The Beginning      After downloading, printing, and reading through the Barrel-Ponics manual, the planning began. Most of the materials required for a Barrel-Ponics system could be obtained at no cost. The Barrels could be acquired through a relative. Having recently removed an old garden shed from the yard the wood was on hand.    My excitement grew as I planned and told family members of the simplicity of it all. Continuing my research into aquaponics my designs kept changing. The option of placing the system inside the house did not occur to me. Can you imagine the trouble I'd be in if I had?    Midwest winters are not often mild. A green house would be needed to hold the system. Wandering about cyber space checking size and price, a do it yourself kit from Rion seemed the best choice. They offer various sizes and I decided on the 8 feet by 21 feet model.    The order placed I began cutting my blue barrels for the grow beds as well as marking the site for the green house. The barrels were easy to divide just mark the seam with a dark marker and a quick cut with a battery powered saw. In no time I had eight barrel halves for the grow beds. After cutting I cleaned up the rough edges and planned their placement in the greenhouse.    On paper, I moved the barrel halves about inside the green house. It was going to be a tight fit with barrels on both sides and only a foot distance down the middle to walk. As fortune would have it when the Rion kit arrived a few parts were broken. The company quickly sent replacements but my design plans changed again. This was not the only project on my plate and I was eager to get started, wanting the green house up before the winter arrived. (cont)