It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Irrigation: Aquaculture and Hydroponics}

This is the fourth part in Frannie's exploration of irrigation. Check out the previous post here!

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Like Frannie mentioned in the last blog, there are two types of urban agriculture that are very unique: aquaculture and hydroponics. Both of these processes are almost solely water-based and require the farmers to be creative in the way they save water and money.

Aquaculture is usually defined as the raising fresh and salt water fish but it can include other kinds of water creatures and plants. It produces healthy, high-quality fish that can either be used to stock lakes for people who like to fish or sold directly to markets for consumption.

Fish can be raised in wide open waters or in smaller tanks depending on space availability and the species of fish. Fish-farming has a long history and has played a culturally important role for those who do it. For over 4,000 years, the Chinese have bred and raised a meaty carp and the Japanese have farmed koi that can often sell for thousands of dollars.

Hydroponics is a system that, instead of growing plants in the soil, grows them in a “nutrient solution” or water jam-packed with plant food. Plants “eat” and “drink” through a recirculating system.

At home, you can model this by planting a small plant in a 2 liter bottle with a string connecting the nutrient solution in the bottom to the plant bed.  In an urban farm, however, highly technical systems can grow many rows of crops that are layered on top of one another so that a very small area can have a high crop density.

If an environment allows, a hydroponic farm can benefit greatly from an aquaculture farm.  In an earlier blog post, Frannie demonstrated that old fish water can actually help grow beautiful gardens. Aquaponics does that on a much larger scale, repurposing the nutrient-rich water from the fishery tanks to feed the plants in the hydroponic system. The plants and micro-organisms clean the water that is then returned to the fish tank. This provides a mutually beneficial environment for both the fish and the plants, and results in two crops (the fish and the plants).

In urban environments farmers have to be creative in the way they use space and water, but ultimately they can be very productive. Share with us some of your creative ways to use water and space and check out past blogs to learn more about irrigation!

It's Water-Wise Wednesdays with Frannie the Fish! {Irrigation: Urban Agriculture}

This is the third part in Frannie's exploration of irrigation. Check out the previous post here!
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If you have a garden at home, think about what kinds of things you grow. Do you grow pretty bushes and flowers? Maybe some fruits and veggies to eat?

If you don’t have enough space for your garden at home, you might take part in a community garden.  A community garden provides a space for many people to grow fresh produce or raise small livestock like chickens and ducks on shared land. While each person is responsible for their own plot, they may choose to assist their neighbors and split their products or sell surplus at local markets.

Many communities, especially cities, are looking to take community gardening to the next level.  A food desert is a region within a city where it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh produce.  Many people who live in cities either choose not to have or can’t afford a car and the only locations to buy food within walking distances are convenience stores, bodegas, or gas stations.  Most of these places carry cheap, processed foods that aren’t healthy compared to fresher fruits, vegetables, and meat.

Urban agriculture is a part of that solution. While community gardens are a part of urban agriculture, the term more broadly includes things like beekeeping, farming, raising animals, aquaculture, and growing orchards all within an urban setting.

Just like in rural agriculture, urban farms need water sources to irrigate the plants. Many of these come from hook-ups to city wells or pumps. Cities can’t usually allow big irrigation systems like center pivot sprinklers for obvious reasons. Can you imagine one of those huge sprinklers rolling through the streets?

In relatively large plots of land, some sprinkler systems can be adapted to move or be moved through the field. Many smaller lots find drip irrigation or use of rain barrels to be a better, less expensive, more efficient solutions.  The labor-intensive irrigation methods that are so impractical on huge tracts of farmland can be more easily applied in urban environments.

Two very different and interesting kinds of urban agriculture are aquaculture and hydroponics.  Join Frannie as she learns more about them in her next blog!  In the meantime, share pictures of your garden or your community’s garden with us or check out previous blogs to learn more about irrigation.