- April 25, 2024
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The Taylor family owns and operates the farm.
The chickens each lay an egg per day, which is a great source of protein for the farmers.
Duckweed grows 40 times faster than corn, and its roots hang down into the water. As omnivores, the fish eat the duckweed.
The roots of the bell pepper and other foods in the aquaponics system have direct access to the same water as the tilapia. The crops in the system are automatically fertilized by the tilapias’ waste.
The USDA does not authorize unpasteurized goat milk to be sold for human consumption, but many goat owners drink the nutrient-rich milk themselves or give it to others upon request.
Farmers who own a system like the Taylors’ would consume the fish they breed there.
Waste from the various parts of the farm are composted.
Black soldier flies lay eggs in the compost, and the larvae eat the compost. Then they are fed to the chickens.
WINTER GARDEN—About two years ago, just behind a highway overpass in Winter Garden, Josh Taylor and his family launched Do Good Farm, a self-sustaining system that they hope will serve as a example for agricultural families in poverty-stricken nations.
“There’s no reason why there should be hunger on the planet. There’s a way to grow food, and we just need to teach people how to do it,” Taylor said.
At Do Good Farm, each part of the system is sustained by another part of the system. The goal is to eliminate outside input, which decreases not only cost, but also pollution and stress on the environment. The systems that the farm uses are easily adaptable to any location.
“You could plop it in the middle of Africa, and it would continue to produce food,” Taylor said.
Currently, food produced at Do Good Farm is used at House Blend Cafe in Ocoee. But Taylor is ready for the farm to become more active and successful as a tool for both training and food production. He is looking for volunteers who would like to serve in any capacity, from the occasional helper to the committed intern.
Eventually, volunteers will have the opportunity to go abroad and help farmers set up a similar sustainable system on their land.
“The goal is to get away from shipping boxes of rice and beans over and over again,” Taylor said. “The resources are right there in their backyard—they just don’t know how to (use them).”
