Aquaponic Gardening!

Green Light is always trying to stay educated on new ways to be more energy efficient. The organic farm trend of an aquaponic garden has become a new feature on our front porch.

A fairly new invention, aquaponics is a sustainable gardening system that combines aquaculture with hydroponics. The fish effluent in the water acts as a natural fertilizer for the plants saving the need to add other forms of fertilizer.  In return the plants consume the natural fertilizer and in the process filter and purify the water. This saves having to constantly check the levels of toxicity in the tank and provides naturally cleaner water for the fish to live in. In regular gardening the soil absorbs a lot of water calling for daily watering. Without soil, aquaponics dramatically conserves water because only through absorption from the plants or a tiny bit of evaporation is the only water lost.

Greenlight now has five fish helping to grow a small herb garden and although our project is small, aquaponics is making big moves in the gardening world. Installations of gardens are taking place in elementary schools, college campuses, and even restaurants. With help from social media websites like Twitter and Facebook, aquaponics enthusiasts are able share tips and more people are able to find out how it works.

Marianne Cufone from Recirculating Farms was generous enough to set up our aquaponic garden. I was lucky enough to talk with Marianne about what else Recirculating Farms does including research, education, policy-making, and even installations. She has been passionate about fish farming policies for many years and she as well as the rest of the staff are pushing to make aquaponics a more common form of gardening for everyone. To learn more about Recirculating farms go to their website at www.recirculatingfarms.org. We will also be tracking the progress of our fish and plant growth throughout the entire summer, so look out for the regular updates to follow.

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