You have to start somewhere...

So we have a basement, our house is 100+ years old...  So it's not so pretty down there... But we are working on it... 

Here is the start...  It's ugly and there are water issues..  First we are sealing the walls and I will be digging out trenches to redirect the downspouts to the street, not a small project...  We are removing the wood burning furnace and going with baseboard heat this winter, so we will get that space back.  Focusing on safety for the kids and good use of space...

The boys did an excellent job!

I learned though that it takes ALOT of masonry sealer to get the job done... :)  I decided to order a 5 Gallon bucket of DampLock, it should coat better then the sealer we purchased from Walmart.  I'm going to rip out the old Windows and put in vented glass block windows.  Not sure what to do about the floor yet.

Any ideas on what I should do with the ceiling?   Paint?  Cover?  I want it to be white or reflective, to maximize light to the plants...  Would love feedback...   I was thinking about that bubble/foil insulation you can get at the hardware stores... 

Erica and the kids also surprised me with some more work of their own, I will put those pics up this weekend...

On another note, Erica loves the cleaned up walls so much that she wants to put an art studio, the laundry room along with the Aquaponics Lab down there...  I'm really happy it's a 1200 sqft basement, doing this will have the extra benefit of freeing up some space in our house, that is a welcome possibility!  I just have to figure out how to get it and keep it nice and dry...

The Leschorn's Aquaponic's Lab - Why we are doing this...

This blog is dedicated to the journey we are taking into the world of Aquaponics. 

Our short term goal is to learn as much as we can about the field of Aquaponics, including the disciplines of Hydrology, Biology, Chemistry, Horticulture, Aquaculture, etc...

Our medium term goals include providing vegetables and fruits to supplement our groceries and grow and eat healthy tilapia that are raised on a combination of duckweed organic sustainable fish feed and appropriate scraps from the kitchen.

Our long term goal includes one or more Aquaponics greenhouses setup to provide 100% of our groceries through direct consumption and for sale through a new community food co-op to share the abundance of our crops with other families in our community.

In the future we look to work with regional grocery stores and restaurants to provide the best out of season produce that is 100% organic, non-GMO, heirloom sourced.  To turn our small family operation into a small business that provides a modest and sustainable stream of income.

Throughout this process we hope to develop new friendships and partnerships with others in our community and the global community.  But most importantly we hope to teach others how to grow their own food through Aquaponics in a sustainable fashion, helping people become more independent and self sustaining.