While I (we) have specific plans for the future setup we'll do, it's in a 'Next year...well, if not then, then DEFINITELY the year after...maybe...' category. Eventually we'll do it, but I've been itching to NOW for the past 6-10 months.

But, while pondering on the ways I could collect animal waste for bsf grubs, I realized I've been stuck in a paradigm concerning this, so focused on the utter necessity of having tilapia fish to even start and have it worthwhile that I've been completely ignoring the fact that we already have a pond. And, not only do we have one, but it is so overloaded with duck mess (has a natural diy filter set up for 2-3 ducks, currently has 5, among other things) that I routinely have to empty out some and refill it with fresh water. The trees I water with it LOVE it though, so it's not a waste, just a pain.

But back to the paradigm shift...what if I set up a system that uses the water from the pond? In addition to the 5 ducks, there are also 4 fish (feeder fish that were better at escaping than ducks were at hunting, now about 6" long) and a turtle living in it (I'm honestly surprised they're still alive, having to breathe that muck). What if I used that water in it's own grow setup? There's a section of wall, 8' tall by about 10' wide, that I could try vertical gardening with. I don't mind going and picking up a few rain gutters from the habitat store. Could attach some plywood to the wall, line it, hang the gutters from it, and grow...well, probably couldn't grow anything exceptionally BIG with it, but I'd be willing to see just what I could do.

A couple of problems I can see are...I'm not sure what pump we have, but I think it's an 1800 gph one. Pretty sure I'd have to get a diverter valve, lol, which is fine, but if I wanted to go the ebb & flow route then not sure if I could actually set it up on a timer. We have a smaller pump that I haven't even turned on in a year (hope it still works) but again, same thing, have looked around but haven't seen timers for this, and though I could turn the pump on & off with one, I hear that's a no-no. I guess I could just always have it on, but I'd rather set it up to keep it as easy to maintain as possible, and ebb/flow seems to be that.

Also, this is on a west-facing wall. Not exactly the best setup there, but if I enclosed it and kept a small heater (or a few light bulbs?) going, perhaps that would be sufficient for light & warmth? I like the concept of a garden wall, and I would much much rather use all that delightfully nasty water on this than just pouring it out on the ground now & then, regardless of how much the trees like it.

So, sheet of plywood, some liner, raingutters, tubing, diverter valve, timer...some hydroton or river rock (already have the river rock though, probably use that for this smaller project), and I'm good to go? Oh - and whatever I need to enclose it. PVC & sheeting, perhaps, or 3-4 more sheets of plywood and some 2x4's, maybe some insulation. Light fixtures, timers. Could probably do this for under $400, unless I'm missing something important.

Thoughts? Does this sound workable?

Here's our pond, soon after we built it. No more bamboo fence, heh that was a failed experiment, but that whole area is fenced in better now to keep the goats out (necessary if I want to grow ANYTHING). You can see the filter (stock tank) in back that provides the waterfall.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d42/D ... 020046.jpg

Pretty happy with our pond, we did it all ourselves, from shoveling dirt to hauling rocks to researching the filter & building it. Would be nice to integrate it into a grow system.