Short Summary
Our dream is to provide fresh, organic local produce year round to restaurants and grocery stores in Northwestern Montana, where our seasons limit conventional farming. We can accomplish this via sustainable vertical aquaponics utilizing Bright Agrotech's ZipGrow Towers. Our combined skills and backgrounds bring together experience with the local food industry, horticulture, construction, and successful small business management, all key to building a successful aquaponics produce business.
- Basil and tomatoes in our greenhouse -
We have been working on our aquaponics greenhouse for four years now; over that time frame our knowledge has grown exponentially via many struggles, failures, and ultimately successes and achievements. With all of this hard-won knowledge we are ready to take this to the next level and go commercial as Aquaponics North . Through our hard work over these last four years we already have 75% of the necessary infrastructure in place and are now looking for the remaining capital to finish this project.
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Lettuce and oregano growing in our ZipGrow Towers -
What We Need & What You Get
This final capital infusion will get us additional towers, lights, a larger greenhouse and allow for the final finishing touches on the infrastructure. Our current setup allows us to supply produce to just one restaurant; with this expansion we will be able to supply more restaurants, local health food stores and schools and to sell directly from the greenhouse.
What will you get? In addition to any of the fine perks described to your right, you will get the satisfaction that you helped us achieve the dream of having fresh, locally-raised produce here in snowy Northwest Montana year round! You are helping us re-introduce modern society to sustainability and health.
The Impact
As recently as 40 years ago Montanans used to provide 75-80% of our own food; currently we only supply 14% and import the rest. Our goal is to increase that 14% by boosting the local food production system using a method that is open-source -- anyone can build one just like it and we can all benefit. In addition to boosting the local food supply we plan to work with our local schools and college not only to provide fresh food, but education as well, which benefits the whole community. We plan to donate any surplus produce and fish to the local food banks.
Risks & Challenges
As with any farming operation, the primary risks are obvious: crops fail. With the year-round aquaponics system there are additional risks as well: growing in sub-zero temperatures with only a few hours of daylight each day means that your heating and lighting systems must not fail. Over the last four years we have met these challenges and learned to be proactive about them. We have backup power for the lights (the ultimate goal is to have solar be our backup); our heating system is wood and is not dependent upon electrical power in order to stay functional. With regards to a potential crop failure: we always have backup starts on hand to quickly replant (which is essential in order to keep the aquaponics system balance).
One challenge we foresee is demand that may exceed our production capabilities. The great thing about our design is that we we can easily add more towers and have them growing in a matter of weeks!
Other Ways You Can Help
Even if you can't contribute financially, you can still be a huge help to us by sharing this campaign! Use the share tools below -- share on your facebook page and talk to your friends about us. Have them share this campaign as well! Help spread the word about what we're trying to do.
One final footnote: We could not have come this far without the folks at Bright Agrotech. We are forever indebted to them for not only their amazing products, but for education, consultation and support.