Aquaponic Gardening: A Step-By-Step Guide to Raising Vegetables and Fish Together

Aquaponics is a revolutionary system for growing plants by fertilizing them with the waste water from fish in a sustainable closed system. A combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, aquaponic gardening is an amazingly productive way to grow organic vegetables, greens, herbs, and fruits, at the same time as providing the added benefits of fresh fish as a secure, healthy source of protein. On a larger scale, this is a key solution to mitigating food insecurity, climate change, groundwater pollution, and the impacts of overfishing on our oceans.
Aquaponic Gardening is the definitive do-it-yourself home manual, focused on giving you the entire tools you want to create your own aquaponic system and enjoy healthy, secure, fresh, and delicious food all year round. Starting with an overview of the theory, benefits, and potential of aquaponics, the book goes on to provide an explanation for:

• System location considerations and hardware components
• The living elements–fish, plants, bacteria, and worms
• Putting it all together–starting and maintaining a healthy system

Aquaponics systems are completely organic. They’re four to six times more productive and use ninety percent less water than conventional gardens. Other advantages include no weeds, fewer pests, and no watering, fertilizing, bending, digging, or heavy lifting–actually, there in point of fact is no downside! Anyone interested in taking your next step towards self-sufficiency will be fascinated by this practical, accessible, and well-illustrated guide.
Sylvia Bernstein is the president and founder of The Aquaponic Source and the Vice Chairman of the Aquaponics Association. She also manages AquaponicsCommunity.com, the largest US-based online community site dedicated to aquaponic gardening. An experienced speaker and internationally recognized expert on aquaponic gardening, Sylvia writes and blogs on the subject for the Aquaponic Gardening Blog, Growing Edge and more. Her inspiration is a large, thriving aquaponic setup in her backyard greenhouse in Boulder, CO powered by tilapia, catfish, and other creatures-that-swim.