Photo: A 55-gallon vat with 144 adult male cichlids 5+" long, showing that our system allows crowding without growth inhibition. See below for the possible reasons. Recently, a hobbyist messaged me: “I’ve heard that fish release a hormone that will slow the growth of other similar fish. Do you ... Read More
farm
Bryozoan, To Be or Not To Be…
Photo: A freshwater sponge (Dosilia radiospiculata) growing on aquaculture mesh in one of our vats. This blog is an update of another blog: https://goliadfarms.com/a-bryozoan-lives-in-the-greenhouses/. Read it for background. Way back in pre-Coronavirus ages, October 2019, I wrote ... Read More
A Bryozoan Lives in the Greenhouses
Photo is of a bryozoan attached to a 1/2" aquaculture netting to show its size. During the last few months, we have noticed a number of these bryozoan creatures (it turns out plural is appropriate as you’ll learn below) pictured above in some of our vats in Greenhouse 2 which mainly houses ... Read More
A Cicada Ecloses
Photo: A cicada after eclosing and still clinging to its nymph stage exoskeleton. A few nights ago, the dogs (German Shepherds Oso and Maya and rescue mutt Sunshine) and I headed out to check the greenhouses and closeup the warehouse. As we approached the yard gate, Oso and Maya alerted at ... Read More
Update on Gammarus Identification
Photo by Matt Hill (EcoAnalysts, Inc.) of one of our male scuds. This is the first in a series of blogs about finally getting some of our hatchery’s invertebrates identified. You might want to read this blog for ... Read More
The Farm Can Be a Dangerous Place
Photo: Oso, our German Shepherd male, being prepped for surgery after being attacked by a feral hog. Note the puncture wound oozing blood on his abdomen. This blog didn't post to Facebook as it was supposed to. I've been told this has been fixed. This is the second test to see if that ... Read More
Official Start of Summer on the Farm
Photo: A male Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) in a barrel after being captured in our backyard. The sure-fire indicator of the beginning of summer on the farm happened March 27th this year. This was a full month earlier than last year. For comparison, read my blog from last year, ... Read More
Maybe I can get some invertebrates identified, finally.
Photo: Grandnephews, grandnieces, and nephew’s girlfriend’s daughter returning home from a visit to our greenhouses to see the fish. Our German Shepherds, Oso and Maya, are providing escort and security. Our nephew Devin Rokyta, his girlfriend Anndrea, Anndrea’s daughter, and whole passel of ... Read More
Cold Weather Snake
Photo: A female Texas Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri) on a cold early March day in South Texas. This afternoon our three dogs (German Shepherds Oso and Maya and rescue mutt Sunshine), Susie and I took a hike through our south pasture. This afternoon wasn’t a typical early March day. It ... Read More
Agriculture Award
Photo: Agriculture Award from the Goliad Lion's Club presented at the Goliad County Chamber of Commerce annual 2019 banquet. It was a typical Goliad County Chamber of Commerce annual banquet, this year at the historic Schroeder Dance Hall. The festivities were about half way through the awards ... Read More