453: Edmund Williams on Aquaponics with Soil.
Merging multiple gardening systems into one.
Ed is a civil engineer by profession. In his spare time, he uses engineering principles to design functional ecosystems, which he applies to gardening. This practice led him to develop a new method of gardening he calls a LEHR Garden. He is currently building his second-generation prototype of the LEHR Garden and using it as a centerpiece for his homestead and demonstration garden in Tempe, LEHR Urban Homestead.
In This Podcast:
What do you get when a civil engineer loves to garden but doesn’t want to spend two hours a day in the backyard? You get a LEHR garden! Meet Ed Williams, the creator of this regenerative, functioning ecosystem that utilizes aquaponics and mushroom spawn. His garden beds are low maintenance, create soil, self-water, and fertilize using earthworms, fish, and chicken droppings. Listen in to learn about the amazing backyard garden that Ed is creating at his LEHR Urban Homestead.
Listen in and learn about:
- Creating a complete functioning ecosystem that creates soil, self-waters, and utilizes earthworms, fish, and chicken droppings.
- How the question “who can do this better than me?” inspired the LEHR garden
- What LEHR stands for
- How his system is different from aquaponics
- How to fully automate a garden so it is incredibly low maintenance
- Utilizing soil biology to store nutrients and balance spikes in nitrogen and high PH in water
- The components and set up for his LEHR garden
LEHR Garden April 2019
- What Ed puts in his garden bed when he’s starting a LEHR bed
- Moving from sustainable to regenerative agriculture practices
- Using mushroom spawn to rapidly create soil
- Successfully fitting a lot of plants into a small space
As well as:
His failure – Experimenting with the garden bed set up indoors.
His success – The LEHR system and the regenerative, low water technology.
His drive – Making the world a better place.
His advice – Keep thinking your ideas through and improving on them!
Ed’s Book recommendations:
Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Stamets
How to reach ED:
Website: Madbioneer.blogspot.com
Facebook: LEHRurbanhomestead
Instagram: LEHRurbanhomestead
YouTube: LEHRurbanhomestead
Email: edwilliamspe@gmail.com
UrbanFarm.org/lehr
Special thanks to our sponsors:gemplers.com/urbanfarm
(use code URBANFARM01)
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The go-to boots for big tasks!
To learn more about Growing Your Own Food
visit IWantToGarden.com