MAP has a new greenhouse and Aquaponic Tilapia farm which is modeled after their current and smaller greenhouse. The group has spent the past year and a half raising 2,000 tilapia and trying many different experiments to expand their operation to a commercial scale. MAP has been using different fish foods, vegetables, and methods so they can supply residents and restaurants with fresh organic tilapia and vegetables.
“The new system is approximately 20x larger, with the ability of raising 35,000 pounds of tilapia annually,” said Jesse Meeder, Growing Green Farm Director. “In addition to the fish, the greenhouse will be able to produce thousands of pounds of vegetables for sale every year, all of the food necessary to feed the fish, and over a quarter million composting worms, useful in maintaining the health of our system, as well as providing nutrient fertilizer for the rest of our urban farm. We hope to have this system fully functioning sometime early this spring.”
These fish farms are set up with as little waste as possible and they have recently incorporated catfish into the farm as well. The tank uses little outside inputs meaning that they produce their own fish food which also saves money. The systems get rid of dirty waste water and minerals on their own so there is no need to manually dump it out.
The farm not only helps the environment, but it also helps local teens get a job. MAP employs 50 teenagers a year and they learn about the food systems and participate in jobs that helpful to the environment.
MAP will be having urban agriculture training in the upcoming spring for locals. The Growing Green Urban Agriculture Training will run from March 11-13 and will give participants an opportunity to grow your own community garden, help with a neighborhood outreach projects, and learn new strategies to address policy changes. The training costs $200 and will give you a chance to work in many hands-on workshops throughout the weekend.
More information about the workshops and MAP’s other projects can be found www.mass-ave.org.
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