Sales, Installation and Resources for Portable Farms™
serving San Diego County
1 888 894-4626
Installation, Sales and Resources for Portable Farms™ Aquaponic Systems serving Southern California
1 888 894-4626 email: info@backyardaquafarms.com
We learned of Portable Farms™ Aquaponic Systems while researching greenhouses for year round harvests. We have always had a large vegetable garden but the last couple years, felt challenged by the weeds and the water bills to keep it going so we let it go. This year, we decided to make the effort to put good veggies back on the table so resolved to move the garden to an area where the cursed purslane had not taken over. We went to tour a Portable Farms™ Aquaponic System and were literally blown away by it's simplicity and practicality for our drought stricken region and the planet as well. It is a way to grow organic food (veggies and fish) in most any environment using a fraction of the water required by ordinary gardens. The water is literally recycled after feeding the plants and returned clean to the fish tanks. There is no weeding or gophers to deal with ; it uses a minuscule amount of the energy normally required to get food to household tables (transportation/fuel/fertilizers/pesticides ect.) and it is scaleable to work for a family, neighborhood or community . All this without harming the environment . Long story short, we were very excited about it and puchased one a few weeks later and got it installed and now we are helping others do the same.
What We Do
We are authorize sales, equipment and installation specialists for Portable Farms™ Aquaponic Systems serving the San Diego region and are trained and certified specifically for the Portable Farms™ Aquaponic Systems . We also offer licensed contractor services and design/build consultations as to how you may integrate the farm into your environment whether it be a backyard, sideyard, rooftop, garage ect.
What Is A Portable Farm™ ?
A Portable Farms™ Aquaponic Systems is fully automated, which can be Solar Powered and produces organic vegetables and homegrown fish for healthy , flavorful meals . They don’t require much space, very little water, no soil, fertilizers, pesticides, or even necessarily sunshine if grow lights are used like in a basement or garage.
It combines two ancient methodolgies for producing food .........hydroponics and aquaculture and is referred to as "Aquaponics".
What is Aquaponics ?
Aquaponics, integrates hydroponics (soiless agriculture ) with aquaculture (the growing of fish) and is gaining increased attention as a "bio-integrated " food production system. Aquaponics serves as a model of sustainable food production by following certain principles:
- The waste products of one biological system serve as nutrients for a second biological system.
- The integration of fish and plants results in
- a "polyculture" that increases diversity and yields multiple products.
- Water is re-used through biological filtra
tion and recirculation.
In aquaponics, nutrient-rich effluent from fish tanks is use to feed
the growing beds. This is good for the fish because plant roots and rhizobacteria remove nutrients from the water. These nutrients generated from fish manure, algae, and decomposing fish feed are contaminants that would otherwise build up to toxic levels in the fish tanks, but instead serve as liquid fertilizer to hydroponically grown plants. In turn, the hydroponic beds function as a biofilter stripping off ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, and phosphorus so the freshly cleansed water can then be recirculated back into the fish tanks. The nitrifying bacteria living in the gravel and in association with the plant roots play a critical role in nutrient cycling; without these microorganisms the whole system would stop functioning.
Soiless Gardening v.s. the Soil Garden
The Hydroponic tomatoes you buy in the grocery stores have given hydroponically grown produce a bad name.......they are tasteless and the texture is mealy. The explanation for this is that supermarket produce is bred for color, size, ability to ripen at same time ect...........but not for flavor. Labratory tests have shown there is virtually no nutritional difference between veggies grown in soil and those grown in gravel. Neither are there differences in flavor for homegrown hydroponic 
veggies and traditionally gardened veggies. However, one lab study I read about hydroponic medicinal herbs showed they were more potent and contained greater concentrations of biologically active compounds than those grown in soil. I've studied herbal medicine over the years and this could be very exciting for Herbalists that grow their own herbs.
I have to admit that the concept of growing in gravel took a little getting used to (being an "Earth Mama" from way back) and I felt sure that a gravel garden would feel cold and lifeless and plants could not be happy without the soil but that is not the case. I have no desire to give up my seasonal soil garden .........it brings me pleasure on many levels but by incorporating the Portable Farms™ Aquaponic Systems with my soil garden , I can have year round harvests, save water, time and money and I am not having to drive somewhere to purchase flavorless produce during the winter months and if there is a surplus, I can sell it our our local produce stand .
