aquaponics - introduction

After seeing the impact the bees had on the established plants in the garden after just a year, also listening to the comments of our neighbours who'd actually noticed a difference in their gardens too. We decided that we'd plant more plants. That simple really. 

I've always wanted to grow our own organic veg, but all my previous attempts have been failures. We have a very heavy clay soil in places that can get waterlogged, its hard to dig over for traditional planting, but is quite good with no dig systems. We also get loads of slugs and snails in the garden, Whenever I've tried to grow veg in the past, it's always felt like I was doing it for the benefit of the slugs. So I looked at a few websites and just by accident came across an article by some self sufficient Americans who were using aquaponics. I found you could download aquaponics designs free of charge off the United Nations website. When the UN are helping develop communities globally or helping after disaster, they build aquaponics systems. They're a very efficient way of growing food, only use 10% of the water of normal agriculture. They can be made very cheaply and the designs can be improvised using materials available locally. Almost anybody can operate them.

After I read that, and looked at the designs I came to the conclusion a system could be built for a reasonable amount of money and I could grow almost all the food we would need on the system. A big step towards being self sufficient. On top of that, I wouldn't be feeding the pet slugs, and the system could go next to the apiary, bringing another small benefit to the bees and to the plants.

Growing our own food also addresses a few more of my own personal concerns. If it's grown in the back garden, there are no food miles, I've not done a calculation but I'd guess growing veg with no food miles is a carbon offset? I know that no chemicals have been added. In creating an aquaponics system you create a natural symbiotic eco system between, plants, fish and bacteria which is carefully balanced and beneficial to all parties. It also means that I can control the seeds I use. 

There are aquaponic farms in the uk but the concept is mostly in its' infancy here, I've posted links to those that I know of. Aquaponics should also not be confused with hydroponics, where vegetables are grown using water based systems but the water is dosed with fertilisers.

Most people don't realise that in commercial agriculture, seeds are modified and then require all sorts of treatments. 

Most of the commercially bought seeds that people grow veg from in their gardens have been modified. The seeds from the plants can't be saved and re-used the following year. It wouldn't be in the commercial interests of those companies that sell the seeds or treatments. They argue its to ensure productivity and disease resistance etc etc. Is it? or is it to protect commercial interests? How safe is it? If the treatments are so safe, when you see people treating plants in commercial agriculture, why are they wearing PPE?

Historically people would save the seeds from the crops they'd grown and keep a seed bank for the following year. With lots of people doing this, the seeds of the strongest crops were saved and adapted to their environment and people used seeds and grew crops that thrived in their geographical area. Because of this there was a wide diversity in seed available. This diversity in these organic seed banks spread geographically means there was an inherent safety in the diversity and strength of the seed banks. This has been eradicated by modern commercial agriculture.

If you look, you can still buy historical unmodified seeds, so I have been using these for my plants and I'm intending to keep my own seed bank for future use.

I'm also intending to integrate the aquaponics with my permaculture, forest garden planting. Aquaponics will certainly provide the vegetables that we see and use every day. But to benefit the environment and make life easier still, growing perennial food plants adds another dimension to self sufficiency. Fruit trees and bushes that once established provide fruit every year with little maintenance. Strawberries, rhubarbs, perennial leeks, garlic. There is a huge list of  plants that can be planted in a diverse and complimentary fashion to provide edible food that comes back year after year. How will an aquaponics system help with that, I'm intending to use the system to start the plants from seed. Allowing them to be protected fully until they're mature enough to be planted out into the permaculture system. Growing from seed will be far more cost effective than buying mature plants. I'll know where the seed has come from and I'll know there hasn't been any pesticides applied.