…Me, this blog, and the current project
I am a student at the Evergreen State College and am passionate about food production systems.
Especially alternatives that mimic what mother nature has already created.
Closed loop systems such as aquaponics have great potential for urban agriculture. Everyone should have access to real, healthy, affordable organic food.
This blog is about aquaponics and permaculture. I am hoping to share and spread information about sustainable food production systems. Hopefully this will become a place to share information, I am always looking for feedback and information about other projects successes and failures. Feel free to comment on articles or start a dialogue.
Currently this blog is focusing on the construction of a 2500 gallon system at the Evergreen State College.
What is Aquaponics anyway?
Aquaponics is a food production system that produces both fish and plants in a complimentary system. The waste products of the fish are used to fertilize the plants and in turn the plants clean the water for reuse in the fish culture tanks.
What is the point of this project?
My goals for this project are both practical and educational. I want to build a sustainable food production system using aquaponics; this system will facilitate the growth of organic fruits, vegetables and fish in a closed loop. During construction and throughout the life of the project, we will also use this system to teach sustainable urban agriculture in conjunction with the Practices in Sustainable Agriculture course at Evergreen State College.
This project’s aquaponics system conserves and limits energy use as well as water consumption when compared to standard agriculture. Once constructed, this system requires far less energy input to produce food and is significantly less labor intensive. Water is also conserved; in an aquaponics system, water is re-circulated within the system. Roughly, 95% of the water remains within the system. This approach to agriculture uses about 90% less water than traditional farming methods. My proposed aquaponics system also requires less petroleum input than standard agriculture practices because of the absence of fuel-consuming heavy machinery.
I stumbled upon your page while attempting to research Sustainable agriculture at Evergreen State College. I can’t seem to locate anything from a students perspective. if your not that busy could you email me back and possibly answer a few questions for me. Such as how do you like the program? what to expect? what i’ll even get a degree in. Thanks a bunch and good luck with your project! =)