What @redpalestino is doing in Cambodia

I'm trying to raise some awareness for our fellow Steemian @redpalestino.

He's doing what many people dream of; He left his home, went to South East Asia and is trying to start over and create a new life for himself.

Most of his posts are in German. So - with his permission - I'm trying to give you some insights on what's going on and why I think it's awesome.

He is building an urban farm in Cambodia.

The farm is run as an aquaponic system.

If you don't know what aquaponic is, here is the Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics

Or simply check out my infographic:

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My take on aquaponics :

In hydroponic farming the plants grow in water, not in soil.
Some obvious advantages are that you can automate the whole process easier, regulate the medium much quicker and ultimately have a better yield per surface / space.

Aquaponics combines hydroponics with aquaculture.
In this case it means, that the same water that the plants grow in, is also used for fish farming. In most systems the fish doesn't actually live in the same container as the plants.
( For simplicity I chose to ignore this in my infographic )

Ideally, these farms can operate self-sufficient, with only sunlight as an energy source.

The plants provide nutrients for the fish; the fish provides nutrients for the plants.
The fish also helps regulate the PH levels for example and if it all works out, this method can be very efficient while being more eco-friendly than 'traditional', high intensity farming.
Because it uses a smaller space / surface the farms can operate in urban areas, reducing costs for transport and cooling and the produce can be harvested on demand.

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@redpalestino left his well known restaurant in Germany:

(This was also the first restaurant, that I know of, where you could pay in Steem)

to start over with this:

I'm quite impressed with the progress, because the first containers are already filled up with water only 3 weeks later:

Thats 31000 litre, or 8200 gallons of water.
I wonder how much fish or salad that can hold.

If Cambodia wasn't so far from where I live ( it couldn't really be any further away ) I'd love to look at it myself, but luckily he keeps us updated on his blog.

I think it would be worth making a separate account just for that.

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I wish him all the best with this enterprise and I hope, I could raise your interest.

If you happen to be in the area, you could be his first customer soon - I'm sure he will accept payments in Steem, too.

Good luck with your new start @redpalestino !

_{This post came out a bit shorter than I had planed; I will try to catch him for an interview soon.}