I first heard about a guy growing fish and plants together in 2008 in Dallas TX. He was a missionary that used the technique in 3rd world countries to empower small villages to be food independent. I was immediately intrigued and took a trip to see if I could get more info on what he was really doing. I found out that he had combined 2 industries together, aquaculture and hydroponics. Today it is called Aquaponics and although still a new concept in America, this technique is being used all over the world. It combines fish and plants together creating a micro eco-system with very little inputs required. The fish live in their tank and a small water pump moves the water from the fish tank to a grow bed that is full of gravel. Inside the gravel, aerobic bacteria begin breaking down the fish waste and eventually turn it into a perfect plant food. The plants then absorb it as food and purify the water for the fish. The end result is a self-cleaning system that produces edible fish and vegetables. The bacteria do not need to be introduced, they just show up- sort of like algae. If you take a bucket of water and place it in the sun in a warm climate, algae will start to grow; it does not need to be introduced or planted, but it always shows up!
There are some amazing advantages to a fish powered garden. They grow vegetables twice as fast as a normal soil garden. This could be because they are perpetually watered and fed a perfectly balanced plant food. Plants can also be placed much closer together since the roots are not competing for nutrition or moisture. This is important as it directly relates to many times more vegetable production per square foot. For those with limited space or growing inside a climate controlled greenhouse, space is quite expensive so the more production per square foot the more profitable it can be. Vertical space can also be utilized with these systems by simply pumping the water higher and allowing it to drip through a tower or stackable planter. Another major advantage is the absence of weeds. The elevated grow beds only grow what you plant. The occasional weed that might find its way into the system is a rare occurrence.
Perhaps the most important reason a person should consider a fish powered garden today is food independence. Like it or not, we vote with our dollars. Spending less on GMO, insecticide & herbicide polluted food at the local super market means less revenue for the mega corporations and ultimately less control for them over our food. When we grow our own food, we are taking back the control and gaining more freedom. There is much more to it than just the food; it’s also the quality of food. If you grow it yourself then you can be sure there are no genetically modified seeds, no insecticides and no herbicides. Knowledge is power - learning how to grow your own food could come in handy and knowledge goes wherever you go. Mastering a fish powered garden is much easier than soil gardening as well. There are a lot of issues that are automatically eliminated such as weeds, soil borne insects, and mold. It is also something you can benefit from immediately in a multitude of ways.
Food quality is directly enhanced with a fish powered garden and can super charge your families' health. It’s no secret that the food in our supermarkets come from depleted soils. The main fertilizer used in commercial farming today is N-P-K (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, & Potassium) that’s 3 but what about all the other minerals our bodies need? There are 1000’s of minerals and 13 essential vitamins. Our bodies can only build or repair itself with the resources it has available to it. If it’s missing a vital trace mineral, it could lead to a real problem. When we grow our own food, especially in a fish powered garden, we can make sure it is charged with trace minerals. This keeps the plants healthy and they are able to create the natural vitamins we need, not to mention passing on to us those trace minerals. When we eat vegetables full of trace minerals, our bodies absorb them the way God intended. This works a lot better than trying to compensate with synthetic, over-the-counter vitamins in a pill form. One of the most potent ways to add minerals to a fish powered garden is by using Kelp powder. A very small amount mixed with water and sprayed on the leaves will enhance the health of the entire system. Minerals also give food its flavor. Picking your produce when it is fully ripened on the vine also allows it to be nutrition rich. Most produce at our modern supermarkets is picked green so that it can make the long journey form farm to store without bruising. This green produce has not had the trace minerals available to it nor did it have the opportunity to ripen all the way resulting in great looking food that is void of flavor and nutrition.
There is quite a lot of disturbing information about the Great Depression that most people today have never considered. In the 1930’s, the vast majority of the population either lived on rural farms or they had a good knowledge of how to grow food. It is interesting to discover that even though so many people knew how to grow food, there were still several million deaths attributed to mal-nutrition. Some estimates are over 1 million with a US population of 127 million in 1935. Can you imagine the death rates today if a similar depression hit America? Today it is estimated that less than 5% of the population has the ability or knowledge of how to grow their own food, and our population is much more centered in large cities rather than rural areas. If something happened today and you had the ability to grow food, you would certainly be at a huge advantage and have something of great importance to share with your fellow man.
The word Organic does not hold the value today it once did as corporations have found loopholes around many of the regulations. The great thing about growing your own food is that you know exactly what is and is NOT in it! Starting with a pure heirloom seed and watching it grow to mature fruit is a wonder in itself. Knowing it is completely pure without insecticides or herbicides is the icing on the cake. I believe in years to come as more of our population becomes aware of this growing technique, we will begin to see the word Organic replaced with Aquaponically Grown. Why? Because in a fish powered garden you cannot “cheat”. It you spray your plants with the normal man-made chemicals it will kill the fish and beneficial bacteria! So by default, it must stay natural.
As soon as I learned about this incredible way to grow perpetual food, I began building systems and learning everything available. There are many ways to utilize fish and plants together and through the years I continuously refined my system. Eventually it led to a marketable product that we now have available in a modular kit form on our website, www.EndlessFoodSystems.com. We have a passion for creating rock solid modular kits that will empower anyone to succeed as well as Do-It-Yourself videos to enable anyone the ability to gain this very important knowledge. One of the best parts is that most backyards are more than large enough for an average family to become self-sufficient. I hope you will pursue this amazing new growing technique that can supercharge your families' health and give you food independence.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/31/1212791/-Stossel-No-need-for-Government-Programs-Cuz-No-One-Starved-to-Death-in-Great-Depression#
http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/vitamins_minerals.shtml
