About Our Farm
AQUACULTURE + HYDROPONICS = AQUAPONICS
Aquaculture is the growing of fish.
Hydroponics is the growing of vegetables in water.
ABOUT AQUAPONICS
Aquaponics is a method of farming in which fish and vegetables grow together in one body of recirculating water. The fish fertilize the plants, and the plants detoxify the water. This closed-loop system creates a holistic agricultural approach that mimics a natural ecosystem.
Aquaponics is the most sustainable form of farming, using 92% less water and a fraction of land use, compared to conventional farming. Chemical pesticides and fertilizers are not needed, nor do we want to use them, so we've banned them from our farm completely.
THE MOST SUSTAINABLE
FARMING METHOD ON THE PLANET
92% LESS WATER USAGE THAN CONVENTIONAL FARMING
NO CHEMICAL HERBICIDES, PESTICIDES, GMOS, ANTIBIOTICS
NATURAL DEFENSE SYSTEMS
Conventional farms use very large amounts of water to hydrate their crops, a high percentage of which is lost through run-off and weeds. Our greenhouse provides a controlled environment, and our plants sit directly in water. On our farm, the only water lost is through transpiration and evaporation.
Since aquaponics farming mimics the natural ecosystem, chemical herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, growth hormones, and antibiotics are simply not part of the equation. They aren't found in nature, so we don't use them, plain and simple. Plus all of those chemicals would hurt our fish, which would hurt our plants.
Having a farm means you're going to have pests to deal with, it's unavoidable and inevitable. Since aphids love warm environments and food to eat, they love our fully stocked greenhouse. We use natural defense systems, like ladybugs that love to snack on aphids, to protect our plants naturally.
OUR BEGINNING
AquaSprout Farms began with one greenhouse and one clear goal - grow healthy fresh food for the local community using environmentally friendly and sustainable practices.
Sustainability is important to us so we chose the resourceful path when getting started. We found an old dilapidated greenhouse and saw potential. A spacious 2,800 square foot greenhouse that could hold our future farm. A detailed plan was made to retrofit the greenhouse and bring it back to life. We worked tirelessly to implement the necessary systems required to run our future farm. One demanding year later, we were ready to grow! AquaSprout Farms was finally here.
WHAT WE GROW
With the help of our greenhouse, fish, tanks, and water filtration systems, we're able to grow fresh vegetables year-round!
Our year-round offerings include a variety of greens such as kale, swiss chard, basil, arugula, micro-greens, and a variety of lettuces including summer crisp, butterhead, and romaine. We also have seasonal offerings like cherry tomatoes.
Once our fish have helped out on the farm, we harvest them also, and sell our entire line locally.
OUR GREENHOUSE
We love our greenhouse. Our system is capable of producing 880 lbs of tilapia and nearly 28,000 heads of lettuce each year! It's an astounding amount of food for a farm our size.
Our greenhouse is dedicated to the entire aquaponics system. It's home to all of our growing tilapia and plants of all sizes. The plants live in a series of seeding trays and floating beds as they fulfill their growth cycle. They're fed by nutrient-rich water (thanks to the fish!) that filters through the closed-loop system.
On a typical day, we're checking on the growth and health of plants and fish, measuring and checking water levels in the tanks and beds, planting new seeds, transferring growing plants to larger floating beds, and harvesting greens.
Some days we introduce natural pest control in the form of ladybugs or check on the plants in our secondary greenhouse which uses traditional soil farming practices. As we approach the weekend, we start and prepping for local farmers' markets.
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AquaSprout Farms
Sustainable I Organic Practices I Year-Round