JUNEAU - For many people in the capital city, "gardening" refers to digging through the enormous vat of melons at a local bulk foods shopping venue, trying to find the "freshest" one. Teresa Busch, owner and operator of The Plant People in downtown Juneau, thinks there is a better way.
"There's so many great benefits to growing things in your home," she said, "and making the space to do it. Even if it's just a countertop ... you can get at least a salad out of it."
Busch is currently installing a hydroponic and aquaponic system in her plant shop. The system will demonstrate how growing can be accomplished in local homes, to produce produce and other plants without the need for soil. The store will carry the necessary materials and counseling to create similar systems at home, which can be set up in something as small as a fish tank.
"Aquaponics" describes a symbiotic situation where plants and fish (or something else aquatic, like shrimp) supply each other with the necessary nutrients to thrive. It's similar to a miniature fish farm, but without the toxicity or waste issues. Busch said that fish farms would be less maligned if they weren't so environmentally poisonous.
Growing hydroponically can be ideal, Busch said, because of the level of control the planter has over the plant's environment.
Although it requires more monitoring and careful attention, Busch said that growing things at home should be done organically, when it comes to food.
"If you're growing petunias, by all means (use chemicals)," she said. "But it doesn't make sense if you're talking about something you're putting in your body."
Busch was approached by a customer who asked if he could grow "real food hydroponically, not just rabbit food."
"You can grow these things," she said. "Hydroponics doesn't mean strictly growing in water. You've got growing mediums like rockwool and clay pellets, and those would be good for carrots and beets and 'real vegetable' growing."
Given the food supply system set up for Juneauites, where the majority of diets are filled with products that travel 900 miles or so at an absolute minimum, being able to produce anything locally comes with immediate benefits, Busch said. Fruits and vegetables lose a lot of nutritional value during a long commute. The environmental cost of long distance foods is also high. If you think transferring a person to Southeast Alaska is difficult, imagine that you were a metric ton of potatoes.
"It's better to eat frozen foods," Busch said, rather than eating aging fresh produce. "It's kind of scary if you think about it, too, we're at the barge's mercy ... and we're also at the mercy of whatever we get ... even if we choose to go organic, it's not always what you want."
In addition to creating a model of what is possible with hydroponics and aquaponics, part of the elaborate setup in the shop, including a backdrop of mountains and sky above the two tiers of pond liners is really for the fish, which will play a key role in the growing cycle.
"You've got to make them feel at home, right?" Busch said.
Busch has a reputation for building complex environments for any animals that come her way. In her first store in Juneau, she ended up fostering a South African water frog named Higgins, who was given a large cemented area with a mermaid.
Both tilapia and comet fish will live together, be fed from plants, and supply their leavings, which in turn act as vital nutrients for the plants.
"These fish are going to be vegetarian," Busch said.
She has the comets ready to go in, who have already been given names like Ariel, Bonsai and Lindsay Lohan.
The tilapia, which will end up on a dinner plate along with the produce, will not be named.
The plan is to have the full setup done by the end of April, and Busch is excited and hopeful about the prospect of encouraging residents to grow things hydroponically in their homes.
"It's all tied together, the beauty of it all, comes from the same place, the dirt ... or the water," she said.
For more information about Busch and the Plant People, go online at www.theplantpeoplellc.net, or stop by the store in downtown Juneau on Seward Street.
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"There's so many great benefits to growing things in your home," she said, "and making the space to do it. Even if it's just a countertop ... you can get at least a salad out of it."
Busch is currently installing a hydroponic and aquaponic system in her plant shop. The system will demonstrate how growing can be accomplished in local homes, to produce produce and other plants without the need for soil. The store will carry the necessary materials and counseling to create similar systems at home, which can be set up in something as small as a fish tank.
Plant People owner Teresa Busch poses with her work in progress, a new hydroponic and aquaponic system in her store.
Growing hydroponically can be ideal, Busch said, because of the level of control the planter has over the plant's environment.
Although it requires more monitoring and careful attention, Busch said that growing things at home should be done organically, when it comes to food.
"If you're growing petunias, by all means (use chemicals)," she said. "But it doesn't make sense if you're talking about something you're putting in your body."
Busch was approached by a customer who asked if he could grow "real food hydroponically, not just rabbit food."
"You can grow these things," she said. "Hydroponics doesn't mean strictly growing in water. You've got growing mediums like rockwool and clay pellets, and those would be good for carrots and beets and 'real vegetable' growing."
Given the food supply system set up for Juneauites, where the majority of diets are filled with products that travel 900 miles or so at an absolute minimum, being able to produce anything locally comes with immediate benefits, Busch said. Fruits and vegetables lose a lot of nutritional value during a long commute. The environmental cost of long distance foods is also high. If you think transferring a person to Southeast Alaska is difficult, imagine that you were a metric ton of potatoes.
"It's better to eat frozen foods," Busch said, rather than eating aging fresh produce. "It's kind of scary if you think about it, too, we're at the barge's mercy ... and we're also at the mercy of whatever we get ... even if we choose to go organic, it's not always what you want."
In addition to creating a model of what is possible with hydroponics and aquaponics, part of the elaborate setup in the shop, including a backdrop of mountains and sky above the two tiers of pond liners is really for the fish, which will play a key role in the growing cycle.
"You've got to make them feel at home, right?" Busch said.
Busch has a reputation for building complex environments for any animals that come her way. In her first store in Juneau, she ended up fostering a South African water frog named Higgins, who was given a large cemented area with a mermaid.
Both tilapia and comet fish will live together, be fed from plants, and supply their leavings, which in turn act as vital nutrients for the plants.
"These fish are going to be vegetarian," Busch said.
She has the comets ready to go in, who have already been given names like Ariel, Bonsai and Lindsay Lohan.
The tilapia, which will end up on a dinner plate along with the produce, will not be named.
The plan is to have the full setup done by the end of April, and Busch is excited and hopeful about the prospect of encouraging residents to grow things hydroponically in their homes.
"It's all tied together, the beauty of it all, comes from the same place, the dirt ... or the water," she said.
For more information about Busch and the Plant People, go online at www.theplantpeoplellc.net, or stop by the store in downtown Juneau on Seward Street.
source
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