Event

Aquaponics Hands on Learning Workshop

Join The Plant, Chicago's vertical farm and food business incubator, for a hands-on aquaponics farming workshop.

Aquaponics is a method of farming that symbiotically combines fish and plants in a continuously cycling water-based growing system. This system mimics an ecosystem and significantly reduces water, fertilizer, and pesticide usage. Further, the system can be based indoors, making it a year-round growing option that can be placed close to the site of consumption.

The workshop will cover the history and background of aquaponic farming, basic components of an aquaponic system, construction and plumbing, and best practices for using reclaimed material suitable for plants and fish.

The Plant is a 93,500 square foot former meat packing plant in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood repurposed into a net-zero energy vertical farm and business incubator. A complex and highly interrelated system, The Plant is home to indoor and outdoor farm programs, an education center, dedicated and shared spaces for food businesses, and a renewable energy system that will eventually divert over 10,000 tons of food waste from landfills each year to meet all of its heat and power needs.

Visit The Plant's website at http://plantchicago.com to learn more about its mission, volunteering, and public tours!