Why do we choose Aquaponics instead of regular gardening?
Initially when i first started prepping, I soon remarked that storing up freeze dried foods isn't just expensive, but not a great policy for long-term survival. If something devastating happened that changed our society forever, stockpiles could eventually come to an end regardless how much you've got stored. It's no little amount to put much money into something you we do hope you will never have to use.
When I stumbled upon a limitless strategy to grow food called aquaponics, it revolutionized my way of thinking when it comes to long-term survival. The benefits of an aquaponic Endless Food System are immediate, and definitely will generate clean, non-GMO food on your family immediately. A lot of people in addition have found eating natural and eliminating toxic pesticides and chemicals employed in a lot of today's processed foods has strengthened their defense mechanisms.
An aquaponic garden is a thing that may benefit your household without delay, and you'll be crucial in the case of an extended-term food crisis. Growing your own organic fruits and vegetables (and fish!) can help to conserve big money in your grocery bill. Know what's even better, besides the fresh taste, is that you simply don't ought to own acres of land. Scalping strategies can generate around maybe five or ten times more food per sq . ft . compared to a traditional garden.
Aquaponic beds use 90% less water than a soil garden because the water is contained, and never has to be changed out. On top of that, growing vegetables in the elevated beds eliminates bending over and many traditional insect problems. Endless Food Systems are easy to operate and maintain, requiring only 5-10 minutes per day. I often get asked if the food tastes good. The truth is, once you've tasted vegetables grown the natural way in these systems, you'll never want to buy from the big box stores again. It is truly amazing how much better food tastes when it's allowed to ripen completely on the vine and grow without any chemicals.
So How Does Aquaponics Work?
An Endless Food System combines fish and plants together in a natural, symbiotic way. The fish provide food for the plants, and the plants clean the water for the fish. A water pump constantly moves the water from a fish tank into gravel-filled grow beds full of vegetable plants. The only inputs needed are fish food and a very small amount of electricity (can be from a car battery & solar panel) to run the water pump and air pump.
You can grow your own fish food, or even hang a hand-crank flashlight over the fish tank at night to attract bugs. The water and tanks never need to be cleaned. In fact, if you did, it could kill your beneficial microbes and bacteria that are doing all the work of converting the fish waste into plant food. The only thing that is really needed is a simple once-a-week brushing of the fish tank to stir up the sediment and send the fish waste up into the grow beds (where you want it). The idea of aquaponics is quite ancient, but has only recently been re-discovered. And while the overall concept is simple, designing and building a system can be quite complex.
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly how much food an Endless Food System will produce, but in our experience, it is very possible for most families to drastically improve their food independence and health. As with anything, you generally get out what you put in, and an Endless Food System is no different. The better a system is managed, the more it will produce. We have found that a 12 foot wide by 20 foot long set up will generate around 1,200 pounds of vegetables and 50 to 80 pounds of fish per year. There are a lot of factors involved that could affect that number, such as your climate, type of plants and fish, and whether you are growing in a greenhouse that is climate controlled or in a basement.
For those in an urban environment without much space, we offer a compact indoor system, Eden. The peaceful sound of the constant water fountain cascading over the pebbles acts as both an accent piece, and functional aquaponics system for indoor growing.
Due to National Geographic for this very informative article regarding Aquaponics.
Happy Gardening!
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