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During the Aquaponics Association conference this year, we visited three aquaponic farms
that were located in the greater Denver area.
First we visited Turnkey Aquaponics at Denver’s Sustainability Park
Guided by a holistic approach to building healthy urban communities, Denver’s Sustainability
Park is a community, education, and green industry resource in the heart of downtown.
The park showcases, evaluates, and promotes earth-friendly technologies and strategies
across a broad range of disciplines including; Renewable Energy and Green Building, Agriculture
and Sustainable Site Development, Strong Community Participation, and Jobs. The aquaponics system
is designed to showcase technical and financial performance for food desert communities, and
to demonstrate sustainability through both food production and generating cash flow.
Turn-key Aquaponics’ greenhouse is engineered for 110mph wind and 30 pounds per square foot
snow loads, and is designed for maximum solar efficiency at Denver’s altitude and latitude.
Next was The GrowHaus
The GrowHaus is a non-profit urban farm and market located in northeast Denver’s Elyria-Swansea
neighborhood. The GrowHaus’ mission is to grow healthy community through food access,
production and education. The GrowHaus is based in an old 20,000 square-foot greenhouse
that was purchased in late 2009. The GrowHaus is currently growing and teaching in a small
part of the greenhouse as the building is renovated to accommodate increased food production,
educational facilities, and a local market. There are three demonstration scale aquaponics
systems showing different approaches to aquaponics gardening that are used for educational purposes.
The GrowHaus has served as a hands-on aquaponics training center for Colorado Aquaponics since
2009. They are currently building a commercial scale aquaponics system modeled after the
Green Acre Aquaponics system located in Florida to provide fresh, chemical free food for the
neighborhood, green job opportunities, and education.
Last was Flourish Farms.
Flourish hosts a commercial scale aquaponics system designed to grow healthy chemical free
food year round in an urban environment , only minutes from downtown Denver. The goal is
to demonstrate that aquaponics can be commercially viable and sustainable by providing green
jobs, serving the local markets and reducing the environmental impact in every way possible.
The system is managed by the team at Colorado Aquaponics and features over 1,200 square
feet of deep water culture, 120 square feet of media beds and over 85 vertical ZipGrow
towers.
For more information about the Aquaponics Association or these farms, please see the
links in the description below. I hope to see you at next year’s conference!