Growing With The Flow

Waterwheel Farms uses aquaponics, an ancient but not well known farming technique that uses a natural, water-based process to grow food. It is based on the mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship of plants and animals living together in an ecosystem.

In our specific case, we use fish to grow leafy greens and microgreens. As the fish live and grow, they create nutrient-rich water which flows through the plants' root systems. This has the simultaneous benefit of feeding the plants but also filtering the water for the fish allowing the ecosystem to stay in balance continuously. In short, we feed the fish, the fish feed the plants and the plants feed us.

This results in a highly efficient and sustainable form of farming that generates high quality, fresh produce available year-round for the Toronto community.

Aquaponics allows us to bring a complete farming ecosystem to the city. The closer the farm, the fresher the food! And by choosing food grown in the city, not only are you supporting your own local economy but actively helping Toronto achieve food independence

Relocating the farm to the city also has the side benefit of lowering the carbon footprint associate with transportation. But aquaponics itself is very sustainable. Given the unique relationship between the plants, fish and microbes, the nutrients produced are more readily and bio available to the plants meaning we grow more nutritious plants with fewer inputs than other methods of farming.

Aquaponics uses nature's natural processes - the same processes you see in a lake or ocean. Fish provide the nutrients for the plants and the plants filter the water for the fish, thus creating a perpetual cycle. Aquaponics is a form of biomimicry; we simply swap out the aquatic plants for crops for human consumption. We cannot use pesticides or herbicides as doing so would disrupt our farm's ecosystem and cause it to fail.

Although an aquaponics urban farm is already low-impact due to its local and sustainable nature, Waterwheel Farms goes a step further. Our farm is bullfrogpowered - meaning the electricity needed to run our farm (LED lights, water pumps etc) is matched by supporting new renewable energy projects in Canada. To learn more about Bullfrog Power, please visit their website.

Our produce is grown indoors in optimal conditions. Because it's not subject to the usual environmental factors such intermittent weather or changing seasons, we're able to grow consistent, healthy produce year-round.

Why Support Aquaponics

Get in Touch

Are you a local Toronto chef? We'd love to hear from you! For inquiries about our sustainable produce or aquaponics farm, please reach out via the contact form or email us at info@waterwheelfarms.ca