Tuesday, March 16, 2021
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Serving Elkhart County and parts of Noble, LaGrange & Marshall Counties Know Your Neighbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2➤ Speak Outs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Good Neighbor. . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Vol. 48 No. 49
Goshen (574) 534-2591
134 S. Main, Goshen, Indiana 46526
7+( $/3+$ $1' 20(*$ 2) $48$321,&6 ³ Joey S Sarver, greenhouse manager for Adult and Teen Challenge No Northern Indiana in Elkhart, demonstrates the beginning and
end of the aquaponic cycle, feeding yellow perch and clipping a sprig from a crop of basil. Photos by Ray Balogh
From seed to harvest: tandem journeys of plants and men %\ 5$< %$/2*+ % \ 6 W 6WDII :ULWHU When Joey Sarver, greenhouse m manager at Adult & Teen Challenge off Northern Indiana in Elkhart, sp p sprinkles feed into the system’s fish ta a tanks, he maintains the aquaponic eq equivalent of a perpetual motion mach h whose trajectory is life, growth chine aand n reproduction. The daily task also allows him to gr gratefully reflect on the spiritual paral in his own life. allel “God recycled my life,” said Sarver, w who, through God’s power and the m ministry’s programs, emerged from th h plummeting spiral of 15 years of the su u substance abuse in time to oversee the opp operations of the greenhouse when it w operational in early 2016. went “I started with marijuana and went n to methamphetamines and then on op opiates,” he said. “I was the worst of the worst. I was homeless, I had of bu burned every bridge, went through se several rehab programs and was in an out of jail. and “Nothing worked. Obviously I neededd Jesus,” whom Sarver found when he became a student in Teen Chalhe lee lenge’s resident substance abuse recoo covery program on the former Bayer sii site. The greenhouse hosts a system of aq aquaponics — now known as commercii regenerative agriculture — emcial pl ploying a natural symbiotic relationsh h between fish and plants. ship The process begins with two 50 500-gallon tanks, each with 2,000 yelloo perch, which are fed daily rations low of pulverized Asian carp pellets. The fis manufacture ammonia, which is fish pu pumped to a tank that allows bacterii to convert the ammonia to nitrites. ria Th byproduct entices a second benThat efi fi eficial bacteria to consume the nitrites an expel nitrogen into the water. and After the addition of trace minerals
such as calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium, the water is pumped into three troughs spanning nearly the length of the 2,600-square-foot greenhouse. Floating on the troughs are 90 plastic trays, each with 33 holes, into which seedlings are “planted.” Their roots extract the nutrients from the water and the purified oxygen-infused water, filtered by the greenery, returns to the fish tanks to restart the entire year-round process. “The plants can’t survive without the fish and the fish can’t survive without the plants,” said Sarver. The greenhouse’s peak weekly yield is 120 pounds, consisting primarily of romaine lettuce, chard, spinach, basil and other herbs. The 30 or so men in the Teen Challenge program will eat about 20 pounds of the greens per week. The rest is sold as a blend of romaine lettuce and four varieties of chard to three local restaurants, down to one since the pandemic hit. The greenhouse also produces a yield of a more sublime sort. “This place is therapeutic,” said Andy Collins, executive director. “There is something about the seed to harvest process that is an illustrated sermon every day. “It stands for hope and it stands for new life. Every day the men are reminded that when you take good care of living things they can produce amazing results.” Sarver said, “I’ve seen the greenhouse help transform others. It is superb, a huge blessing to so many people.” He jotted down a recent epiphany about the tandem journeys of plants and men. “Watching the seeds we have sown in the greenhouse is just like watching the men God brings here. They start out in the dark, alone, and not much to behold. But with each passing day, as God’s grace and love shines down on them, something
7+( *22' ($57+ ³ Nutrient-rich bacterial waste, known as bio‡ock, settles underwater in a holding tank, awaiting further processing and transfer to hydroponic troughs to nourish lettuce and other greens and herbs in the Teen Challenge greenhouse. ”Bio‡ock is the most fertile soil on earth,‘ said Joey Sarver, greenhouse manager. Photo by Ray Balogh. amazing happens. Transformation starts taking place, and before you know it, what didn’t look like much at all has grown into a crop producing 30, 60 and a hundred fold.” “This little gem is wonderful,” said Collins of the greenhouse. “There is good news happening on the earth today. Lives are being changed every day.” The ministry is currently seeking to partner with additional restaurants and organizations “to get
a win for their dollar” and other individuals to “eat a salad and save a life” and sustain the greenhouse and Teen Challenge’s other two micro-enterprises, auto detailing and welding. Adult & Teen Challenge of Northern Indiana is located at 1111 W. Bristol St., Elkhart. For more information, or to make a donation or engage a business relationship, call (574) 226-0789 or visit www.atcni.com.