AquaFarm - Sustainable and organic urban farming systems

AquaFarm Wordle

AquaFarm — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:20:52 +0000

2010 in review THANK YOU!

AquaFarm — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 13:40:12 +0000

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,700 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 34 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 34 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 17mb. That’s about 3 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was June 19th with 121 views. The most popular post that day was AquaFarm – what we do.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were verticalgardeninstitute.org, unr.ch, urbanfarmers.ch, facebook.com, and obama-scandal-exposed.co.cc.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for urban farming, aquafarm, fishfarming system, aquaponics greenhouse, and aquaponic greenhouse.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

AquaFarm – what we do May 2010
12 comments

AquaFarm Umfrage / poll May 2010

Project history June 2010
2 comments

Productivity issues – I don’t think so! August 2010
2 comments

StartupWeekend jury awards AquaFarm pitch May 2010

My dream AquaFarm location in Zurich

AquaFarm — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 20:16:55 +0000

Das Gute ist oft so nah!

Dream Location

AquaFarm Squatting (Hausbesetzung)

AquaFarm — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 20:12:07 +0000

Unsere Vorgabe, eine taugliche und brachliegende Dachliegenschaft im urbanen Raum zu finden, die gleichzeitig alle baulichen Voraussetzungen mitbringt, die wir als urban farmers benötigen, ist nicht einfach! Wie einfach(er) wäre es da, eine zum Abbruch bestimmte Gebäudehülle (siehe Bild…) als temporäre Produktionsstädte und urban farm zu besetzen und damit der Stadt wiederum ein Stück der Natur zuzuführen? Im Sinne von “we green the rooftops of cities” besetzt AquaFarm brachliegende und zum Abbruch bestimmte Stadtgebäude, um sie vor ihrer Auffahrt in den “Gebäudehimmel” nochmals produktiv zum Wohle der Menschheit mit frischem Fisch und Gemüse zu versorgen. I like!

Produktive Hausbesetzung bevor es in den Gebäudehimmel geht.

Camper sales

AquaFarm — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 20:03:59 +0000

Bei einem der spätherbstlichen Spatziergänge mit meinem Sohn Felix habe ich diesen wunderschönen Camper auf dem Vorplatz eines Gemeinschaftgszentrums gefunden.

Camper

Wäre es nicht toll, mit einem solchen Camper AquaFarm Produkte an den Endkonsumenten zu verkaufen? Easy, cool, suber-mobil könnte er in jedem Quartier aufgestellt werden und so die Kundschaft vor Ort & direkt lokal mit frischem Gemüse und Fisch bedient werden. Mega!

Balancing the heart and the mind

AquaFarm — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:29:42 +0000

We were getting a lot of comments – mostly dislikes – for posting this video on a commercial-scale hydrponic system recently. It is clear that we don’t like to remind ourselves of the industrialized aspects how we cultivate food in the modern era. The point I was trying to make though was that the world of hydrponics / aquaponics should be seen as a competitive method in producing food against the traditionals land-based methods - and that it is not just a playground for freaks and geeks experimenting with technology in their backyards and for their private amusement.

I am posting another video here that shows a less industrial approach of an existing Aquaponics system. The tranquil atmosphere and the peaceful setting of this space is awesome and reminds me of an indoor yoga garden. It shows that we can combine a productive system with the emotional needs of growing food with dignity and a human touch, without massive automation and industrialized strategies for staying cost-competitive, striking a better balance for the heart and the mind.

urban farming in the news

AquaFarm — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 11:40:43 +0000

Yet another interesting article on urban farming initiatives worldwide. Most of the players have been mentioned in this blog already. – It just shows again that the potential of urban farming is getting mainstream, and that the facts apparently keep convincing more and more people about the benefits. Stay tuned for more news!

1,100 hits on aquafarm – from idea to reality

AquaFarm — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 17:44:41 +0000

Dear readers, we have hit 1,100 hits on aquafarm.wordpress.com today and the site is currently visited by about 10-15 people (unique visitors) a day – this excluding the writers, of course. That is a strong signal, given that we have hardly communicated the site to anybody yet, but the word must have spread somehow virally to different people that what we are doing is kind of cool…. The metrics on the poll as well as the number of subsribers to the blog seem promising, too. Thanks everybody for listening and supporting our venture!

Productivity issues – I don’t think so!

AquaFarm — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:47:51 +0000

In the about section of this blog, we frequently talk about the fact that AquaFarm aims to drive sustainability goals while also staying competitive in terms of cost and productivity. This is a claim we were making without operating our first commercial-scale AquaFarm, but the advantages of aquaponic systems were clear to us, even at pilot-stage.

Check out the following link on a commercial Hydroponic system. The video showcases a highly automated and industrialized plant. Talk about productivity…the yield is apparently 5x higher than on soil-based production methods. We think this is really ground-breaking progress! Granted, the industrialized methods of growing lettuce through conveyer belts, WIP staging, and other modern (Lean) manufacturing methods takes some mental adjusting. But then again – only if we can combine the sustainability aspects of growing healthy and save food with the ability to competite effectively in the market (without subsidies!), have we established a superior agricultural production model for the 21st century. This is what we trying to do with AquaFarm.

Please remember one thing which sets AquaFarm apart from this hydroponic video: No fertilizer! With the combination of the fish farm and the vegetable garden, we do not need any oil-based added nutrients. All nutrients are used organically within a closed-loop system, no strings attached. OK?!

Living the sustainable life in Copenhagen

AquaFarm — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:39:20 +0000

On a recent visit to Copenhagen, Denmark, I learned about the sustainable lifestyles of Copenhageners. Firstly, most of them are biking around the city instead of using public transport, and cars are virtually absent. In fact, I was told, Copenhageners commute more total kilometers than they use public transport – and this year-around even in not-so-dry winters.

The Living Facade in Copenhagen

Also, I found a nice example of a verticle green facade which not only looked great but also seems to be a great tourist attraction. Called the “Living Facade”, it aims to “illustrate the potential for vertical gardens to provide urban green areas” (EU-money sponsored…) Nevertheless, I like it!

The other really nice discovery was a sign outside a sushi bar, advertising their “sustainable tuna” and “eco-salmon”…. I was intrigued about the concept at first, but got more sceptical about the true selling points when I asked the waiters about it but none of them could not tell me either why, nor specifically how this sustainable tuna is really sustainably produced….

Sustainable tuna....beware!

Lesson learned: not everywhere where sustainability is proclaimed, is sustainability inside! Some extra caution is suggested in not “sustainble-washing” our products or diluting the true sustainable selling points of AquaFarm.

We have to back up sustainability with rigid business processes and sound reporting, otherwise it becomes a fad.