A2B—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 3,1983
BY LAURA ENGLAND
BETHEL While many people
talk about becoming more self
sufficient and “getting in tuned
with nature,” few actually branch
out and accept this lifestyle. An
exception to the rule is a Bethel
couple who have found this
lifestyle a welcome change as well
as a never-ending challenge.
Owners of Self Sufficiency
Systems, Robert and Lissa Olson
say they wanted to have more
control over their lives, including
such natural aspects as food,
housing and health. To reach this
goal, they built a solar home in 1978
along a wooded, mountain hillside
and began a trek to self
sufficiency. But, as Bob points out,
they don’t consider themselves as
products of the 1970’s back to the
land movement.
“We’re not into roughing it,” he
says, “but we do want to make the
most of the land and its resour
ces.”
And making the most of nature
and its abundant resources is
exactly what Bob and Lissa are
doing, and they’re not afraid to try
something new.
After much research, talking to
others and reading book upon
book, the Olsons have gone from
solar home to intensive gardening
to a newly acquired project
aquaculture.
Aquaculture, which has been
under test for the past five years, is
a development of the Rodale
Research Center. The Olsons,
became interested in this new
“farming” concept, raising your
own fish, in an attempt to have
more control over their food
supply.
“We’re very concerned about
what we eat and what’s in it,” Bob
say s. “The only way to control
that is to grow our own.”
Lissa adds that they don't eat
alot of red meat and decided to try
the project and have a fresh supply
of fish. But as Bob notes, the
project is not something that
someone can just decide to do.
“You have to know about water
quality, nitrification and am
monia," he says.
With the help of a book Rodale
Two important components of the aquaculture system,
developed by Rodale Research Center, are the biodisc, above
left, and the clarification tanks, bottom left. The biodisc, a
rotating filter, oxidizes fish wastes to a non-toxic nitrate
substance. Removing organic debris such as fish wastes and
dead algae is the function of the clarifying system.
Making the most of nature and its resources
published about aquaculture,
which provides a step-to-step guide
on building the system, the Olsons
put the project to test this spring,
but not without problems.
“We’re really the first people to
take the book and apply the
system,” Lissa explains. “There
were some things in the book that
were unclear to us and some
corrections were needed.”
At the beginning, it was a trial
and error period for the Olsons as
they lost about 30 of their fish.
Some were sucked up through the
filter opening which is now covered
with a screen. Others died from
the dust on the plastic vinyl used to
line the 12 foot diameter swimming
pool.
From the dust, Lissa explains, a
brown, sickly kind of algae grew in
the pool. Not realizing that this
algae was harmful and grows even
in toxic water, the.Olsons lost their
fish within a couple of days.
To correct the problem, they
drained the pool and got the
plasticizer out. Within three days,
a green, healthy algae grew.
This incident set the Olsons back
a couple of weeks in their “plan
ting” season. To get back on
schedule, they purchased
fingerlings instead of small fish
fry. During the first week of June
they put catfish in the pool and
added Tilapia, a cultivated
tropical fish, during the third
week.
Unlike normal farm animals, the
Olsons have found their fish to be
relatively fuss-free. The fish feed
off the algae formed in the pool,
and for additional feed have access
to a self-feeder.
“We wouldn’t have to feed the
fish,” Bob says, “but added feed
helps put on weight.”
Besides feeding, the Olsons take
a daily look at the system itself to
make sure all is working properly.
The culture system includes the
tank, which can be a swimming
pool, a season-extending dome, a
biodisc and a clarification system.
The biodisc is used as a filter
system and is home-built. Lissa
explains that the filter oxidizes the
fish wastes which are in the form
of ammonia to a non-toxic nitrate
A step to self-sufficiency
Bob Olson, owner of Self Sufficiency Systems, looks over the garden plants fertilized
with fish emulsion from his aquaculture system. The pepper plants in the back row have
shown sizeable growth with the "fish" fertilizer, Olson says.
substance. Watching the ammonia ... .
level is a crucial part of the culture Bob aiu J l ;issa depend greatly on gardening, raising ap
system. proximately 80 percent of their own food. This compost plot
A test kit is used to measure the "'ill be ' >ed fr vjrs
ammonia level. If it gets above
one part per million, the water is at
a higher toxic level. Bob says, and
to bring the level down feed is
discontinued. Once the level is
back to .2-.4 part per million,
feeding is resumed.
The clarification system,
designed from recycled oil drums
or plastic barrels, removes
organic debris, such as the fish
wastes and dead 3. This
debris is removet and the
Olsons use it as a h utilizer in their
garden plots.
‘ The aquaculture system has
many advantages. Bob says.
There’s a low cost to set it up, a low
cost energy expenditure, and the
water quality is better, he adds.
It’s also more controllable.
Because the system is con
trollable, the Olsons can vary their
harvesting procedures and time.
Under a normal situation, the fish
would be harvested in mid-October
when they reach from one to three
pounds. Feed would be discon
tinued, the pool drained, the fish
scooped out and then dressed out.
But the Olsons are pleased with
their system and plan to raise fish
year-round. This they will do by
moving the fish into a smaller pool
set up in their garage. As Bob
explains, fish stop growing when
water temperature drops below 70
degrees. By moving the pool in
doors, they can maintain the
desired growing temperature.
By growing fish year-round, they
can also raise their own fry and
save money in the long run. The
Tilapia breed constantly, Lissa
says.
Another area of aquaculture the
Olsons would like to try in the
future is a commercial set-up.
This solar home, located on a wooded, mountain hillside, was Robert and Lissa Olson’s
first step to becoming more self-sufficient
This would involve buying larger
tanks and placing them in a solar
scale building. Under this system.
Bob says they would raise rainbow
trout as a cash crop and sell all but
what they could eat. About 1000
fish could be raised compared to
the 150 currently raised in their
pool.
So far, the system has worked
well for the Olsons and has
generated interest among others.
People have been helpful in
determing the materials needed to
build the system and have offered
suggestions in modifications, Lissa
adds.
While the book by Rodale lists
step-to-step procedures, Lissa says
you can make your own
modifications and tailor the
system to your own needs.
knowing what modification can be
moved into the food area and run
classes and do consulting on their
intensive garden beds. The next
area they plan to move into is
health. Currently, Bob runs a
private practice in marriage and
family counseling, but both he and
Lissa work together in operating
Self Sufficiency Systems.
All of this work stems back to the
Olson’s goal of self-sufficiency.
“We want tojreach the goal of sr\
sufficiency,” Ussa says, “but wC
don’t want to be like the pioneers of
the 1800’s. We want the ad
vantages of the times, also.”
And through their solar heated
home, their intensive garden plots,
and now their aquaculture system,
Bob and Lissa and their children,
Bill, 14, and Dee, 19, have the
modem times advantages while
tying into what nature provides.
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