Aquaponics arrives in Buffalo

 

 

Jesse of MAP with (part of) their fledgling aquaponics system.

A week ago, in the middle of steady rain, I took a tour of some very interesting community gardens and urban farms on Buffalo’s West Side. Totally new to me was the Massachusetts Avenue Project’s aquaponics start-up, located in a straw bale greenhouse they completed in 2008. We've mentioned this as a possible trend once or twice, but this is the first time I've seen one in action (or almost). 

 

It works something like this. A large tank of fish (tilapia) syphons its waste water into gravel beds of vegetables, feeding the plants with the fish nutrients. The plants purify that water, which flows back into the tank. When the fish and the plants are mature, they’re ready for consumption. The plants grow faster, very little water is needed, and, providing the system is properly constructed, there is little in the way of maintenance other than feeding the fish and harvesting the herbs, vegetables, or whatever is being grown. 

There are tons of videos illustrating this on YouTube. Check it out; seems like something an intrepid home gardener could do. I notice that a lot of the home set-ups use common aquarium fish, which would not be eaten (I'm hoping).

Comments

[commonweeder]

the whole idea of hydroponics is fascinating. It seems so simple, but I'd love to know exactly what is involved. The Tour sounds fabulous!

[tai haku]

Aquaponics rule - Some of the aussie set ups for this type of system are astonishingly cool.

[Kathy J, Washington Gardener Magazine]

Where can someone who does NOT want to grow Weed go to learn about hydroponics on the web? Try Googling it and you land in a drugged-out jungle :-(

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