blog - Green Bridge Growers

Grow with Us as an Americorps Member!

2/20/2019

GREEN BRIDGE GROWERS AMERICORPS SERVICE MEMBER POSITIONS NOW AVAILABLE!

Green Bridge Growers grows local food sustainably using year-round agricultural innovations such as aquaponics, while training and providing employment to under-resourced young adults on the autism spectrum confronting a 90% joblessness rate. To advance our mission of growing fresh, healthy food for our region and bringing financial stability and employment to autistic adults, we seek Americorps Members to participate in our mission in these areas:

Work alongside our core workforce to grow sustainably with four-season aquaponics, composting and creating healthy soil, seeding and transplanting in our greenhouses, and using regenerative practices to grow food organically.

Provide assistance to our communication efforts, branding and marketing, social media, website updates, email marketing, and graphic design.

Creation of a print and digital resource library that provides a compilation of key agricultural topics and practices; development of a training tool tailored to the learning style of our core workforce of those on the autism spectrum.

Outreach and partnership-building with potential volunteers and community collaborators to advance our expansion and growth as an organization.

Public relations alongside our core workforce to sponsor tours, programming, special events, and outreach to the community.

For more information on Americorps opportunities with Green Bridge Growers, contact Jan Pilarski, jan@greenbridgegrowers.org, 574-310-8190, and check our social media for background on our work: @GreenBridgeGrowers FB and Instagram, website greenbridgegrowers.org. Thank you for your interest!

Composting: It Happens at GBG!

1/17/2019

As a sustainable farm, composting is an important part of what we do. Composting is a way to allow organic materials to biodegrade so that the resulting material, compost, can be used to fertilize crops, since compost has many of the nutrients that plants need to grow. Unlike using artificial fertilizer, composting adds nutrients to the soil in a natural way, using microorganisms that are already in the soil. Composting is done by both microorganisms and larger organisms like earthworms.

There are two kinds of processes that produce compost: anaerobic decomposition (without oxygen) and aerobic (with oxygen). When anaerobic decomposition takes place in nature, it usually takes place in places with low oxygen levels, like the muds at the bottom of marshes. Aerobic decomposition, on the other hand, takes place where there is sufficient oxygen, like ground surfaces like the forest floor. A couple differences between anaerobic and aerobic decomposition are that anaerobic decomposition often gives off unpleasant odors and doesn’t give off much heat; whereas aerobic decomposition gives off no odors and releases a great deal of heat.

Several requirements for efficient composting include aeration, moisture, particle size, and temperature. Aeration is important to allow aerobic decomposition to take place, since aerobic decomposition is quicker than anaerobic, and doesn’t allow foul odors to develop like with anaerobic. Moisture is also important, because a dry compost pile won’t biodegrade very well. There should be enough water that the compost is damp but not soggy, because too much water can create anaerobic conditions. Also, grinding the organic material into smaller particles can reduce the time it takes to biodegrade the compost. The smaller the size of the particles of the compost, the more quickly the microbes can break down the compost. Finally, temperature is important to ensuring proper decomposition of compost. Lower temperatures slow down decomposition, while higher temperatures speed it up.

Many different types of organisms help to break down compost. The most important ones are bacteria. The bacteria present in a compost pile depend on the raw material present, the amount of moisture in the pile, the amount of oxygen in the pile, the temperature in the pile, and various other factors. Compost normally contains a large number and wide variety of bacteria, fungi, molds, and other organisms.

One form of composting that people can do in their homes is called vermicomposting, which is the biodegradation of organic material by worms, such as earthworms or red wigglers. The waste from the worms, called worm castings, is high in nutrients and is an excellent natural fertilizer. Average people can even purchase worm bins for their homes, and once you have worms and some starting organic material for the worms to eat, you’ll be ready to start vermicomposting. A couple tips: you need to make sure the worm bin is balanced between carbon-rich (paper, cardboard, dryer lint, etc.) and nitrogen-rich (fruit and vegetable scraps) organic matter. Also, there are certain foods that worms don’t like to eat. For example, citrus fruits are poisonous to worms, and worms also avoid garlic.

We encourage you to do your own composting, perhaps starting by having a worm bin to use at your house. If you have the room for it on your property, you can also start an outdoor compost pile. Composting helps the earth, and we hope you do your part to repurpose food waste and create healthy, sustainable soil!

Aquaponics 101

11/6/2018

So many of you who are our supporters are interested in aquaponics as a growing method! Here’s a little more background about aquaponics, how it works, and its advantages.

Aquaponics is actually he combination of two different farming methods, aquaculture (raising fish in a man-made system) and hydroponics (growing crops in a man-made aquatic system without soil). Aquaponics uses both fish and plants together in the same system. The fish and plants help each other—the waste from the fish helps to fertilize the plants, and the plants clean the water for the fish. Aquaponics is a closed-loop system, so the water in the system can continue to be reused after it cycles through the entire system.

After we feed the fish, the fish eat their food and excrete waste. Most of this waste is in the form of ammonia. Bacteria in the water convert the ammonia first to nitrites and then to nitrates, which the plants use as food. The fish, the plants, and the beneficial bacteria all depend on each other. The bacteria depend on the fish for nitrogen, the plants depend on the bacteria to convert the nitrogen to a form the plants can use, and the fish depend on the plants to absorb the nitrogen and clean the water.

Aquaponics is a very efficient method of growing crops, since it uses a minimum amount of water and space and reuses waste. Aquaponics provides food in the form of vegetables and herbs, and fish can also be raised sustainably in aquaponics. For us at GBG, we presently grow non-edible fish such as koi, which are able to tolerate a wide range of temperatures and are especially well-suited for aquaponics operations in colder climates.

Although aquaculture and hydroponics have only started gaining traction within the last half century, these growing methods have both been around for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years. The earliest known instance of hydroponics dates back to 1000 AD, when the Aztecs grew plants on rafts on the surface of lakes. As for aquaculture, in ancient times many farmers grew rice in rice paddy fields, and introduced fish to the water. This second example is similar to modern aquaponic farming, in how the fish and plants both live together in a body of water and form a symbiotic relationship with each other.

Various kinds of vegetables and herbs can grow well in aquaponics, such as herbs and greens including lettuce, basil, Swiss chard, kale, sorrel, and many others.

My favorite part about aquaponics is that it doesn’t require as much watering as conventional farming. Also, the plants don’t need to be fertilized, since the fertilizer comes from the fishes’ waste. All you need to do to fertilize the plants is feed the fish. Also, the crops grow faster in aquaponics than in the soil and we enjoy the process of seeding, transplanting, tending to our plants, and harvesting them for the community. It’s been a great way to grow and we look forward to continuing to grow on and up with aquaponics!

Photo Credit: Backyard Aquaponics

Sustainability Matters: Recycling

9/21/2018

As a social venture with an environmental purpose, we believe in recycling. Since recycling reduces the need for companies to harvest new raw materials, it reduces the amount of pollution that factories produce when processing raw materials. This helps to cut back on air pollution and water pollution, and to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Manufacturers can cut air pollution by 73 percent and water pollution by 35 percent, according to the University of Central Oklahoma. Recycling also helps companies save money on manufacturing new plastic products from petroleum, and save money on mining and extraction costs. Recycling also helps significantly reduce the amount of waste that gets sent to landfills. When companies recycle plastic bottles, they can save up to 60 percent of the costs to produce new bottles. Also, if the whole world doubled the amount of aluminum it recycles, then we would keep more than a million tons of pollutants out of the atmosphere.

Now, recycling isn’t as simple as throwing all your recyclables into a bin and letting your recycling collector pick it up. So-called “single stream recycling”, or throwing all the recyclables into one bin without having to separate them, is convenient, but it results in less material actually being recycled. Roughly 25 percent of what we try to recycle is too contaminated to be able to be recycled, according to the National Waste and Recycling Association.

There are some ways to try to make sure your recycling is more likely to get recycled, even if you use a single-stream system. This resource goes into detail about what the best ways to do this are. There are several key steps. First, learn the rules for what materials your local recycling program will and won’t accept. The best way to do this is to actually call your city’s information hotline to ask them which materials they are and aren’t able to recycle. Second, be sure to rinse food residue off of your containers. There’s no need to wash it with warm water and soap; a cold rinse will do. Rinsing your containers will prevent food residue from getting onto paper products and making the paper harder to recycle. Third, try to break apart cardboard boxes before putting them in the recycle bin. It’s harder for machines to process boxes that haven’t been broken down. Break boxes apart, pull off the tape, and break them down into pieces that aren’t any bigger than a standard sheet of paper. Finally, try to consume less, and to reuse more of your empty containers. Unfortunately, much of the contamination isn’t caused by us directly, but by companies who design their products in such a way that they’re more visually appealing (and therefore sell better), but are often harder to recycle. For this reason, reducing and reusing are more important than recycling.

Recycling can often be tricky, but if you follow the advice above, then you will help ensure that more of your items will be recycled. Reducing, reusing, and recycling matter for both the planet and its people!

Pollinator Power

8/14/2018

Today I’d like to talk to you about pollinators. Why are they so important? Because pollination is necessary for plants to reproduce, including plants that humans eat for food (as well as plants that are eaten by meat animals which are in turn eaten by humans). Without pollinators, the crops we grow for food couldn’t flower and produce new fruit (to eat) or new seeds (to grow new plants). Also, without pollinators, the animals we eat for meat would not have any food to eat for themselves, and without any plants or animals for us to eat, we would have nothing to eat at all. Bees are one of the major species of pollinators, but bees aren’t the only ones that help pollinate. Flies, ants, beetles, birds, and many other species can also pollinate as well.

Pollinators can also help us indirectly by pollinating plants that help promote a balanced ecosystem. Not all of these plants are ones that we depend on for food or products, but they do help with processes like feeding beneficial insects, or cleaning the air and water, or providing forage for animals whose meat we consume.

Species of pollinators often specialize in pollinating a certain plant, which helps the plants avoid extinction. This also helps provide food for the organisms that depend on the plant, like birds that drink from flowers or squirrels that gather acorns. In addition to providing us with food, plants also remove carbon dioxide from the air, remove waterborne pollutants and toxins from stormwater, suck airborne chemicals out of the air, and keep cities cooler through evapotranspiration. We have pollinators to thank for helping plants reproduce so the plants can carry out these vital functions for us.

Unfortunately, the population of pollinators appears to be declining, and their loss is affecting the agricultural community. Urbanization can also lead to habitat destruction or fragmentation. The use of broad-spectrum pesticides can also harm pollinator habitats.

And in thinking about the importance of pollinators, bees are critical to the well-being of all of us and the planet. Bees feed us, plain and simple.

They are responsible up to 90 percent of our food production, and most cereal crops, many fruits and the majority of vegetables depend on at least some pollinator action.

Others, like almonds, would be gone in a generation without the bees who move from bloom to bloom at harvest time.

Plus, pollination of grasses helps to feed our animals, resulting in products many of us consume every day, such as meat, dairy and eggs.

Another contribution of bees is that they also keep our cities healthier. By pollinating trees, wildflowers, plants in gardens and parks, and more, they provide us with a cleaner environment. That’s because plants:

Draw carbon out of the air and fix it in the ground
Suck up toxins and pollutants from stormwater
Clean chemicals and smog out of the air so that we don’t breathe it
Keep cities cooler through evapotranspiration
Provide natural views and environments, which are psychologically soothing and restful

Here are several tips for helping establish a healthy habitat for pollinators:
-Consider the soil characteristics, sunlight, drainage, and other factors when choosing plants.
-Plant a variety of different flower colors and shapes to attract many different kinds of pollinators.
-Choose native plants if possible. These plants will be better adapted to the native pollinators, as well as to the soil type, climate, and precipitation. Also, in planning your garden choose flowers in the blue-purple range which are very attractive to bees, and flowers that produce pollen which bees will seek out.
- Use chemical-free pest-management practices to avoid destroying pollinator habitats.
-Select plants that flower at different times of the year, so that these plants can provide nectar and pollen to pollinators throughout the growing season.

At Green Bridge Growers, we are extremely conscious of the priority of pollinators on our farm and in how we design and locate our crops to maximize the presence of bees. With support from South Bend’s Tri Kappa Foundation, we have built beehives at our farm to draw bees to our site and we’re also planting pollinator gardens and have areas on our farm that have been planted with bees in mind. We are happy to do our part to protect, nurture, and develop the pollinator population, and hope you’ll do the same!

Trees, Glorious Trees!

7/1/2018

At Green Bridge Growers, we care a lot about the earth, and that includes trees. Trees have many benefits for the environment. They absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, helping to slow or reverse climate change. They also help cool the air around them by releasing water vapor into the air, acting as a natural air conditioner. Also, trees planted around houses can reduce heating costs by 10-15% by acting as a windbreak, and their shading and evaporative cooling effects can reduce air conditioning costs by 20-50%.

Trees also help absorb pollution from the air. They can absorb airborne particulates and reduce smog. This is especially important in urban areas, and can help improve a city’s respiratory health.

There is also a link between the presence of trees in neighborhoods and lower crime rates in the neighborhoods. Also, studies have shown that patients with trees outside their windows heal faster. In addition, children with ADHD show fewer symptoms when they are exposed to trees and to nature.

At Green Bridge, we have planted several trees on our property. We have planted a few small evergreens next to the barn at our site on highway 331, and we have also planted some trees at Hannah & Friends, including tulip trees, sugar maples, plum trees, and Canaan firs. My favorite is the sugar maples, because I’m looking forward to using them to get maple syrup when they get big enough.

Please plant trees of your own! It’s a great way to help the environment.

Greens and More Greens at Green Bridge Growers!

5/22/2018

So much is growing at the Green Bridge Growers expansion site in Mishawaka! We continue fully outfitting our aquaponics system with additional vertical grow towers, and the plants we’ve been tending and “overwintering” since late last year are flourishing and taste great. Here’s the inside scoop on what’s happening on the farm with Matt and Chris sharing their impressions, and Darren of Logan Center doing the interview to help everyone get an excellent idea of all the growth underway.

Darren: What’s growing at the farm right now?
Matt: Regular kale and red Russian kale.
Chris: We also have some spinach growing there as well, growing alongside the kale.

D: How are the plants doing inside our high tunnel, the greenhouse where we grow in soil?
M: They’re doing pretty good.
C: Yeah, they look like they’re coming along really nicely. Some of the kale is getting really big right now. And they taste great because these plants took in a lot of extra sugars having been tended during the colder winter months.
D: Great, can you describe it, the look of the greenhouse?
C: I’d say the kale is enormous, like a couple feet high, don’t you think?
Matt: Definitely. The thing I’m focusing on right now is getting our system in balance, and handling some algae issues with our gutters. The plants look terrific.

Darren: What are you guys doing these days for your work? What sort of jobs do you do, you know, like, when you’re at Green Bridge? What needs to be done?
M: Well, for me, for example, I’m handling the bolting of our plants - that means trimming certain flowers on kale.
C: Yeah, to trim the flowers on the kale so that the energy doesn’t all go into the flowers, so that it can go into the leaves. And we are really working to get a handle on maintaining our system and cleaning out any algae the system might produce.

D: Okay, tell me why that’s important. Why do you guys clean out algae?
C: I guess it’s to make sure the fish get enough oxygen. Algae takes oxygen away from the fish and out of the system. The cleaner our vertical growing tower gutters are, the better things are all around when you grow aquaponically.
M: The gutters are important! We have to make sure the water as we have it plumbed will run smoothly through the system, and each cluster of towers has their own gutters. So overall cleanliness and sanitation is very important in farming and in aquaponics. Our equipment will last longer the more we keep it clean, too.

D: What do you each like to contribute or add to the farm with your special skills and talents
M: Well, for me it would be business, like thinking of ideas, marketing, what can we do to improve the products, and asking for other businesses to use our products. Sharing our story and social mission, for sure.
C: I studied organic farming so I know a good amount about farming and organic farming and how to grow the crops. And Matt also says I’m really good at--being really precise at planting seeds.
M: That’s true.

D: Is there anything else that you do outside of the marketing aspects and recruiting? As far as your customers?
Matt: Well, all I do is just basically give them--just tell them about awareness about--not just for the business but also about the autism part too and how we are using our talents to grow good food. Like for example, Down to Earth, we developed a business relationship with them. They’re an organic store. And we’re still working with them.

D: So what are some of the things you’ll tell people when you’re out and you’re trying to tell the story Green Bridge? What are some of the things that you would say?
C: First off, that we’re a sustainable farm and that we do a unique method called aquaponics.
M: We believe in growing organic and do not use pesticides. So most importantly, we can offer people fresh and healthy plants without using pesticides in our system. Our food is tasty, and it is grown with the talents of people with autism.

D: What are your hopes for Green Bridge Growers?
M: To expand - maybe to other locations and cities, possibly down the road. Get multiple restaurants to use our stuff. And looking forward to big things with money.
C: Yeah, I really like organic farming and I like being able to use my talents to grow crops, and yeah, I’m also looking forward to bigger things with money as well.

D: What would you like others to know about why it’s a smart idea to hire people with autism?
M: That we have different intelligences, and strengths. Chris is “book smart”, and I am “street smart.”
D: So what do you mean by that?
M: Well, book smart is to have a knowledge of organic farming. Chris knows what to do, and how to keep the product going. Street smart for me is telling people--telling businesses about our ideas and trying to spread it to restaurants, stores...you know, using economic knowledge, using money.

D: What do you think about that, Chris? He always says you’re more book smart--
Chris: Oh yeah, I guess that’s kind of true. I was always fortunate to be one of the top people in my classes in school. I like learning.

D: So give me a sales pitch. You guys know what a sales pitch is?
Matt: Oh I know what it is.
Darren: All right, so give me a sales pitch about Green Bridge Growers. I want to buy some stuff.
Matt: Well, for beginners, Green Bridge, we care about using non-pesticide for our business, and it’s local, and we have a greenhouse, we have an aquaponics system, and we can use those plants, not just for business, but also--you can also understand the plants themselves. And we can also use--not just for restaurants, but we also make for ourselves too, like you can make tea, kale chips, etc. And basically what we grow is local, not from another state. What we grow are home-grown plants from this area.
Chris: Yeah, and in addition to it being local and not being shipped in from another part of the country like much conventional farming is -- what makes Green Bridge unique is first of all, the fact that we use aquaponics, which is really sustainable and that uses 90% less water, but also that we employ people on the autism spectrum. We are entrepreneurs.

Darren: What do you like about working with people on the autism spectrum?
C: First of all, I myself am on the autism spectrum, so I like associating with people that are similar to me, so there’s that. What about you, Matt?
M: Basically the same thing. The only difference is that his specialties lie on science, and my specialty relies on business. People with autism have a lot of skills, and putting those skills to work.

D: So do you think there’s more opportunity out there for other people on the autism spectrum to work with you all?
M: Yes.
C: Yes, I think so. We’ve gotten a few of my friends on the autism spectrum saying they would want to join Green Bridge, so yeah, I think so.

D: Do you think they can contribute different ideas or things to the company?
M: Yes--
C: I think so.
M: --They can.
D: How so?
M: Well, there’s going to be some ideas that we already said, they may have something to offer that’s unique. Because sometimes when you’ve got multiple minds, it could lead to greatness, and I believe that we always want to hear everybody’s perspective to build a team.

The Autism Advantage

4/10/2018

To mark Autism Acceptance Month, GBG highlights the capacity of those on the autism spectrum to contribute their amazing gifts to the workplace. More and more, entrepreneurial ventures are being created worldwide to foster the growth and talents of autistic young adults. And now, traditional employers are discovering the benefits of hiring autistic workers and are incorporating them into specialized training programs and interview processes tailored to their strengths.

This CBS Sunday Morning feature on “Good Work” targets the benefits and value of hiring autistic workers. We share it with you to shine a light on why it’s clearly an advantage for businesses to hire inclusively and put the potential of autistic individuals to work.

At least 80% of adults with autism are unemployed, and the figure is often thought to be as high as 90%. And in the next decade, the situation will only become more serious - half a million autistic individuals will become adults and “age out” of available services and supports.

For many with autism, the biggest challenge is to get past the interview stage of applying for jobs. But at a number of corporations, things are changing.

Jennie LaFleury, Chief Accessibility Officer at Microsoft and herself profoundly deaf, developed a hiring program to bring more individuals with disabilities into their workforce. “For us, this is an opportunity to bring tremendous talent to the corporation. People with disabilities are a source of strength, a force of nature,” she said. “And autistic workers have a terrific ability to recognize patterns, pay attention to detail, and offer so many new insights.”

A cooperative program based in California, created by the German company SAP in alliance with firms such as EY and Ford, has brought 128 individuals on the spectrum into the workforce. One of the starting points for these companies is the importance of looking past differences, and developing vetting programs for employees that focus on problem-solving and collaboration. Employees are assigned mentors, and ongoing training in “soft skills” like workplace social skills is an ongoing feature of employment for those with autism. Autistic employees are not set adrift, and the training provided when employees are hired is extensive. A welcome feature are the numerous opportunities for socializing and making friends with other autistic employees.

What’s the best part of approaches like this? “Hope,” said one of Microsoft’s newly hired software engineers, an autistic software engineer named Christopher. “I like using my skills and being surrounded by people who understand and support me and think I’ve got a lot to contribute.”

GBG works right here in our community to develop the capacity of those with autism to contribute their skills and put their gifts and potential to work. We are happy to share this excellent video with our supporters to highlight the enormous abilities of those with autism related to the workplace – most certainly, a true autism advantage.

Disability Awareness: It’s Not Optional

3/16/2018

For Disability Awareness Month this March, Green Bridge Growers had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a weeklong series of panels and workshops at Saint Mary’s College dedicated to the theme of disability awareness. One particular speaker, Kevin Callaghan, particularly touched us with his powerful message of inclusion, breaking barriers, and leading a full, accomplished life as a disabled adult. Kevin leads an extremely active life, is employed, owns and drives a car, and serves as a mentor to others with disabilities. With his permission, we are sharing highlights of his Saint Mary’s College presentation to demonstrate the potential and capabilities of those with disabilities – Kevin is truly a treasure!

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Good afternoon! I would like to share some stories with you today about myself.

I was diagnosed as mild intellectually disabled. Labels!! Does this mean I can’t do things just like anyone else? No! I can and have done a lot, just at a slower pace. I was able to learn how to crawl, walk and talk just like you, but at a later age. I learned how to ride a bike, swim (I even know how to do the breaststroke and butterfly stroke). I can drive a car, I live in my own apartment. I am very self-sufficient. It wasn’t easy though. I had to work harder to accomplish a lot of my goals.

Being bullied and teased by my peers was the hardest part. I could not understand why they didn’t want to be my friend. Even before I attended school, when my parents took my younger brother (who is also mildly intellectually disabled) and I to a playground we would be teased. My parents would be very upset and talk to the kids that were teasing us and explain how some children are different than others, but in the end, we all wanted the same thing. We wanted to play and have fun at the playground just like they did.

We moved to Indiana when I was 7 years old. Thankfully my parents chose a neighborhood that had kids my age. My parents made friends with the other neighbors quickly. Their children were a little hesitant at first to form a friendship with my brother and I, but once we got to know each other, we found out we had a lot of things in common and we became the best of friends. Most have moved away now, have families of their own, but we keep in touch.

School was difficult at first. The bullying and teasing by my peers continued. My friends from the neighborhood tried to help me out whenever they were there at the time of the teasing. As I got older, teasing was less, but there was always that one bully that was relentless.

I loved learning, but certain subjects in school were harder for me to understand, such as English and Math. I loved Social Studies and Science. Social Studies was my favorite subject. Before GPS was available, I used to read road atlases all the time. My parents never needed a map when I was traveling with them as I could tell them which roads to take without looking at the atlas.

I joined Special Olympics when I was 8 years old. It helped me in many ways. I always enjoyed running, and I liked competing. Being able to compete against other athletes with similar abilities, I began to feel like an athlete. It also gave me confidence!

I decided to try out for my high school's cross-country team. As a sophomore, I was the slowest guy on the team; but, I had a great coach who didn't care about what I couldn't do. He only cared about what I could do. With Coach's encouragement, I qualified for the 300-mile Club! Before you knew it, I started passing guys. By the time I was a senior, I was the fastest runner on the team and was voted the MVP at the end of the season. My personal best was running an 18:02 on the 5K course at Culver Military Academy. Would you ever guess a Special Olympics athlete could do something like that?

But, the highlight of my running career was yet to come. Seven years ago, I competed for Team USA in the Special Olympics World Games in Athens, Greece. I ran on the same track that Usain Bolt of Jamaica and Hicham Al Guerrouj of Morocco ran in the Olympics in 2004. I competed against some of the best Special Olympics athletes in the world and was very happy to win a Bronze medal.

But today, I am 33 years old and have struggled to maintain my health. When I ran in high school I was 6'4" and weighed 140 pounds! I've gained almost 10 pounds a year since high school. I now understand what too many microwave dinners and too much Mountain Dew will do for you, and now I am again working to stay on the road to good health.

I work three-part time jobs. I am employed at Mary Max Theater in Logansport, taking tickets, filling up ice and soda machines and various other duties. I also work for Pepsi, stocking shelves at Wal-Mart and Martin’s Supermarket. Occasionally, ARC of Indiana receives a grant from the State of Indiana that allows me to interview disabled people (not all are intellectually disabled) to see how they are doing in a nursing home or group home setting.

I love music and attend a lot of concerts and have met many bands after their performance. Last year I received my license for Scuba Diving and I am looking forward to diving at Epcot DiveQuest in their large aquarium later this month and in the Caribbean in a few months.

Recently, I traveled to DC as a Health Messenger for Special Olympics, meeting with senators and diplomats. I want to help other athletes and individuals like me, with their health.

My parents have always said “Live life to the fullest”. I would like to think I have at this point, but I know there are many more life adventures ahead of me and more ways to live fully and to the best of my potential.

All Hands on Deck: Establishing Aquaponics with Fishless Cycling

2/20/2018

So you’ve just set up all the tanks and plumbing for an aquaponics system and you’ve added plants to the system, so you must be ready to add fish now, right? Not so fast. First you need to do “fishless cycling” to the system, which involves adding ammonia to the system in order to allow nitrifying bacteria to grow in your tanks and begin converting ammonia first to nitrites, and then finally to nitrates. Cycling means establishing a biofilter for the nitrogen cycle to take place in your system. The nitrogen cycle is the process where bacteria convert ammonia to nitrites, and then nitrites to nitrates. The system is fully cycled when no measurable levels of ammonia or nitrites are present in the system any longer.

Cycling begins when ammonia is added to your system, either by you or by your fish. Ammonia (NH3) is a chemical that comes from the fish’s waste that is toxic to fish and will kill them unless it gets converted to a less toxic form of nitrogen. Unfortunately, plants can’t take up ammonia directly, so it needs to be converted to a different form of nitrogen in order to get used by plants.

However, ammonia attracts Nitrosomonas, a nitrifying bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrites (NO2). Nitrites are even more toxic to fish than ammonia, but nitrites attract another kind of nitrifying bacteria called Nitrospira, which converts nitrites to nitrates (NO3), which are non-toxic to fish and which are the best form of nitrogen for plants to take up.

Once you detect nitrates in your system and the ammonia and nitrite concentrations are below 0.5 ppm, the fishless cycling will be complete and you will be ready to add fish to your system.

In order to monitor the levels of ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates in your system, you’ll need a way to measure these chemicals. To test the levels of these different chemicals, most aquaponic gardeners use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc. It is easy to use and inexpensive. You will also need a submersible thermometer to measure the water temperature. The water temperature affects both the cycling rate and the health of the fish and plants once the system is cycled and the fish have been added. You may also want a dissolved oxygen (DO) test kit or meter. Dissolved oxygen will speed up the cycling process because it attracts nitrifying bacteria. Also, it is important to the health of both the fish and the plants. A DO test kit is probably not a necessity if you have enough oxygen pumping to the system and the fish don’t appear to be gasping for air, but it is helpful to have, especially if you’re planning on setting up a large system with lots of fish.

A few advantages that fishless cycling has over cycling with fish are as follows: First, it’s less stressful for both you and the fish because you don’t need to worry about keeping any fish alive during the cycling. Therefore, you don’t need to be concerned about maintaining the proper pH for the fish until you add the fish to the system. Second, when doing fishless cycling, you can raise the ammonia concentrations to a level much higher than what’s safe for fish, in order to enable the cycle to complete more quickly. When you do fishless cycling, you can finish cycling within ten days to three weeks, as opposed to four to six weeks when you cycle with fish. You also end up with a healthier bacteria base at the end of the cycling as well. Finally, you can control how much ammonia gets added to your system. If the ammonia level is getting high and there aren’t any nitrites in the system yet, you can stop adding ammonia for a few days to give the bacteria a chance to catch up. With fish, you can’t do this, of course.

One way to add ammonia to your system is by adding liquid ammonia to your system. Only use the pure form made solely of ammonia (5-10 percent by weight) and water. Don’t use anything with perfumes, soaps, colorants, surfactants, or any other additives. If the liquid foams after you shake the bottle, don’t buy it. Advantages of using liquid ammonia are that it’s relatively inexpensive, and whatever you have left over after cycling the fish, you can reuse to wash your windows. Disadvantages are that it can be hard to find if you don’t live near a cleaning supply store or hardware store.

Another way to add ammonia to the system is by using ammonium chloride. You can find it at aquarium supply stores, photography supply stores, soap supply stores, and chemical houses. Advantages are that it’s inexpensive to ship, since it’s concentrated and in dry form. A disadvantage is that it’s more expensive than liquid ammonia.

We do recommend "fishless cycling" as the way to go to set up your aquaponics habitat as humanely and balanced as possible. Once you do this prior to adding fish, your fish will be situated in a very favorable setting for their nurturing and growth. Checking the chemistry of the water is something we've learned to do, and we do it frequently, so we can always make adjustments to our system to benefit the growth of both our plants and fish. Like other types of agriculture, having a healthy ecosystem to help everything you grow thrive is key to sustainable farming!

References: Aquaponic Gardening by Sylvia Bernstein