...And We Will Have Snow

Chapter 8: Aquaponics

Marian had continued wandering slowly along the aisles between the tiers as she spoke, letting them all take in the luxuriant variety of plants, some growing low in their beds, some tall and leafy, sending shoots out overhead. As they walked Dema heard the sound of water rippling, and saw small fish swimming in long troughs below the tiers of greenery.

Now Marian began explaining the way the system cycled the nitrogen-rich nutrients, the fish water slowly pumped up to various levels to filter back down through the plant layers as the nutrients were absorbed. She explained the role of bacteria, living in the water and around the roots of the plants, in fixing the nitrogen and converting ammonia to nitrites and nitrates.

The plants, of course, captured light energy by photosynthesis, making carbohydrates that would eventually filter down and make food for the fish in turn. Some of the plants had their own water troughs, growing without soil, the water circulating slowly from level to level, overflow from one level dripping down to the next. On other tiers the water seeped naturally through rich soil, dripping down through porous basins to layers below. Together they created a constant sound of light rain, reminiscent of being in a rain forest.

Marian pointed out sensors that monitored the levels of ammonia and oxygen in the water among other things, and little video cameras watching the growth on every tier. She showed them her computer screen where she could display and analyze the recorded data, extracting clues as to where the various tiers of plants and other aspects of the system needed attention.

Rosita and Naga showed Dema the flats where they were growing their own special plants, the ones Juan had helped them import from Mexico. Marian praised their work, and they in turn showed Dema the many other exotic plants that Marian had introduced, which they were now helping with. Dema pointed out a tropical looking plant, almost a tree, with big green fruit pods hanging in bunches. "That one almost looks familiar," she said.

"It should," said Naga, "It's a native American, called pawpaw, very prolific in temperate climates. You can even find them in Illinois."

"Is the fruit good to eat?"

"It's yummy. And it has tons of medicinal properties. But it doesn't keep, so it can't profitably be picked and distributed to stores. That's why you don't hear much about it."

"Naga is right," said Marian. "But it's one of my favorites here, because it has a long growing season and the fruit doesn't ripen all at once. So if we treat it right we can get it to bear fruit all year long." She reached up and gently squeezed a few of them, then plucked one that seemed to just fall into her hand. She gave it to Dema and said, "I'll show you how to peel it later."

"You know," Marian said, addressing them as a group again, "There's a lot of talk lately about human culture, and valuing cultural diversity. This is plant culture, and the two have a lot of similarities. Each plant is an individual, and does its own thing, but the system as a whole is a culture, comprised of layers of diverse subcultures among the various types of plants, the fish and especially the bacteria. In the wild they would all be intermingled. Here we have them separated out for our convenience. But the more we understand, the more we are able to integrate them and allow them to interact naturally. I like to think that someday we'll actually get it right, and the complete system will be self-regulating. But aside from some beneficial insects we lack grazers. That makes us, the people, part of the system. We have to learn to harvest, and recycle waste, in the most natural way possible."

Dema, by now thoroughly open to her shaman awareness of these surroundings, incorporated Marian's vision into her shaman dream, and felt the way that life at all the levels represented here, from the simplest bacterium to the most complex organisms, interacted in highly sophisticated ways, all driven mindlessly, or perhaps better single-mindedly, to intercept every available flow of energy and use it to create structures that would facilitate other flows, in the end making all the flows more efficient. She felt the flaws, the backwaters, the barriers to this inherent tendency of life to organize itself into ever-more-efficient forms. And she knew that Marian felt them too, and was committed to the same goal.

Then Dema stepped outside, looked out across the island, across the water beyond to other islands visible, and the far horizon. Doing this she felt a hint of the familiar Gaia-awareness that encompassed the whole world, and knew that Marian's vision aligned with that, and that it was her vision too, her own future. She knew that she would stay.