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5/25/2014 Newsela | Nonfiction Literacy and Current Events

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An architect plans to build aquaponic gardens in North

Carolina and Haiti

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There are many reasons Ron Morgan’s 100 Gardens project could fail, but there are

more reasons he’s determined to make it work — one vegetable seedling at a time.

The idea behind the nonprofit came to Morgan after a trip to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. An

architect by training, he traveled there with members of Steele Creek Presbyterian Church of Charlotte,

N.C., expecting to design shelters for some of the 1.5 million people left homeless.

He returned with the conviction that food production was a greater need. “I’ve never been that close to so

much hurt and emotion,” Morgan said. “It changes you completely.”

Morgan hopes to build 100 gardens — 67 in the Charlotte area, paired with 33 in Haiti — using a soilless

growing technique called aquaponics that relies on fish to fertilize plants cultivated in water. The gardens

here would serve mostly to educate students, while the gardens in Haiti would provide dinner in one of the

poorest countries in the developing world.

A Homeless Genius Called George

Because there’s little arable land available in Haiti, other groups are also experimenting with aquaponics.

But Morgan’s journey, as he put it, may be one of the craziest you’ll read about. “I had no idea where I was

headed or what I was doing. At my age, you’ve got nothing to lose,” said Morgan, 71. “I figured I might as

well follow this thing until it adds up.”

One night after returning from Haiti, Morgan was at a local grill talking about how much he wanted to help,

but how little he knew about farming. A man at the next table said: “You’ve got to meet George.”

George Powell, it turned out, was homeless, and a genius, Morgan said, with a working knowledge of

hydroponics — a water-based growing technique similar to aquaponics but without the fish. Morgan invited

Powell to live in his house.

After many rambling conversations with Powell, Morgan drew a design for “George’s Garden.” The irony of

a homeless man designing a garden for homeless people was not lost on them. Then, four months later,

Powell died of cancer.

Morgan felt lost without his muse, but even more determined.

“I go out in my yard a few weeks later, and mock up what I think we drew up in the drawings,” Morgan said.

“By the next spring, it’s just a bunch of weeds … as haunting as my commitment to George and the

Haitians.”

Aquaponics Picked For "George's Garden"

In spring 2012, Morgan turned for advice to Sam Fleming, a musician who managed a hydroponics store in

Monroe, N.C. Fleming, 25, was so enthralled with Morgan’s vision that he quit his job to help. Fleming

persuaded Morgan that aquaponics would suit Haiti better than hydroponics.

Aquaponics combines aquaculture, raising fish, with hydroponics, growing plants without soil. Water

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containing nutrients from fish waste is circulated through pipes to fertilize the plants, which in turn filter the

water. The clean water is then re-circulated back into the fish tank.

It requires less space, less energy and less water than conventional farming, can yield more food in a

shorter time, and can also produce fish.

Next to join the cause was Charles Oliphant, a former colleague of Morgan’s, who was between jobs. He

stopped by George’s Garden one day, picked up a shovel, and brought a dose of practicality.

“They would come up with some great ideas, and I would figure out how to implement them,” said Oliphant,

who now works in Arkansas as chief financial officer of Delta Plastics of the South. “I ask hard questions

like, ‘How in the heck is that going to work?’”

And then another unexpected thing happened. Fleming got a call from Terry Thomas, a career specialist at

Stonewall Jackson Youth Development Center, a correctional facility in Concord, N.C. Stonewall had

federal grant money to set up vocational programs for students, and Thomas was looking for advice on

how to renovate an abandoned greenhouse.

A year later, the greenhouse is renovated, a 450-gallon fish tank brims with tilapia, and nutrient-rich water

from the tank flows into rows of plastic pipes fitted with holes like a flute, where lettuce seedlings and

bunches of basil grow.

"We Can End Food Deserts"

“It was something that was meant to be,” Thomas said. “It’s almost a miracle.”

Teenagers incarcerated at Stonewall Jackson tend the aquaponics garden and other vegetable beds

outdoors. Gregg Alford, a horticulturist with Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, is program instructor and

now also backs the idea of 100 Gardens.

“We can end food deserts,” Alford said, referring to neighborhoods with very little access to fresh foods.

There’s also a garden at Garinger High School, Morgan said, and he hopes to build one at South Iredell

High.

The vision keeps growing. Morgan and Fleming plan to build a huge garden in an old warehouse in NoDa,

short for North Davidson, the arts district of Charlotte. They want to open a restaurant, sell vegetables and

train graduates of Stonewall Jackson how to do it all.

“The training center for these kids is the heart and soul of everything,” Morgan said. “We’re going to send

the kids to be trainers in Haiti. It gives Haiti more meaning.”

Mahanaim Project In Haiti

Morgan hopes to build the first garden in Haiti in spring 2014.

It will be located within a self-sustaining village called Mahanaim — meaning “God’s Camp” – which is being

built 30 miles north of Port-au-Prince.

“It’s a new approach that will improve agriculture production in the country,” said Luiguy Massanga, a

native of Haiti who lives in Charlotte and co-founded Joseph’s Exchange, which is assisting in the

Mahanaim project.

While those around him question how everything will work out, Morgan remains undaunted.



“I never thought I would have made it this far,” he said. “It’s taken a huge effort on the part of a lot of

people. I’m convinced we can do it.”

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