Author Archives: Jeremy Roth
The Spirit of Verkenvalden Re-kindled
by Jeremy Roth with excerpts from The Spirit of Verkenvalden by Josh Fattal As I sit here taking a breather from day two of our Earthen Floor installation work party,I can’t help but think about Josh Fattal and a term … Continue reading
Tagged Community, Earthen Floor, Josh Fattal, natural building, Natural Building
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Exploring Building Materials Test Engineering
This program served as an introduction and primer to the applied science of green engineering. Students from Cottage Grove High School’s Enigineering Technology Class worked directly with Aprovecho and other industry professionals to implement hands-on projects and testing both in the classroom and in their community. Continue reading
Summer Experience in Green Jobs for Youth
This program employed ten youth, ages 17 -21, for two months during the summer. They were paid hourly and worked a four day week at Aprovecho and focused on four seperate projects. They gained valuable skills and experience in a variety of disciplines both inside and outside of the “traditional” trade occupations. This program was nationally recognized by the US Department of Labor as an exemplary program. Continue reading
Growing to love growing tilapia
The fish grew to love me as the hand that feeds them. Every time i walked by the tank they would start churning at the surface, and at feeding times they devoured all of the food that i gave them. At that stage they were getting a fingerling food (from our project partners at Jim’s Online Fish Shop) at 4% of their body weight per day. That worked out to approximately 1/4 cup food, three times / day. Continue reading
It’s Alive (and green)!
The acclimation of both the main tanks and the fry tanks is going well. We added approx 5 lbs of fresh chicken manure to the main tanks (in a mesh bag) which brought the ammonia and phosphate levels up from … Continue reading
Fish Fry (that’s a baby fish, not a taco filling… yet)
The fish are due to arrive in 3 weeks. 1500 baby tilapia fry. They will weigh approx 1/2 gram each and be about 1 inch long. The biggest challenge to raising Tilapia in the Pacific Northwest will be maintaining warm … Continue reading
Aquaponics: Part II
The recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) at Aprovecho was designed mainly to raise as many tilapia as possible while keeping external inputs to a minimum. Some RAS systems balance hydroponic vegetable production with fish production (Aquaponics). Some of those systems can … Continue reading
Aquaponics: Part I
Try to think about the last time you were strolling through a grocery store and you began to feel that slight chill that creeps out from the refrigerated meat and seafood cases and into your bones as you peruse the … Continue reading
A step up the Energy ladder, Aprovecho Style
by Mike Hatfield In most circles, when people talk about moving people up the energy ladder they are speaking of moving away from simpler traditional forms of energy, such as wood, to more concentrated forms such as natural gas. At … Continue reading
Woody Biomass
by Matthew Hall The search for biofuels continues, and woody biomass is back in the spotlight. Seneca Sawmills is planning to build a wood fired generator to produce electricity. They are planning to haul slash piles from their clear cuts … Continue reading