Everyday Saturday, there is a local farmers market a few streets over from our school. There is live music, hot food for purchase, fresh loaves of bread, and an abundance of produce provided by local famers in the surrounding area. It is one of my favorite places to visit on the weekend with friends, and is centered around one of my all time favorite things: produce.

Look at all the lovely produce 🙂

As a college student, it can be difficult to have access to fresh produce because we are all broke and confined to the food available within our meal plan. Yes the dining hall does provide a salad bar, and apples for purchase, but the produce does not taste anything similar to that of any farmer’s market.

Farmers markets are one of the best resources for purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables because they provide whatever is in season. Often times when produce is shipped to corporations or grocery stores, it is not always local, can be filled with preservatives and pesticides that take away from the nutritional value of the fruit you are eating, and can be more expensive. Farmers markets are a great outlet to purchasing fresh, nutrient dense, and quality produce that can be close to your local neighborhood.

Check out the abundance of variety!

While carousing the isles of my farmer’s market, I saw all of the usual things: bundles of lettuce, cartons oranges and strawberries, and potatoes bagged by the pound. I saw a few stands for local honey, and even loaves of bread that were gluten free, dairy free, and vegan (wow). However, I was struck by a small stand that caught my eye across form the fresh orchids at the end of the isle.

It was a small fish bowl with lettuce on top of it. At first I thought these people were just using the bowl as an eye-catching display, but it turns out, these people used the water these fish were living in to grow all of their lettuce they were selling.

It turns out you can have an aquaponic fish tank in your home too!

I stopped, asked these two ladies who were sitting there to tell me how the lettuce grew, did some research on the internet because I was genuinely intrigued by this concept of growing produce over a fish bowl, and this is what I found:

The Aquaponic Circle of Life

Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics and is a circular system in which the fish help fertile the plants, and plants help to purify the water. The fish will absorb the nutrients from the soil of the plant that is growing, and the waste of the fish acts as a natural fertilizer for the plant growing on top of the water to prosper. However, this process cannot be done on its own if being cultured on a large scale; in order to maintain circulation of the nutrients, it is essential to have a pump in order to ensure there is movement.

I thought the idea of growing plants by using fish was the most organic and energy saving technique I had ever head of. Before that, I had always thought of planting seeds in the ground, water, sunlight, plants are sprouted and that was all there was too it. This type of agriculture was the most innovative and green forward thinking I had ever been exposed to and in turn, I ended up purchasing a bundle of butter lettuce from these exciting people.

More information about the benefits of aquaponics can be found in this link here, but ultimately, I challenge all of you visit your local farmers market and see what you find. Aquaponics was my spectacular find of the day, and I hope you can find something for you too.

♥Little Kelli