Last month saw a new development on the farm, with the installation of our new aquaponics system. On Monday we were exploring this technology with a group of students from Bangkok who were visiting with the Barge Program.

Our group was learning how it is possible to grow plants without any soil. In an aquaponics system, you combine raising fish with growing plants. The fish tank is home to some delicious aquatic animals, but as you feed them they begin to poop. Aquaponics finds a fantastic way to reuse this poop and clean the water. A pump transfers the dirty water to the grow beds – ours have lettuce and tomato. The plants then absorb the nutrients from the fish poop, providing them with all they need to grow, while also cleaning the water. The freshly filtered water then returns to the fish tank so the cycle can begin again.

We hope to be able to increase the number of plants we can grow on the farm with this new system, and when our fish are fully grown they should be appearing in the school cafeteria.