Maggie’s Farm Brings Sustainable Agriculture to the Desert with Aquaponics
Maggie’s Farm is doing something rather incredible – it’s bringing aquaponics and sustainable agriculture to the desert.
Maggie’s Farm may be best known as a Bob Dylan song about fair labor, but in southern Arizona – 12 miles from Tucson, Arizona — this Maggie’s Farm was built on the premise of cultivating sustainable, healthy produce to the hungry public residing in Arizona.
While the farm benefits from Arizona’s endless sunny days, its system has been perfected to be incredibly efficient, too. The farm is built on a greenhouse system that’s effectively “mirrored nature’s natural growth cycle with little to no waste.” In fact, the Farm’s tagline is to grow “produce with the lowest carbon footprint feasible.”
While the Farm’s main goal is to feed Tuscon-ites aquaponicly grown lettuce, Maggie’s also produces ornamental plants, succulents, herbs, and tomatoes.
As if the Farm wasn’t adorable enough already (because what’s more adorable than plants that are grown sustainably), Maggie’s also houses four dogs, two miniature donkeys, a flock of chickens, and a herd of sheep.
In addition to growing an amazing amount of food that’s hearty and healthy, the Farm also provide tours and classes for interested parties for an incredibly reasonable cost.
So, why do we love aquaponics so much? Probably because of the following facts:
“Aquaponics is a type of hydroponic growing in which the fertilizer used is actually generated by the fish themselves with a little help from some beneficial bacteria. There is no need for additional fertilizer. Likewise, the plants then filter out the water by sucking the nutrients out of it and thus negating the need for weekly water changes on your fish tank — a perfect symbiotic relationship.” Mother Earth News
You can see why aquaponics is awesome by that paragraph alone. And doubled with the fact that Arizona is not exactly rife with water.
Do you buy vegetables and herbs that are grown in an aquaponic environment? If so tell us where!
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