Aquaponics 101 with Sylvia Bernstein

Episode 121: Learn how to grow your own organic veggies and fish in an Aquaponics system. In this episode, I talk with Sylvia Bernstein, the President of the Aquaponic Source and author of the book Aquaponic Gardening: A Step By Step Guide to Growing Fish and Vegetables Together. Aquaponics is a closed recirculating system. Using only 10% of the water of conventional agriculture, Aquaponics can be done almost anywhere, even in times of drought. Aquaponics uses the waste byproduct of fish as a beneficial organic input to grow plants. Sylvia tells us what fish and plants thrive in an Aquaponics system. Vegetarians can grow "ornamental" fish like koi and fish eaters can grow tilapia, catfish, or trout to harvest.  According to Sylvia, some of the other benefits of Aquaponics include a lack of weeds, waist-high beds for gardening ease, and no costly inputs like fertilizer and herbicides.