With another effort to push the boundaries of the local, sustainable living scene, the Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) recently held the grand opening for its new Aquaponics Project, based at the Cylburn Arboretum in Baltimore.
Directed by David Love, a microbiologist with the Department of Environmental Sciences at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the project features a 1,200 square foot greenhouse donated by the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks.
The greenhouse contains four 210-gallon tanks filled with 400 tilapia and two 150-square foot hydroponic grow beds.
Aquaponics is a relatively new method of favoring sustainable living. It combines the base ideas of aquaculture and hydroponics (fish farming and soilless vegetable farming, respectively), and aims to produce nutritious and tasty foods at minimal water and soil costs.
The key to the project is the choice of fish and the method for providing nutrients to the plants.
Tilapia are highly adaptable fish, requiring only relatively warm water and a vegetarian diet to flourish. They are capable of growing to harvestable size (roughly 1.5 lbs) in the fairly short time-span of nine months.
However, tilapia are not only easy to grow; they are also are favorites of restaurants and fish markets.
“[They are] the most popular fish in the US,” Love said. The project aims to eventually sell the fish at local fish and farmers’ markets in Baltimore, while providing surplus to local emergency food providers.
Yet, the project does not stand still for those nine months. Aquaponics goes past traditional aquaculture in the fact that it utilizes the wastes produced by the fish as fertilizer for the plants being grown concurrently in the soilless hydroponics beds.
The solid wastes are composted, while the liquids are bioremediated so that they can provide an unpolluted nutrient source for the plants.
The Project aims to have the fish, originally introduced to the tanks in June, ready for markets by January. In the mean time, they will be providing the nutrients needed for various vegetables and herbs, including lettuce, kale, celery, basil, eggplant and okra, all to be grown in the hydroponic plant beds.
“[The Aquaponics Project] shows that there are alternatives to open ocean farming,” Love said. Indeed, with the understanding that traditional methods may eventually leave the oceans dry of fish and our farmlands empty of nutrient resources, the success of the Project would serve as an example of how to efficiently use our resources without decreasing our standards of living.
As a dual-income project, given the sales of both the fish and the vegetables, the Aquaponics Project could become a model for local entrepreneurs — a model which, if followed, could generate economic activity for the present while looking out for the future.
The CLF makes it a goal to inform the public and demonstrate the effectiveness of sustainable living methods such as those highlighted in the Aquaponics Project. Love hopes that the Project can eventually help educate the Hopkins community about these matters as well. He sees the potential of incorporating visits to the Cylburn Arboretum into the curriculum of various courses offered at Hopkins, specifically those in the Environmental Engineering curriculum.
CLF is also a co-sponsor of the upcoming 100 Mile Meal, a Hopkins event that will exclusively source food from within a 100-mile radius. Produce from the Blue Jay’s Perch community garden and other local producers will be featured at the Oct. 20 event, to be held in the Charles Commons Conference Center. Bestselling author and sustainable food advocate Anna Lappe will visit as a guest speaker.
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