Creating An Urban Farmer
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| MagiKarps #1-27! Thayer is using feeder goldfish to get his system started. |
Our son, Thayer, has always been interested in science and growing things (both plant and animal!). We decided that the perfect Christmas gift for him this year would be his very own patio-sized greenhouse for the backyard. We went online and ordered one, feeling very proud of ourselves, indeed!
As luck would have it, not two days later, Thayer came home from school with the news that he had talked his science teacher into letting him clean out the old school greenhouse and start a Botany Club. Really? I mean, we were obviously proud of him and his excitement was contagious, but how were we going to kick his Christmas gift up a notch to top his new access to full-sized, already equipped actual building (I mean, it has windows and a swamp cooler and...well, you get the picture)?
John and I decided that while we couldn't top the size of the school greenhouse, we might be able to find some awesome, wow-factor-type plants for Thayer to put in it. Armed with an ad from Craiglist that promised a selection of "weird plants" for sale, we headed to Ecogro, at 657 W. St. Mary Road. Little did we know that we were about to walk into the perfect little plant "nerd"vana.
Yes, Ecogro is home to weird plants galore. There was a plethora of succulents, air plants, and all manners of other vegetation. What caught our attention the most, though, was the aquaponics systems. John had experienced hydroponics at school when he was growing up, which is the growing of plants using water. Both of us had raised fish before, which was the aquaculture part of the equation. Aquaponics combines the two-- using the waste from the fish to fertilize the plants, and the roots of the plants to filter the water for the fish. It's the ultimate sustainable system-- and we knew that Thayer would totally be into it!
The folks at Ecogro were awesome and helped up pick out components to create an aquaponics system that would fit on our patio and be a manageable size for beginners. They even give discounts to teachers! We're counting them as our awesome discovery of the month and look forward to going back as we learn more about this new system of gardening/farming!
For the record, Thayer loved his gifts and has been happily busy getting everything set up and functional. Here's the start of his newest project:
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