05 November 2012

fishy

I have been thinking of one day getting a worm-bin and learning vermicomposting to feed my plants... but then realized just yesterday I have another readily-available source of plant food: fish waste!

From the occupant of this two-gallon bowl:
He's hiding because he didn't like it that I moved his bowl away from the kitchen counter into the light (albeit indirect) on the kitchen table to try for some photos.
I tried, but can't seem to get good pictures of him:
It's a male betta, with a lovely purple and blue color. My daughter named him Hector. I'm enjoying his little, silent company so much have thought of getting a slightly larger tank (five gallons?) to house a handful of female bettas, maybe three or five. I was afraid my daughter would be jealous of the idea of mommy getting her own fish, but instead she was thrilled: "then we can put them together and get baby fish!" She even knew all about sequestering the male with one female in a separate tank, then leaving the male alone to tend to the eggs, from reading up on betta care on her own. Fish breeding? Maybe. We'll see. First to get the other fish, which is probably weeks down the road. Just an idea so far...

This picture blurry but you can really see the vivid colors.
So anyway the point of this post was to remind myself that once a week when we clean out the fishbowl, the dirty water ought to go on the balcony plants and give them some nutrients.

4 comments:

patsy said...

good idea, i think it was on your blog i read you wanting to know ways to cook turnips. my neice told me this and i tried it today. boil irish potatoes with a couple of turnips, mash them with butter and salt. real good. has the sharp bite of the turnip with the potatoes giving them body.

Jeane said...

Thanks, Patsy. Yes, it was me trying to learn how to cook turnips. I've eaten all of this year's crop (it was small) but will bookmark the recipe for next season!

chrisa511 said...

great idea!!! I love how involved you're getting with sustainable gardening :D It's always so inspiring to me!

Jeane said...

I can't seem to help it, Chris! Change of circumstances will do nothing to change my outlook on life. (I'm really bummed that living in an apartment I don't have recycling available.)