Summerside Makerspace growing greens with aquaponics

The SummersideMakerspace has created an aquaponics system:a man made,closed-loop ecosystem togrow produce indoors.

Stephen Howard, president of the Summerside Makerspace, said it all started with a single goal.

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"One of the original motivations was to create the perfect climate and conditions that we could replicate to create the perfect strawberry," he said.

The idea grew from there to create a system that would get various members of the space involved.

Colin MacLean is a member of the Makerspace and said there are few plants you couldn't grow with aquaponics.

"If you invest enough money into recreating nature you can pretty much grow anything you want," he said.

The system has taken several months to set up and Macleansaidit hasn't been without its challenges.

"You have to deal with water. A lot of it. You have to deal with fish and try and keep them alive, and then you have to deal with the plumbing in the system, because it is a cycle," said MacLean.

Howard saidthere are a few more adjustments before it's fully functional.

He said his goal is to someday have a system like this in his own home or even be able to donate the produce grown at the Makerspaceto local food banks.

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