Edible water garden

[calee]

I read Perennial Vegetables by Eric Toesnmeier several weeks ago and can't get the siren song of some of those water vegetables out of my head. The book had some photos of a vegetable water garden that was grown in a plastic kiddie pool, and I thought about maybe building a small pond just for growing food. The thing is, I'd need to use one of those rigid plastic forms or plastic sheeting to keep the water in... and I'm kinda freaked out by the thought of eating vegetables that have been grown in warm water that's being contained by plastic.

Has anyone built one of these without plastic? :/

 

[patandchickens]

I wouldnt be nearly as freaked out by the plastic issue as by the small stagnant water issue -- I hope these are vegetables that can be heavily peeled before eating? (Not sure what you're referring to, all I can think of offhand are water chestnuts and maybe taro...). They'd also better like HOT water, because kiddie pools get Real Hot in the summer sun.

Pat, whose dissertation research involved growing lots of pond critters in kiddie pools (and epoxy-painted steel stock tanks) and has developed a healthy respect for the exciting microbiological aspects of small stagnant pond communities

 

[rebbetzin]

How funny, I just checked out that book from the library this week!! Neat book, huh? My husband likes me to grow things that we can eat, not just flowers...

I got some Strawberry Spinach seeds this week, but I am thinking with the next 90 days or so here being over 100 degrees, I may plant them in the fall when the weather is cooler here.

I was intrigued by many of the vegetable in the book... like Air Potatoes....

 

[Anny]

Most hardware stores also carry the pound liner (it comes in roll like fabric, you just dig the hole any shape or depth you want, lay down sand, then lay down the pound liner fabric, and put rocks around the outside to weight it down, and fill. If you do a google search for it you'll find alot of info

 

[calee]

patandchickens

Not sure what you're referring to, all I can think of offhand are water chestnuts and maybe taro...

Actually water chestnuts and taro are exactly what I was thinking of!

I really don't want to use a kiddie pool. When I think of artificial ponds, I think of those rigid black pond forms and the black plastic pond liner that Anny mentioned, but I was kind of hoping someone would have another alternative.

I hadn't thought about small pond bacteria being worse than large natural pond bacteria... actually, I thought a small artifical pond would mean no duck or Canadian goose poop!

 

[patandchickens]

Actually water chestnuts and taro are exactly what I was thinking of!

You've tried fresh water chestnuts, have you? If not you might want to stop by the local chinese grocery before you invest lotsa time and energy. They take a million years to peel, and taste to me pretty much exactly like the higher-quality canned ones

I hadn't thought about small pond bacteria being worse than large natural pond bacteria... actually, I thought a small artifical pond would mean no duck or Canadian goose poop!

The thing about tiny bodies of water (I'm speaking in general, here; I've never tried growing aquatic veggies) is that you have a warm stagnant body of water that is almost inevitably going to become very high-nutrient (because the volume is so small, pretty much ANY nutrient input, like some leaves dying back on your plants or a mouse falling in and drowning, which yes they will unless you provide an escape ladder, becomes a MAJOR nutrient load in terms of micrograms of N or P per milliliter of water). (And how's that for a badly written sentence? <g>). It is a veritable recipe for Exciting Bacteria and Blue-greens. I say this from experience not just theory. If you keep it clean and relatively nutrient-poor, and aerate it well, that would be helpful; and if it is buried in the ground rather than aboveground that will help moderate the temperature. Still, I would want to wash and peel well, myself.

Pat, who has survived mouthfuls of some REALLY skanky pondwater, both from artificial and natural ponds, but all things being equal would prefer the natural-pond water any day of the week, at least as long as the goose or duck population is limited