EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
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EW IN OTHER NEWS 222 April 2017 When the growing continued from page 221 Are you a fan of EyeWorld? Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/ EyeWorldMagazine " We harvested our first tomatoes 3 weeks ago, after planting the seeds at the end of October. " —Helen Cionni While they've had quick suc- cess, the system has certainly been a learning process, Mrs. Cionni said. "For instance, we were grow- ing squash and that thing grew like mad, and started taking over the bed. We actually don't eat a lot of squash. So we learned to plant things that we actually want to eat. We pulled the squash out," she said. "We were growing cauliflower, but it was enormous. The leaves take up 2 ½ to 3 feet for one head. We're starting to think a bit smarter about what we want to plant, learning from our mistakes." As for the fish, Dr. Cionni said his first inclination was to try trout in the tank, because he enjoys fish- ing for them outdoors. "Traditionally with aquaponics, you can harvest the fish when they get to eatable size," Dr. Cionni said. Unfortunately, the water in his base- ment was not cold enough for trout. As such, the Cionnis have about 30 goldfish swimming around. In the winter, they also play host to a few "snow fish." "Alan and Julie Crandall have a little pond that every winter freezes and they're not sure what to do with their goldfish, so they winter in our basement now," Dr. Cionni said, chuckling. Mrs. Cionni said they play Mo- zart for the fish at Dr. Crandall's rec- ommendation. With the lights, the sights, and the sounds, Mrs. Cionni said that their basement garden has helped break up the doldrums of winter. Since starting their aquaponics endeavor a few short months ago, Mrs. Cionni said she's gained an appreciation for the broader applica- tion of it. "I think in doing our research, for commercial farmers and every- thing, they're saying [aquaponics] uses 90% less water than outdoor agriculture. You sit there every day and think about how can you con- serve water, how can you conserve energy, and I think this is kind of the tip of something new that might actually develop and really help con- serve water. Especially in states like California and the West, they were in a horrible drought, we were in a drought. If they could just imple- ment some of these things, I think it could make a big difference," Mrs. Cionni said. EW Contact information Cionni: rcionni@theeyeinstitute.com