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experience with combined aqua-hydroponic farming..

15 years ago

has anyone had first hand experience with portable farms........as described through Google?

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Comments (4)

aquagardner
15 years ago
The economics of this system is an excellent way to evaluate this system. I recently had interaction with Colle Davis, the "inventor" of the system, regarding the portable farms system. After much discussion with Colle, I decided to order his smallest system to "test the waters" so to speak. I thought it was reasonable at $1900. So, I sent him my order form. The next day, he emailed me and said that he needed me to sign an non-disclosure agreement (NDA). I thought this was a bit strange, but signed it anyway. I just wanted to get the kit and get started. Well, a day later, I had not heard back, so I emailed Colle again. No response. Finally, after two days, he emailed me back indicating that they no longer sell the kits. He said you can only get system through one of his "certified" dealers. Well, that was really strange, especially after he had happily taken all my personal information and my order! He went on about his "intellectual property" and was just flat out odd about things. Colle has no certified dealers on the east coast that are anywhere close to me. Then, in doing more research, I find out that his dealers are charging up to $5000 for the smallest system. I also found that Colle is actively recruiting dealers. He charges them $250 for a one day class to become "certified". He pays $450 commissions for each sale of the smaller unit to the dealer.

The economics of this thing is just not there in my opinion. The folks at this company are not interested in anything except the green of the money, not the green of your veggies. Do your research, there are systems in Australia that cost several hundred dollars to put together. Most of the parts you would need are available at your local Tractor Supply store. I really just had a sour experience with these folks. Be careful where you spend you money. How many veggies and pieces of fish would it take to recoup your investment?
healthyplanet
14 years ago
I am sorry that you had a bad experience,but I think I know why.
I have been reading about different experiences with aquaponics and thought I should share my experiences with Colle Davis the inventor of the portable farms. This is a new company and after much research I went to his farms and purchased one of his units. I have been so impressed with the production and quality of not just the veggies but the fish that I became one of the reps that seem to be getting a bit of a bad rep (no pun intended) on this site. I would like to clarify that portable farms was, up until recently, a company in transition. As with all companies it seemed to go through some growing pains! I am disapointed that you had a bad experience and welcome you to visit our site. Colle has since gotten a patent pending status on his invention and I am sure that is why he was so scattered when you talked with him. I will gladly answer questions and share my experiences with you. The Aquaponic systems that we put up are turn key fully functioning units enclosed in cooled/heated greenhouses with gravel floors, plants and fish. They do cost quite a bit but mostly for labor, site prep and greenhouse materials. The ROI on the smallest unit,6 x 8 is almost 3 years where as the 20 x 30 unit is about 10 months. We have been quite busy with this size and larger units for groups of people, especially non profit organizations.
I grew up in Scotland on a farm with no electric and am proud to say that our family lived off the land. This food is as good if not better than what we grew. This system and others like it may be the future of farming for a planet that is running low on space and clean water. I hope you found a good alternitive and are enjoying good food :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Healthy Planet Harvest
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Looks like a very efficient system, and I have a question but will hold off in case you would start a thread and put it there, it would be great to so a few people can see what you're up to, and we don't have to bury it down here in a different topic. As for the (blackstrap) molasses, looks like Oz follows the UK on that one and call it black treacle for the same stuff, and I agree completely it isn't something I would add but it does have most of the plant nutrients left over from the cane refining process (which is why refined white sugar has a reputation of being a non-nutritious food, since it all gets left in this black gunk in the bottom of the kettle). There is some somewhat dubious science that supports certain "rare & special" sugars that make up this kind of gooey liquid give some plant species a boost and they uptake them and use them, but I'm not convinced the widely promoted studies are gold standard in a scientific sense or just some snake oil salesman's gimmick. It seems to serve as a decent ingredient in lawns too but that might be for its ability to immobilize some tiny critter pests something like mineral and neem oil also can do. Speaking of molasses, it's hard enough to find so I'll follow your lead and keep the sweet molasses for my french toast (a.k.a., eggy bread) and my salty nutes for my plants. I do like vegemite, and apologize for the idea all Americans are horrified by it, which is so UNTRUE.
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nono_gmail_com
13 years ago
I spoke with Colle very recently and he was so rude that I decided not to give him my hard-earned money. His site never explains the true benefits or differentiating factors between his system and others. He also threw in my face the "proprietary info/patented" story, which is very comical because I am a patented scientist myself and would have no difficulty researching his patent with the USPTO.
mommymammal
13 years ago
I haven't had any experience with this, but check out the article "Backyard Aquaponics" in the March/April issue of BackHome magazine.

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