Business Meeting – September 9, 2015
Attendance:
10 of 25 members attended along with 2 guests.
Schedule:
September 16 – Work project at the Maples. Details TBD.
September 23 – Regular meeting at Doane. Program TBD.
September 30 – Club Assembly. We will break into committees then report back to the Club.
Picnic Table Project:
A group of 7 Rotarians met at Craig’s garage on Saturday, September 5 to stain more parts for tables. We finished parts for the first six tables and started on parts for the next six tables.
On Wednesday, September 9, five Rotarians gathered to pour concrete for the table pads at Rotary Park. Thanks to Tom P, Craig S, Geoff E, Jack T, and Jim F.
Program:
We gathered at the farm of Jeff Jirovec to tour his facility “Grow with the Flow Aquaponic Horticulture.” Jeff explained aquaponics and showed us his indoor growing system, his room for starting plants, and the area where he will develop outdoor growing space.
The system is a closed loop consisting of
1. fish (goldfish) in a large tank
2. water in the tank containing fertilizer (fish waste)
3. towers of plant pots filled not with dirt but with very porous “gravel” made from recycled glass
4. a system to pump water with fish waste into the top of the towers
5. gravity to carry the water through the plants and “gravel” to drains below the towers
6. a collection tank
7. a system to pump return water back into the fish tank.
The water in the fish tank collects fish waste which is pumped into the towers containing plants. As the water travels down through the towers, the fish waste is filtered out and absorbed by the plants, the clean water is then recycled back into the fish tank.
Jeff sells produce, cut flowers, and live plants locally at farmers’ markets in Lincoln and to other retailers.
