In 2005 we built a solar greenhouse. The beauty of the greenhouse has been fresh tomatoes in January, a quiet place to escape and a learning space about gardening and nature. In 2007, we decided we would add an aquaponics system to the greenhouse.

Our solar greenhouse

What is aquaponics?
Aquaponics is the marriage of aquaculture (the raising of fish for eating) and hydroponics (the raising of plants in water). The beauty is that it creates a sustainable closed system. The water from the raising of fish is normally a waste product but is actually filled with nutrients that provide what plants need for growing. Rather than having to feed the plants with inorganic nutrients, which is the normal practice in hydroponics, the plants utilize the "waste" from the fish.

Aquaponics does require power inputs and, in most cases, some fish food, but the benefits far outweigh the costs. For more information on aquponics, try the following:

• Our sister site now has all of our former aquaponics information at EcoCircles - Aquaponics, an ecocircle in action
• The forum at Backyard Aquaponics is a wealth of information. Plan on losing yourself for weeks there but also plan on finding lots of ideas.
• There is a yahoo group called Barrelponics. There are more great people there to help with your aquaponics building project. And, Travis has plans for a great basic system to get you started under the Files area.