Bulletin No. 1, 2015

Gardens of Delight at CUHK  29  University Library The organic vegetable garden with killer views atop the University L i b r a r y E x t e n s i o n g r ow s a n impressive range of herbs as well as vegetables such as gourd, bush bean, cucumber, radish, corn, lettuce and tomato. The library works closely with two organizations, O-Farm and the Permaculture Institute, to offer training and support to a team of 20 library staff who take care of the garden. Training sessions are run every few months to nurture more gardeners among the staff. Shaw College S h aw Co l l e g e i s c a r r y i n g o u t a n a q u a p o n i c s p r o j e c t c a l l e d Shawquaponics on the roof of Kuo Mou Hall. Aquaponics is a food production system that combines aquaculture with hydrophonics. Aquaculture is the farming of fish, shrimp, and aquatic p l an t s ; hyd r ophon i c s i s the growing of plants in water, using nutrient-rich solutions, without soil. In an aquaphonics system, water rich in excretion from the aquatic organisms being raised is circulated to the hydrophonics section, where it is broken down by nitrification bacteria into nitrates and nitrites. These are subsequently absorbed by the plants as fertilizer. Clean water is then circulated back to the fish tank.