Fertile Ground USA...Celebrating the people behind the plow

I walked into the Donald F. Harris Sr. Agriscience & Technology Center at Bloomfield High School in Bloomfield, Connecticut to find a lady of senior stature dressed smartly in a powder blue outfit, marveling at a yellow corn snake which was sliding through her hands, its red tongue slithering about. She seemed very taken with it -- but I’m not so sure about the snake. Many glass cases full of snakes and other reptiles line the entry way at the Agri-Science Center, and if you walk back past the classrooms, you will find chickens, lopped-eared rabbits and even a tub full of prized koi, an ornamental fish which can fetch thousands of dollars. This lady and I were both here to attend the last lecture in a semester long series called the “Power of Agriculture” that focuses on sustainable issues. The speaker was a spunky young red head named Kat West who took her green activism energy from college to the corporate world and is now working at Sterling Planet, a renewable energy company. who spoke to an audience of somewhat interested teenagers about the possibilities of wind turbine and hydraulic energy in Connecticut.

After the lecture, I found her walking down the hallway with a cardboard sign under her arm that had a fairly unpleasant photo of Ted Kennedy in a bathing suit taped to it with the words “TED KENNEDY IS DISPLEASING,” referring to the Kennedy family’s fight over an “unsightly” wind turbine project to be built off the coast of Nantucket Sound. “Kennedy says he finds the wind turbines “displeasing,” Kat say. “I find teenagers holding asthma inhalers displeasing,” says Kat. “Have they thought about that?”

Joe Rodrigues, a senior staff member and biology teacher at the Agri-Science Center, is the one who put this all together. Lanky and energetic, replete with his signature bow tie, Joe has a take-no-prisoners attitude with his students, who come from as far as Hartford to attend this agriculture program [there are 19 agriculture education centers in Connecticut.] Part drill seargant, part zen master, Joe has the ability to get the kids to work – and like it. Joe teaches kids all about the wonder of plants by teaching them how to plant their own seedlings in the greenhouse behind the classrooms. The kids grow lots of things – herbs, tomatoes, and green lettuce – some in soil and others in water. “The plants grow really well in water,” says Joe. “Growing them in soil actually takes a lot more work.”

The water-grown method is normally called hydroponics, a way of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, but here it is called aquaponics, combining fish farming with plants. Youactually grow your plants in the same tank as your fish. Sound crazy? Well maybe, but a 250 gallon tub can hold a school of tilapia while 45-50 tiny basil plants float on top in Styrofoam beds, each tucked into a hole that allows the roots to feed on the fish waste. All the waste eventually gets filtered out, the water is cleaned and then it re-enters the system. The Director of the AgriScience Center, Jaunice Edwards, says that plants in water grow at twice the rate as plants in soil. So in no time you have enough basil, lettuce and tomatoes to feed a whole school full of children, which is exactly what they do with the food. All the produce grown in water and in soil are harvested by the students and turned into meals in the cafeteria. Including the fish. “We’re gonna have a big fish fry at the end of the year,” says Jaunice.

Each of these tubs, although growing quite a bit of food, seemed to be a big energy consumer. I wondered how they powered these aquaponic tanks. Do they use renewable energy provided by Sterling Planet perhaps?  Well no, not yet, says Joe. He explained that if enough Bloomfield town residents sign up for Sterling Planet energy, the town will receive credits which will build up to afford the town with their first solar panel – to be installed at the Town Hall. More sign ups after that, and the school might be the second candidate. So instead of green eggs and ham, it could be green fish and lettuce, a much more eco-friendly dish.