In the first aquaponic book to provide information on lawns, gardens, and vertical gardens, self-sufficiency expert Caleb Warnock shows us how fish, plants, a flower bed, water, and a drain combine to create a masterful ecosystem that can sustain your family.
Aquaponic gardening mimics nature. In her simplest form, Mother Nature creates a self-sustaining system in which water, animals, and plants combine to help each other. Creating your own aquaponic garden using this natural cycle is simple, cost-effective, and sustainable.
In an aquaponic garden, fish live in the water and produce waste; when this "fish water" is used to water the garden, the soil (along with your garden) is naturally enriched and fertilized. Meanwhile, the water is effectively filtered by the soil. When the filtered water returns to the fish pond, the fish continue to eat and grow, and the cycle continues.
The advantages are endless. Aquaponic gardens:
- use far less water because water returns from the garden to the pond in a cycle;
- need no purchased fertilizer;
- create naturally rich, sustainable, chemical-free soil;
- grow larger, healthier plants, which produce more food;
- can produce harvestable fish;
- dramatically reduce the need to weed with no-till methods (see the No-Till Gardening book in this series);
- provide a peaceful, meditative water feature for the backyard;
- and bring the joy of having fish to the backyard garden.
