The Solid Rock Community Development Corporation is looking for volunteers to help harvest and package fresh produce from the Aquapod, the company’s aquaponic farming operation.

The closed-loop farming system, located at the Family Success Center in southeast Colorado Springs, has been up and running for about a year, producing hundreds of heads of lettuce for donation to several local organizations, including Food to Power and the Sunny Side Market. Most recently, the Aquapod produced a harvest for schools in Harrison School District 2.

“We have a partnership where (Harrison) will purchase some of our lettuce for the schools,” said Dan Zimmerman, who manages the Aquapod. “I’d love to get more fresh, locally grown produce into our schools. We need to expand kids’ diets a little bit more.”

Like hydroponic systems, an aquaponic system grows plants in water without soil, Zimmerman said. The main difference lies in the fertilization.

Hydroponics uses liquid fertilizer, which is administered manually. Aquaponics systems like the Aquapod use live fish that produce ammonia-rich waste.

“We feed the fish three times a day,” Zimmerman said. “A bio-filter separates the solid waste from the ammonia, which we then use to fertilize the vegetables.”

The process, from seed to harvest, takes roughly eight weeks in the summer and 10 weeks in the winter, when there’s less sunlight.

The aquaponics system utilizes water about 90% more efficiently than traditional soil farming, according to Zimmerman.

“Also, when you’re growing in soil, there’s a lot of weeding to do,” he said. “With aquaponics, you don’t have to deal with the weeding.”

Ideally, Solid Rock officials would like to have two 2-hour shifts of 10 volunteers each, on Saturdays, for seeding, harvesting and post-harvest production.

Zimmerman, who operates a farm in Peyton, is a fervent believer in the benefits of local farming. The less time a food spends between the harvest and the dinner table, the more nutritious it is, he said.

“You can go to the grocery store and buy lettuce and carrots, but you’re probably looking at a two-week period from farm to table,” he said. “Local produce might cost a little more, but it’s much fresher, more nutrient-dense, and better for your body.”

Volunteers can sign up for Saturday shifts, from 8 to 10 a.m. or 10 a.m. to noon, at the Solid Rock Community Development Corporation website at solidrockdc.com.