As gardeners, we often care deeply about preserving the natural world and our own well-being. After all, without one of us, we couldn’t discover our passion.
If you’re lucky enough to have a plot or garden big enough to grow your own produce, you’re probably ready for the challenges of growing fruits and vegetables successfully. It takes time, patience, the right conditions and of course a lot of luck to achieve really good results. Unfortunately, this process often also means the use of pesticides and other chemicals to give plants the best chance to grow, uninhibited by pests.
It can hardly be considered good for the environment and many studies have clearly shown the negative effects that pesticides can have on our body. It’s probably worse with the food you buy at the supermarket. If you also start looking at the effects of genetically modified foods, it gets even scarier.
But we don’t resort to scare tactics, all we seek is a solution.
Fortunately, there is an alternative to using pesticides on crops, and you might be pleasantly surprised. We were sure.
The answer is in the fish, yes the fish.
Aquaponics is a contraction of the words aquaculture (i.e. growing fish) and hydroponics (i.e. growing plants without soil), and it is exactly that, combining these two processes to create 100% organic food. The best part about this is that you can get started right away and use your green fingers to set up an aquaponics operation in your own backyard.
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So how exactly does aquaponics work?
It’s quite simple, fish waste contains nitrates, an all-natural fertilizer to help plants grow. What makes the process really elegant is that the plants absorb these nutrients and then clean the water for the fish, and so the cycle continues. Fish and plants that coexist are totally complementary. Once you’ve adjusted your initial settings, the process continues with virtually no input from you. Sit back and wait for your organic food to grow! All you have to do is plant more seeds once you’ve harvested your vegetables.
Benefits of aquaponics:
- No soil means no mess. Since the plants grow in specially designed containers that hold only nutrient-rich water, you don’t have to worry about digging, digging or tilling the soil. Of course, this also means that there are no pests in the soil and no pesticides are needed to kill them.
- No need to water. Why would this be necessary when water is already at the base of the process? Put that watering can away!
- No weeding. Aquaponic objects are removed from the ground, there is no way for weeds to get in and gobble things up!
- An aquaponic setup can be set up in a small area, even in a typical small British garden! Plants can be placed much closer together than in a traditional plot and can even be stacked in multiple levels if desired.
- Better quality food. The biggest benefit of all is that you are growing your own high quality, 100% natural organic food. Organic foods have been shown to improve everything from your energy levels to your ability to get a good night’s sleep and even your libido. Definitely the way to go!
- Big money saving. Think about it, with just the initial setup cost and the cost of keeping your system running and a few seeds to supplement the harvested crops, you could save hundreds of pounds a year.
It looks good! Where can I find out more?
Although not a complicated subject to understand, it will certainly be worthwhile to fully understand how to get started with aquaponics. To that end, we recommend you check out this Easy DIY Aquaponics course† This is the resource for any budding DIY aquaponics beginner, in the UK or anywhere else!