GREENBACK, Tenn. — At Eco-Rich Farms, you won't find rows of plants in a sprawling field. There isn't even soil. All the nutrients for the produce they're growing come from four 800-gallon tanks of fish.
When Jeff and Trish Dean opened Eco-Rich Farms in 2012, not many people had heard of Aquaponics. Now, they're busy seven days a week to keep up with the demand.
"When we first started, they used to have to talk for 20 minutes just trying to explain it. We found that was no good. So, what we started doing was opening the lettuce and letting people taste it. It started selling itself," Jeff Dean said.
The farming method works by naturally breaking down the waste from more than a thousand fish. It filters into large pools of floating plants. The roots soak up the nutrient-rich water as they grow.
"You can actually enjoy this lettuce without dressing. There's distinct flavor with each one," said Cynthia Chapman, a harvest team member at the farm.
"Normal store-bought lettuce will last about a week tops. This, you can cut and harvest it, and it will last about three to four weeks. Sometimes it'll last even longer than that," harvest manager Rachel Ensor said.
While it takes roughly the same amount of time as traditionally growing plants in the ground, the flavor and the lack of chemicals drive Dean's passion to keep growing.
"All I want to do is get more people involved in raising produce and food that are free of chemicals," Dean said.
You can purchase Eco-Farms produces at area farmers markets and some grocery stores.