Aquaponics

Aquaponics is perhaps the next step in sustainable gardening, once all the kinks are worked out of course. It takes the boxcar gardens popping up in Boston to the next level. (If you haven't heard about those, click the link above for a new short. These are a brilliant idea, and they grow enough to steadily supply restaurants. Vertical is the way to go for city gardens!)

The neat thing about aquaponics versus the irrigation shown in the Boston vertical garden video is that you can have less external input into the system in the form of artificial fertilizers. In an Aquaponics system, the fish are providing all the natural nutrients for your plants. You end up saving water in a closed system as well, and you get the benefit of growing fish with your plants. Balanced meals anyone?

The reason I bring up Aquaponics is because I am getting the chance to volunteer my graduate research skills with a local prototype greenhouse. (More photos on the instagram.) The goal is to update you with some of the findings and eventually show you how to build an inexpensive and effective system in your own backyards! This is going to be a learning experience for me as well, but I am excited to share with y'all in this online community. Please share what neat things are going on in your own backyards too! Are there any projects like this in your city? What's new?

Don't forget to check out the instagram @the_sustainable_gardener

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