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  • >> ROB NASH IS A FARMER, BUT HE DOESN'T WORRY ABOUT ALKALINE SOIL OR AMENDING CLAY.

  • HE DOESN'T HAVE A TILLER OR WEEDS OR A HUGE WATER BILL.

  • INSTEAD HE QUICKLY HARVESTS ROBUST CROPS FOR THE MARKET IN AN AQUAPONICS GREENHOUSE.

  • HE'S LIVING HIS DREAM JOB. >> LIKE SO MANY PEOPLE MY SEVENTH YEAR AT

  • MY OFFICE JOB AT THE INSURANCE COMPANY, I DECIDED, YOU KNOW, THIS IS JUST NOT SOMETHING

  • I SEE MYSELF DOING FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. >> WENT FOR HIS PASSION, GROWING LOCAL FOOD

  • FOR FAMILIES. HIS AVOCATION LED HIM TO AQUAPONICS AFTER

  • 11 YEARS WITH HYDROPONICS. IN 2012 HE BUILT THE FIRST OF TWO GREENHOUSES

  • ON ROCKY LAND THAT WOULD NEVER SUPPORT FOOD CROPS.

  • AN INNOVATOR HE GROWS TWO KINDS OF AQUAPONICS CULTURE, A WICKING BED AND SOME HYDROPONICS.

  • HE NAMED THE FARM HANNA LEIGH AFTER HIS DAUGHTERS HANNA AND RYELY.

  • HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTERS APPLAUDED THE MISSION FOR HEALTHY, LOCAL AND RESOURCEFUL FOOD.

  • >> I THINK IT'S NEAT. I TELL HIM ALL THE TIME YOU'RE THE NAME SAKE.

  • THIS IS YOUR FARM TOO. >> IT'S KIND OF FUN BECAUSE ALL MY FRIENDS

  • WHEN THEY ASK WHAT MY DAD DOES, I GET TO TELL THEM ALL ABOUT THIS AND THEY SEEM PRETTY INTERESTED

  • IN IT. >> WHAT IS AQUAPONICS?

  • ACTUALLY, IT'S A COMBINATION OF CULTURE, RAISING FISH AND HYDROPONICS, SOILLESS AGRICULTURE.

  • >> WHEN WE PUT THE TWO TOGETHER IN A CONSTRUCTED CLOSED LOOP ECOSYSTEM WE GET THE BENEFIT OF

  • NATURE'S BACTERIAL PROCESS. SO BY COMBINING FISH, PLANTS AND BACTERIA,

  • WE WIND UP WITH A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP WHERE THE FISH PROVIDE NUTRIENTS FOR THE PLANTS,

  • THE PLANTS FILTER THE WATER FOR THE FISH. >> THERE ARE TWO METHODS.

  • ONE IS MEDIA BASED WHERE ROB COMBINES LOCAL PINK GRANITE AND RIVER ROCK.

  • EVERY 30 MINUTES FISH TANK WATER PUMPS TO THE BEDS.

  • WORMS IN BACTERIA BREAK DOWN AMMONIA FROM FISH WASTE INTO NITRATES, A NATURAL PLANT

  • FERTILIZER. THE GRAVEL ALSO SEPARATES THE SOLIDS.

  • THE PROCESS RETURNS CLEAN WATERS TO THE FISH TANK.

  • >> ROB ALSO DIRECTS SOME OF THE CLEANSED WATER THROUGH AN EXTERNAL FILTER TO HIS RAFT BEDS.

  • THE SECOND METHOD OF AQUAPONICS CULTURE. >> SO NOW THAT THE WATER HAS GONE THROUGH

  • THE MEDIA BEDS AND THE ADDITIONAL FILTER, IT COMES IN HERE AND INTO THIS RAFT, WHICH

  • WE BASICALLY HAVE ABOUT 12 INCHES OF WATER, WHICH GIVES YOU PLENTY OF ROOM FOR THE ROOTS

  • TO GROW DOWN. WE RUN AIR THROUGH HERE SO THAT THIS IS HYPER

  • AIR RATED, WHICH GIVES THE PLANTS MORE VIGOROUS GROWTH.

  • AS YOU CAN SEE BY RUNNING IT THROUGH THE FILTER YOU KEEP THESE NICE CLEAN ROOTS.

  • >> HE STARTS ON FEED AND COIR FIBER TO REDUCE PATHOGENS, MATURE TRANSPLANT MOVE INTO NET

  • POTS FOR THE RAFT. >> WE ARE ABLE TO PRODUCE A LETTUCE IN 45

  • DAYS THAT WOULD TYPICALLY TAKE 60. HERE IS A LETTUCE THAT'S ONLY BEEN IN THE

  • SYSTEM FOR RIGHT AT 45 DAYS. AND IT'S READY TO HARVEST.

  • >> IN THE MEDIA BEDS HE TRANSPLANTS DIRECTLY. >> WITH AQUAPONICS WE'RE TYPICALLY ALLOWED

  • TO PLANT OUR PLANTS AS MUCH AS TWICE AS DENSE AS IN GROUND.

  • >> MULTI TASKING WATER AND SPACE, ROB PUMPS WATER FROM THE RAFT TO A HYDROPONIC TOWER

  • AND BACK TO THE RAFT. HE GROWS WITH WATER EFFICIENCY IN A WICKING

  • BED TOO. >> WICKING BEDS ARE A GREAT WAY TO GROW ORGANIC

  • PRODUCE WITHOUT THE ELECTRICAL REQUIREMENTS OF AQUAPONICS.

  • THE WICKING BED IS A BOX WITH A WATERPROOF LINER IN THE BOTTOM AND THEN WE WILL PUT A

  • MEDIA IN THERE SUCH AS GRAVEL SO THAT WE CAN FLOOD THAT BOTTOM SIX INCHES WITH WATER.

  • ON TOP OF THE GRAVEL WE WOULD USE A WEED BLOCK AND THEN PUT OUR CORE SOIL BLEND ON TOP OF

  • THAT AND THAT KEEPS THE ROOTS FROM GROWING DOWN INTO THAT WATER RESERVOIR.

  • >> THROUGH A PVC PIPE ROB FILLS IN WITH HOMEMADE COMPOST TEA.

  • HE TOPS IT OFF WITH WATER AND ORGANIC FERTILIZERS. >> WATER WILKS UP THROUGH THE SOIL AND THE

  • SOIL STAYS PERFECTLY MOIST WITHOUT YOU HAVING TO WATER IT DAILY.

  • >> ROB CHOSE TILAPIA FOR HIS FISH TANKS. >> THEY DO NEED THE WATER TO REMAIN WARM DURING

  • THE WINTER MONTHS. BY KEEPING THE WATER, 60, 65 DEGREES THE FISH

  • WILL CONTINUE TO METABOLIZE THE FOOD AT A USEFUL RATE.

  • THAT KEEPS THE PLANTS GROWING THROUGH THE WINTER, WHICH IS REALLY THE DEVELOPMENT.

  • >> AS ROB DEMONSTRATES IN CLASSES ON HIS PATIO FOR HOME GARDENERS, AQUAPONICS CAN BE DONE

  • OUTSIDE AS LONG AS FISH ARE PROTECTED FROM CRITTERS AND THE WATER TEMPERATURE KEPT WARM.

  • HE HAS ULTIMATE CONTROL IN THE GREENHOUSE, THOUGH, WHERE HE GROWS BASIL EVEN IN WINTER

  • AND CARRIES WINTER CROPS LIKE KALE AND LETTUCE THROUGH THE END OF JUNE.

  • >> IF I ADD A SMALL CHILLER WALL OR AN EVAPORATIVE COOLER AND SOME ADDITIONAL SHADE I SHOULD

  • BE ABLE TO GROW LETTUCE THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER. >> IT'S IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN A RATIO BETWEEN

  • FISH AND PLANTS. IT'S EASY TO TEST WITH A TYPICAL HOBBY AQUARIUM

  • KIT. HE ALSO TESTS PH.

  • >> IN CENTRAL TEXAS WITH OUR ALKALINE WATER, PH IS ALWAYS CONSIDERED AN ISSUE.

  • THERE IS A POINT AS YOUR SYSTEM MATURES AT, SAY, THREE TO SIX MONTHS, WHEREAS THE SYSTEM

  • WILL BECOME ACIDIC AND YOU WILL BEGIN TO HAVE TO RAISE YOUR PH AND HAVING A HIGH ALKALINITY

  • WATER IN CENTRAL TEXAS IS REALLY YOUR BENEFIT. >> THE BIGGEST ADVANTAGE IS WATER CONSERVATION.

  • >> WITH AQUAPONICS THERE'S ABSOLUTELY ZERO WASTE.

  • THE ONLY WATER THAT'S ADDED TO THE SYSTEM IS DUE TO PLANT UP TAKE AND EVAPORATION.

  • ONE PERSPECTIVE IS IF YOU THINK ABOUT WATERING YOUR LAWN WITH A GARDEN HOSE FOR EVEN 30 MINUTES,

  • YOU CAN USE AS MUCH AS THREE OR FOUR HUNDRED GALLONS OF WATER JUST IN A SMALL THOUSAND

  • SQUARE FOOT LAWN. >> THE SAME THING WITH A GARDEN.

  • IF YOU RAN YOUR GARDEN HOSE FOR AN HOUR, IT COULD BE AS MUCH AS 600 GALLONS OF WATER.

  • IN THIS ENTIRE GREENHOUSE FACILITY WE USE LESS THAN 400 GALLONS PER WEEK.

  • >> ROB MARKETS TO RESTAURANTS THAT VALUE LOCAL FOOD PICKED JUST TODAY AND JUST FOR THEM.

  • YOU'LL ALSO FIND HIM AT THE LONE STAR FARMERS MARKET THANKS TO ASSISTANCE FROM INTERN JOHNNIE

  • WOHL. THE IT IS A FAMILY COMMITMENT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE,

  • LIVE HERE, EAT HERE. >> MOSTLY WE ARE ALL REALLY PROUD OF ROB.

  • ROB HAS BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR A LONG TIME, AND WE HAVEN'T EXACTLY BEEN ABLE TO BE A PART

  • OF IT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, BUT WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN THERE SUPPORTING HIM AND WATCHING HIM

  • MAKE THIS COME TO LIFE IS REALLY EXCITING. REALLY EXCITING FOR US.

  • WE'RE REALLY PROUD OF HIM.

>> ROB NASH IS A FARMER, BUT HE DOESN'T WORRY ABOUT ALKALINE SOIL OR AMENDING CLAY.

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