Growing a Simple Garden Year Round with Aqua Farming Techniques
Each year, the first crops to sprout from my garden
are my lettuces. Red leaf, Romaine, Boston, and Butter Crunch begin to
fill out and bring a sense of life to the patches of soil that laid
fallow during the Winter. My girls sow their seeds, and we begin the
tender warm-up to the full on production in the moths ahead. Yet once
the warmer weather arrives, the lettuces tend to wilt back and bolt, and
our attentions turn to the beans and emerging tomatoes. As we are
unable to preserve our leafy veggies, we began looking for ways to keep
our lettuce harvest viable throughout the season. This year, we found
the solution with a windowsill aquafarm setup.
Basics of a Windowsill Aquafarm
Hydroponics and aquafarming
are not a new concepts, but in the past these systems have relied on
space-swallowing equipment that wouldn't properly fit into our home.
However, a few years ago my sister was constructing miniature biospheres
for her Beta fish, using water plants to both feed and clean up the
organic waste. Nitrogen from fish waste is drawn up through the plant's
roots, and the roots in turn produce food for the fish. We began
talking, and after a time, discovered it would be just as viable to use
garden vegetables and herbs as the plant material. The fish remains
healthy without the addition of commercially produced fish food, and the
plants can continue indoors without the harshness of a Summer heat. For
a household use, we determined a three-gallon tank would be the perfect
size.
Composition of the Aquafarm
We started
with a three gallon tank with a plastic slip-on lid. I drilled a series
of holes in the top of the lid to fit our recycled plastic planters,
each of them quart-sized. In the middle of the arrangement, I placed a
small water pump that drained right back into the tank after filtering
through the growing medium. For this, we use coffee grounds
- renewable, easily changed, and completely absent of chemicals. Each
pot was a dedicated planting area, and for our first time out, my girls
chose red leaf and butter crunch lettuces. Their smaller sizes, coupled
with steady growth rate made them the perfect choice. In the tank
itself, we adopted a single Beta fish, and added a few underwater
features to provide structure and hiding places for when it felt
stressed.
Aquafarm Harvesting
Lettuces should be
trimmed from the outside in, meaning the leaves are taken from the
exterior of the plant. It is possible to cut free the whole head and
realize new growth, but this will stress the lettuce and eventually
prompt it to stop producing. A few leaves at a time is much more
manageable, and the plant will keep growing as long as you let it. Herbs
act the same way, and a little trim here and there actually promotes
growth. As a note, be wary of the amount of sunlight entering the tank,
as an excess will promote algae growth. If this begins to happen, simply
move your miniature farm tank until it stabilizes once more. Enjoy your
December salad!
