss chard.

The cucumber was a bit bitter (probably due to the extreme heat of my yard - I just can't get any air flowing!).

But all in all a damn fine lunch - with goats cheese, tuna and mayo.

Granny Smith · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:37 am

Just my kind of meal, Brian. Food you've grown yourself just tastes so much better, doesn't it. And not a bug in sight. Well done!

earthbound · **Posted:** Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:03 pm

Just had a look at your temperatures above, they are nice... A bit milder than we have here, we've been getting 2-3 days a week at 37 or over for a few weeks now... Yuck....

pathfinder_05 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 17, 2011 7:43 am

Sad but true!

I was taken ill suddenly and had to go to hospital.

Nobody knew how to water the hydroponics and the below photo speaks more words than I can write!

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However .....

The story takes a nice turn - a guy has approached me with a 15m x 15m plot of land and wants a full garden/hydroponic/possibly aquaponic business set up. He just wants fresh produce to sell to top class restaurants.... especially watercress.

So, from the ashes a stunning 'green' phoenix shall arise.

Oh, and I'm fine thanks for asking!

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