900 gallon system should not have a problem with heat with the way Jack intend on set it up. I see a problem in the winter if he choose Tilapia. unless he add some type of solar heating system. The type of Tilapia Jack is allow to keep in Texas die at 55F. Actual I’m doing Tilapia with a system in my garage. Really wish I had gone with Blue gil. They are the only native fish that will handle all the cold and heat that your going to run into with an Aquaponics system of that size. As long as you can keep the water from total freezing Blue Gil will be fine. You still might want to add some solar heat in the winter to keep the bacteria cycle going but the fish can handle the temp. They just take a longer time to grow out to plate size.

Jack, when are you going to be back from Montana?

As to the chem lawm run off question:

Jack you are mostly spot on but here’s a way to take of the water and clean it up. Fungi are natures cleaner. So the best bet is to create a wood chip filter. I would try to figure out the best way for the amount of run off. But creating a pit I can’t remember the permaculture term but fill it with wood chips and slow the water down in that spot or maybe a chain of spots so if the run off is too great you still can slow the water down. Fungi will grow in the wood chips and break down anything in the water and help if not completely filter the water. It will also catch and clean oil from the road. Check Banes’ Permaculture hand book where he talks about doing this very method in a suburban environment.

One further point for consideration concerning the Trivium: It was not simple a study of language (though it was that as well). It was, in fact, a method of equipping students with the tools they needed for academic pursuit.

You can think of each of the three divisions of the Trivium as stages: grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric. In each stage, a student appears to be learning a subject (Latin, at the time) but is really learning how to learn.

For further reading, Dorothy Sayers’ Lost Tools of Learning: http://www.accsedu.org/marketing_resources/the_lost_tools_of_learning

Do schools want independent and creative thinkers? No, schools want diligent and obedient workers (parents too, really). The idea that school kills creativity is fairly accepted among intellectually honest folks in the field; the design is intentional and the stakeholders are sincere, but they are sincerely wrong.
See Ken Robinson’s TED talk here: http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Thanks for bringing this up and handling it in a respectful, intellectually honest way, Jack.

With reference to Dave Ramsey, I lead his class at my church so I know what he teaches. After all debt except mortgage is paid off, he recommends 3-6 months emergency fund, then 15% of income into retirement (401K if there is a match then ROTH IRA if no match in 401 go directly to ROTH and max it out then go to 401), then kids college if applicable, then pay off your mortgage, and finally build wealth and give. You can see his baby steps here:

http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/

He never said once you get out of debt put everything into mutual funds. Just wanted to clarify. Good show and discussions!!

Jack,
Thanks so much for the advice on the autumn olive. I treated with acidic fertilizer and within a few days they started to perk up. The one that had no leaves is still bare, but I think it will probably come back.

I did do a ph test because my blueberries were failing and found that my soil is extremely alkaline. When I called Rain Tree I told them this and they didn’t say to treat with an acidic fertilizer. I just may have spoken with someone who didn’t know.

Any way, thanks again!
Melissa