Have you ever wondered what it would be like to never have to weed a garden again? What about using 90% less water than normal soil farming? What about having the ability to grow upwards of 500 head of lettuce per week? And, how about doing all of this without soil or fertilizer?
Well, my friends welcome to aquaponics.
Aquaponics is definitely not new, however, in light of various debacles from “over-population” to diminishing soil quality – it has begun to grow in popularity. The long and short of it is that fish, in a separate tank –
are fed daily and do what they normally do – poop! This waste gets cycled via a pump into one of the troughs with vegetables growing directly on top of the water in rafts (as you can see in the first picture). Here, bacteria begin to break down this waste into a form that plants can use to grow! Add a little sunlight, and botta-bing-botta-boom plants grow!
I have spent the past 2 weeks working at Sand Creek Farm learning the art of aquaponics. It has its own set of hurdles, but done properly it can provide the owner with a lot of good eatin’ and a lot of good selling for moderate effort. This is one of the reasons it is being sincerely considered as an option to develop the revenue stream of the Temple of Compassion ashram.
If you are interested in learning more about this incredible practice – please email the aquaponics team!