The Water Garden- A food revolution

Aim

Join our food revolution. Help us turn a patch of marginal land in Hampshire, into a productive aquaponic farm.

Environmental damage, malnutrition and a loss of quality in the food we eat. These are the unfortunate symptoms of our industrialised food system.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

At The Water Garden, we are working on solving these problems through the way we grow food. We are bringing fresh, healthy and locally produced food to the masses with our aquaponic farm.

We call it our food revolution.

Everybody should be able to enjoy fresh, local food. It’s good for you and tastes great. Sadly, too many people don't get enough of it.

We decided to build a model of a truly sustainable farm so we could make tasty, fresh food available to more people.We take a creative approach to farming and food, using our background in biology and conservation, to build a farm that gives back to nature and communities.

To us, sustainable means giving back, not just making less of an impact. That’s why we follow a ‘Net Positive Impact’ (NPI) business model. NPI means that in everything we do, we aim to make the world a little bit better.

We are at just the start of our journey to create a food revolution, and we need you to join in. Read on to discover how you can help start the food revolution.

In January 2015 our food revolution begins. We are turning a forgotten corner of marginal land in Hampshire, into a bountiful aquaponic farm.

With aquaponics we recreate an aquatic ecosytem on our farm. Fish, plants and useful nitrifying bacteria grow symbiotically in a system that grows more food without fertilisers, pollution or waste. We grow up to five times more food on our land than traditional agriculture, meaning we can feed more people.

We give nature a home, while benefiting from a diversity of animal and plant life, through greater productivity and fewer pests.

And the goodness grows beyond our farm. Our revolution to get everyone to enjoy fresh, healthy and sustainable food begins by sharing our passion. We will be working with local communities to offer education, training and jobs in sustainable agriculture and aquaponics.

We also catch signal crayfish for sale at local markets. Every crayfish we catch is caught for scientific research to better understand the ecology and control of this invasive- yet delicious- species.

We call it "conservation cuisine".

We need your support to make our food revolution a reality. We are raising £10,000 to build our first Aquaponics system to feed the good people of the Home Counties with fresh, sustainable fish, crayfish and veg.

We already have the knowhow to grow truly sustainable food for local markets. That means all the money we raise through crowdfunder will be used to build the farm.

So what do we plan to spend it on?

• Purchase and installation of a polytunnel, so we can grow fresh food all year round

• Materials to build our aquaponic system to grow truly sustainable fish and veg

• All the kit to grow veg, catch crayfish and care for fish

• Fishlings and seeds to grow our tasty food on the farm

• Leasehold on a patch of marginal land in Hampshire.

If we are successful in crowdfunding our project we will start building the farm in January 2015 and plan to be up and feeding local markets with great tasting, fresh food by March 2015.

We have got loads of great rewards to say thanks for supporting our food revolution and helping to make our dream of a truly sustainable farm happen. You can get a sneaky peek on how we are saying thanks below.

If you love fresh, local and sustainable food and we have inspired you to support our revolution, please pledge. Read on to see our great rewards and learn more about aquaponics.

Thanks!

Alan and James,

The Water Garden

Incredible Edible North Hampshire

Incredible Edible North Hampshire is a group of local volunteers who are sharing responsibility to create more resilient, vibrant and cohesive communities in North Hampshire through encouraging the production and sourcing of local food.

Growing and sourcing fresh sustainable food locally enables healthy eating, makes good economic and environmental sense whilst being good for local jobs and the local economy.

We aim to provide access to good local food for all through; community activities; supporting local business and learning activities

At The Water Garden, we will be working with Incredible Edible North Hampshire to bring locally produced, sustainable food to the masses. Together, we are stronger and can share with more people the goodness of locally grown food. We will deliver education and training in sustainable agriculture, aquaponics and conservation.

Our food revolution starts with Aquaponics, a sustainable production method that allows us to grow fish and vegetables on the same land.

Inspired by nature and the constant recycling of matter in ecosystems, Aquaponics uses the waste from fish farming as food for growing vegetables without soil.

Water from fish tanks is pumped to the grow beds where we produce vegetables and salads. Nitrifying bacteria in the roots of the plants convert the nutrients in the waste water into food for the plants. The plants suck the nutrients out of the water, cleaning it before it is returned to the fish tanks.

Nothing is wasted, there is no pollution nor need for fertilisers.

Growing two types of food on one plot of land means the cost of production is shared between them. That means that we can offer truly sustainable and fresh fish and vegetables at competitive prices.

That’s not all. We have big plans for the future of the farm.

We will be developing additional closed-loop systems to create an agro-ecosystem that produces more food with lower costs. Aquaponics is a great example of closed loop system where the waste of one product is used as energy inputs for another.

A compost bin in your garden is a closed loop system, as is growing worms to feed our fish using agricultural waste. Combining and developing these closed loop systems will mean we can grow more tasty food on less land.

The energy demands of our farm will be met by a mix of renewable energy generation that will further lower our running costs and reduce our environmental impact.

With these ecological agricultural practices we want to make our food Zero Impact, meaning that it has a net zero impact on the planet. Our food will emit no carbon emissions, no pollution, destroy no habitats and replenish the resources we use.

This project closed unsuccessfully on 25th December 2014