Sean Short at runs what he calls a working aquaponic chicken farm. First things first, what does that mean?
鈥淚t's a great question,鈥� Short laughed. 鈥淚've put a few of those words together.鈥�
The farm uses aquaponics, 鈥渁 fancy way of saying that we have some fish, and we use the fish water to grow plants.鈥� In other words, aquaponics combines fish farming with hydroponics. Short is also using that fish water to grow chicken feed. He said that system helps him clean up wastewater from the messy process of producing the feed. All of this is connected to Short鈥檚 organic egg production, too 鈥� 鈥渞eally yummy eggs,鈥� he said.
Beyond sustainability 鈥� 鈥� what is also notable about Farmer Sean鈥檚 operation is the people involved. He is bringing at-risk kids into the fold and helping them to learn new skills and carve paths away from the criminal justice system.
In The NoCo鈥檚 Erin O鈥橳oole sat down with Short to talk about this work and our increasing appetite for sustainable agriculture.
