Examples

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Aquaponics Smallholding

This new Aquaponics Smallholding based in rural Cheshire is a community agriculture start-up project.
Our plan is to provide for the wider community:-

• access to fresh ethically produced local foods;

• agricultural smallholding related work experience;
• practical training courses of various types;
• possibly a few part time jobs;
• option for unused excess produce going to the local food bank.

Urbanag are using Agile methodology to manage the rapid deliverables as iteration stages on this project. So after the initial client discussions in February 2018, we started designing in March, and by April we already had the concept design and an agreement with the land owner at Garden Poultry to create this new facility on their smallholding where she currently raises various breeds of poultry, pigs, and cattle. 

Having solved the project's number one big problem that of finding a site to actually build our Aquaponics greenhouse and training facility on, our next issue is getting materials and helpers because we have little or no budget to work with.

Even though the budget is very tight, our end goal is getting the project to at least break even on-going via sale of produce and courses.
Therefore we have to be able to generate income early on to pay for most of the build materials.

Previously in Liverpool at Rice Lane City Farm, Urbanag did similar projects with help of some course grant funding from the WEA, but in 2018 what with local authority budget cuts and austerity there are virtually no grants in our area of Cheshire for this sort of project, yet there are now actually "food banks" in the area so that says a lot!

 
Link to Frodsham and Runcorn district Food Banks

Local Food Banks

Status:
Over the Easter weekend we’ve been active on the site clearing the space in the old wooden rearing sheds with a view to converting part of it into an “agricultural classroom”.
We’ve taken down most of the wood and block-work partitions leaving us a 23ft x 19ft space that now needs clearing of rubble and the many odds and ends stuff that’s been stored and accumulated in there over the years.  

Much of this stuff would be serviceable and reusable if it were cleaned up, so that will require us to sort and select what is to be kept and relocate it into other storage on the farm.      

Once the space is clear we can start the clean-up to make the area “sanitary” to work in – so lots of Jays Fluid, scrubbing, and a pressure washer on the wooden walls and concrete floor will be needed.

DRAFT Planning.

• First priority is the rearing shed to classroom conversion work.
• Setup of greenhouse and outdoors growing areas for the growing season.
• No deadline as yet - the setup of the Aquaponics system in polytunnel.

For all of this work we are going to have to be very creative in the obtaining, reusing, and reclamation of materials (wood, bricks, panelling, paint, insulation, electrics, plumbing) for the conversion.
So as you can imagine planning to a tight schedule is very difficult when we are not sure about the availability of materials so this is where the benefits of Agile project management come in.
BUT a fixed deadline is for the teaching area to be ready for our first course starting on Friday 11th May 2018

Keep up to date on this project via the Urbanag Blog.

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Aquaponics North West

The aquaponics system at Rice Lane City Farm in Walton, Liverpool, is now complete and going through rigorous testing. This system has been developed thanks to Big Lottery funding under the project title Walton and Bootle Community Aquaponics. We are now building on this work by launching the Aquaponics North West project.

The system is now ready for Rice Lane City Farm to start training volunteers and members of the public in the benefits of aquaponics – a process in which fish waste is used to fertilise hydroponically grown plants, the water is filtered and cleaned and returned to the fish tanks. Aquaponics is a highly efficient form of food production and is perfect for small and medium size installations. Some aquaponics systems are even sold as tabletop or balcony models.

The Rice Lane system, designed and built by Urbanag, is medium sized and can be seen in the PDF document we have produced recording the processes involved in its installation. Unlike most aquaponics systems, the Rice Lane system is designed to rear cold-water fish. Most systems are based in warm, even tropical, countries and feature fish such as the Nile River tilapia. At Rice Lane, we currently have a small stock of carp, and we’re planning to introduce trout soon. We’ll keep you informed of developments on the site – including the training programme – and in the meantime, please download the ‘The Aquaponics System at Rice Lane City Farm‘.