HGCS Aquaponics

Online Order Form - Please submit your order here. We do not charge, however we do accept donations. Donate Online Here - Under "area" on the second page please select Aquaponics for your donation to go directly to the lab.

We are very excited to announce that Friday we had our first harvest! We were able to harvest 16 heads of red leaf lettuce, and our staff and student interns were able to have their first organic salad from our garden. This is very promising for the future of our lab as we hope to have regular, large harvests. The success of our lab is not only to have a few salads here and there, but to be able to build a system that can be replicated in third world, bringing both food and the Gospel to those who are hungry!

Aquaponics is a form of sustainable agriculture that combines aquaculture, the raising of fish for consumption, and hydroponics, the raising of vegetables without soil. The farm consists of a fish tank and a grow bed. The fish help the plants, and the plants help the fish. This type of system where two very different species help each other thrive is called a symbiotic ecosystem. In this ecosystem, the fish give the plants fertilizer so they can grow quickly. In return, the plants make the water clean for the fish, so they can be healthy.  The earliest form of aquaponics is seen in China, 1,700 years ago. China grew rice and fish together in one field. A more recent example is the chinampas, or “Floating Gardens”, of the Aztec Empire, 500 years ago.