| In a hunt to try and find the most organic, convenient, and efficient way of gardening in my tiny apartment, I've exhausted many options. Not owning land, but still having a drive to grown my own food, I was determined to find an answer.
After doing a bit of research, I learned about Aquaponics. I'm so enthused about it now, I want to share with my fellow gardeners my new found knowledge!
Aquaponics is the merging of aquaculture and hydroponics. This is a growing method that replicates natural ecosystem by adding a fish tank with live fish into a growing system, and using all the fish waste as the main source of fertilizer. Because one system's waste may be anothers sustenance, putting the two together creates a permaculture relationship.
By transporting fish waste to hydroponic growing beds, nitrogen and water are no longer discharged and chemical fertilzers may be replaced with organic fish waste. Likewise, the friendly bacterial that naturally colonize in the rock beds, neutralize the ammonia from fish waste, purifying the water naturally. This process avoids discharge of water, ammonia and chemicals as occurs when hydroponics and aquaculture are implemented independent of one and other. Instead of using soil to grow plants, you use rocks. Within those rocks and in the garden bed where the plants grow, build up healthy bacteria that facilitates the nitrogen cycle, thus acting as a natural biofilter.
This way, you are always recycling water, not using chemicals and can grow both edible fish and plants simultaneously! It's ingeniously simple! I bought a little system for my living room to grow my winter herbs in, and it's required virtually no work. You don't have to clean out the fish tank, and the system really takes care of itself. It just lets nature do its thing, and I just sit back and watch.
I got my system from a company called Earth Solutions. Product is called Farm in a Box. They look beautiful and have many sizes.
Thought I'd spread the good word. Happy growing everyone.
Maya Gaia
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