Videos

Dark Rye's Garden Pool

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October 17, 2013
3 Comments

We are excited to bring you videos from Dark Rye, an online magazine created by our friends at Whole Foods Market. The magazine explores food, health, sustainability, design, tech and social enterprise.

Today: A desert-based family turns their old swimming pool into a self-sustaining ecosystem. 

A dip in a backyard pool can be cooling on a hot summer day and maybe even perfect your tan, but beyond that --  its benefits are limited. The benefits of a garden on the other hand are endless, yielding edible goodness, and positively impacting the environment.  Just add the proper amount of sunshine, a little tender loving care, and most importantly water. The McClungs cultivate a fish farm, vegetable garden, and chicken coop in the middle of Mesa, Arizona. Their non-profit, Garden Pool, has tons of helpful information on sustainable farming and DIY home projects. 

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Watch to learn how a handy, determined family use chicken waste to fuel tilapia and seriously cut down their grocery bills, all contained within the confines of a swimming pool.

Read more about the Garden Pool on Dark Rye.

Producer: Ira Chute
Editor: Andy Pickard

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Elana Carlson
Lactose intolerant cheese lover, who will walk blocks for a good cup of coffee. Recently escaped the corporate world, after discovering her favorite part of the job was ordering catering.

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3 Comments

Michelle R.
Michelle R. June 12, 2014
This is awesome! Very inspiring! I'm curious about the clay pellets... what about nutrients in soil? Do you replace them somehow?
 
Kevin L.
Kevin L. June 13, 2014
Sounds like they get the nutrients from the fish water which is probably run through the clay pellets. What I'm wondering is where do the earthworms come in? Do they have some parts of the greenhouse that use soil, or do the worms just crawl around between the pellets?
 
Gmmmmmm
Gmmmmmm October 20, 2013
Wow wow wow. Very impressive! I have to go take remedial biology now.