We had a great interview with Joel and his cameraman from stuff. They came out to view where Shaun is building his Aquaponics Garden. So good to be able to share the benefits of Aquaponics and following Shauns journey.
Today is the day .. that we take positive steps towards seeing this project advance. We finally have Council Consent with the assistance of a Designer to change all Shaun's plans from US to NZ specifications, Then had to have input from an Engineer.. Next requirement was to get a soil test - and at long last we have consent to move forward. Obviously, all these fees have drained our current fund so we need to spread the word on Shaun's amazing project so we can assist this great guy become self-sufficient. We thank you most sincerely for your support.
Time for another update... Our Design plans are back in the councils hands after being changed to New Zealand measurement requirements .. so now we wait.. We also had to get a soil test done and that is also completed. It won't be long now .. and you will really see some action on this exciting project!
Time for another progress update!! We have had a bit of a set back with our plans for our amazing Aquaponics Green House Garden being not acceptable to N.Z. regulations..... So... as the saying goes... back to the drawing board! We have had to have the greenhouse plans changed from USA Standards to NZ Standards and NZ Specks for the beams etc... unfortunately another cost we have had to come up with. The redesign is just about finished and we also had to get a soil test done.. so that should be any day.
In the meantime I have gone ahead and dug out the footprint of the Greenhouse on the back lawn which will be its home! I grubbered off the grass and dirt down about 50 mil which took me 6 hours! I had to do it in 24 x 15 mins strips. As a result of my injury my left eye starts weeping after about a 1/4 of a strip and then my nose starts running after 1/2 a strip (go figure that!) AND THEN .. I am sweating lots by the end of one strip so I have to take a break to get back to normal. Blimmin frustrating I can tell you.
I finally got the job done and attached is photos of that mission.. It is so rewarding to see the patch set out and helps me visualise my dream of working from home growing wonderfully natural produce. It is a slow process, but we will get there in the end. Many thanks for everyone for your ongoing support - Shaun
Progress has been slow unfortunately, as the Plans and Designs we have from Hawaii have to be altered for New Zealand Council requirements.... we put our permit into the council 28/10/17 for the building consent to establish a timber and plastic greenhouse to house our Awesome Aquaponics set up - and Boom! the council came back with many rules and regulations!
We have been working through these with an engineer and are finally getting to the end of it and will be able to progress. We are also working on having the beams (with a specific Ark) manufactured in New Zealand - the beams are over 6m long and the Ark is the special design to ensure the maximum benefit of the wonderful sunlight... to grow our amazing fresh, chemical free produce...
We have the space mapped out on the lawn ready to put the concrete pad down so can now see some action! We intend to use the donated funds we have received to date to pay for the foundations so that will be an exciting day!
We were fortunate to have been offered some lovely big gold fish from Lynn and Wayne Stokes so that was exciting to add to the ones we have.. We now have two gold fish tanks in operation ready for the build when they will go into the new bigger tank set up which will supply the nutrient filled water into the vegetable troughs in the greenhouse.
We purchased a new water pump fountain for the the 2nd tank for the new fishies and a big bag of fish food, so they are happy in their new tank.
We will post some photos so you can see what we are up to and how the Construction will work... so watch this space... cheers Shaun
