MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The thought of where fruits and vegetables come from usually brings ideas of soil and the ground outside, but that’s not always the case. New Way Aquaponic Farm here in Memphis grows vegetables in an above-ground facility.
Daryl Leven, the owner of the farm, teachers students and adults something special.
“We have to teach kids how to grow because we start from seeds,” Leven said. “What does a seed need to grow and be a huge plant? And then once we have that plant how do we prepare it - how do we make it taste good? It’s a system that’s not that hard. Can you imagine?”
It may not sound appealing, but Leven uses Tilapia feces, light and water. He orders Tilapia via mail delivery and keeps them in tank to use the liquid ammonia from their feces. The ammonia is then converted into nitrate.
“Every hour for 15 minutes, the water gets pumped from the [fish] tank and when it’s getting pumped, you can see how the clay [above the tank] is getting wet,” Leven said. “The bacteria are saying ‘oh my God, food, feast its right here!’ So they’re getting all that liquid ammonia and in a two-step process they convert the ammonia into nitrate.”
Nitrate is what’s used to make the plants grow. Now it might sound like a lot of science, but Daryl said it’s as simple as putting a seed in a palette.
Leven makes basil in all sorts of flavors alongside all the other plants he grows. He even has a licorice flavored basil!
“[We have] the ability to have plants that give us the lemon flavor too,” Leven said.
Once each the tilapia is grown to its full size, Daryl sells the Tilapia as well and orders more. He uses nearly every tilapia’s full life span to collect feces to produce plants.
Leven teaches the growing process to Memphians of all ages and travels to schools like Bolton High School to provide agriculture education to students. He also sells all of his produce each weekend at the Cooper Young Farmers Market.