This will be a year round permanent settlement.  The winter temperatures range from 10 F to 50 F in the worst winter months.  I understand that there is plenty of solar heat available even the winter months in this location.

Farming will be our livelihood, both for ourselves and to sell or barter with the greater community.  We were wanting to grow a great deal of our fruits and vegetables hydroponically, but not using commercial chemicals that we have to go out and buy.  This is my greatest concern at this point.

It seems to me that we have a valuable resource in our manure, that somehow it can all be integrated so that we get the most out of these resources with the minimal of work.  Especially so that we can have fresh fruit and vegetables even in the winter months.  The growing season is not the best in this area, unless it is in a greenhouse.  Not for lack of sun, but for the cold nights.  And efficient utilization of water is important as well.

My primary question is this: can we integrate our manure and waste water processing such that it can be put to work in growing a large variety of crops, and produce a net profit in terms of time, money, and helping Mother Earth?

My next questions, assuming it is possible, is what is the physical setup requirements, the cost, how much energy does it consume, how much edible fish, fruits, and vegetables can it produce, how much maintenance is involved?  I realize these are hard questions to answer given such vague numbers to start with, but given numbers from a community that is already doing such a thing would help me to understand the feasibility of this whole concept.

Thanks,
Michael Skowronski