Making a Splash

CRISP FARMS UTILIZES AQUAPONICS TO GROW FRESH, SUSTAINABLE PRODUCE

WORDS BY SARAH MCCONNELL | PHOTOS BY PATTY ROBERTSON

Nestled among the farm and ranch lands west of Houston, in Smithville, sits a seemingly ordinary greenhouse with an extraordinary purpose. Welcome to Crisp Farms, one of only two certified-organic facilities in Texas that uses aquaponics to grow fresh, sustainable produce. What makes this family-owned farm’s produce particularly unique, however, is not just the fresh, pure quality of its produce but the innovative way that produce is grown.

For owners Bob and Chris Nagelhout (a father-and-son team), the idea for an aquaponics farm began with a love for gardening and fishing and a deep appreciation for their environment. “I don’t really distinctly remember the day it happened — I just know that it happened,” Chris says with a chuckle when asked where the idea originated. After discussing the concept with a friend over dinner, Chris and Bob quickly found themselves enamored by the process. They launched into extensive research on aquaponics and consulted with experts to learn the intricacies of and best practices for creating an aquaponics system. Bob has a background in construction, and Chris has a degree in environmental design and passion for localized cuisine from his time studying in Italy. These individual strengths, combined with a shared love of the outdoors, made the Nagelhouts the ideal team to make Crisp Farms a reality. From there, the two developed a unique business plan: create a sustainable, zero-waste aquaponics farm that uses a closed loop system to grow pure, organic produce and humanely raised tilapia.

For Chris, who’d worked with his father, Bob, in the family business before launching Crisp Farms, the appeal wasn’t only in the aquaponics process but also in the prospect of getting to work with his father. “We’re really comfortable working together. We’re always looking for ideas. How can we work together? How can we start something new?” Chris says. In

2017, Chris’ husband, Grant Richardson, also joined the team, bringing his knowledge of environmental engineering and water treatment. When asked what it’s like working together as a family on a day-to-day basis, Bob elbows Chris and says, “Sometimes, you don’t like me.” As the two laugh, the mutual respect and affection for one another is undeniable. Smiling, Chris adds, “You have somebody there who has your back. Sometimes it feels a little lonely working in an office, but if you have someone there that you know you can trust, it makes the hard days a little bit easier.”

While wandering between rows of giant blue fish tanks, Chris breaks down the process of aquaponics. In essence, it all begins with the tilapia. Water from each of the six tanks, which house approximately 600 fish apiece, circulates to separate filtering tanks that remove all solids in a process Chris jokingly calls “compost tea making.” Once the solids are filtered out, a process called nitrification takes place, and that’s the link between the fish and the plants in the greenhouse. As nitrifying bacteria converts the ammonia to nitrate, the water that will feed the produce grown in the greenhouse is infused with nutrients, without the need for fertilizers or other chemicals. From the filtered tanks, the nutrient-rich water makes its way to the greenhouse through a piping system, where it is used to nourish the plants before circulating back to the tilapia tanks to begin the process all over again.

“They’re our fertilizer,” Chris says of the tilapia. “A traditional farmer buys fertilizer and manure and compost, but we just buy fish and highquality fish food. That’s our input.” Approaching one of the tanks, Chris says with a chuckle, “They’re probably pretty hungry at this point in the day. If you get close, they’ll splash, and you might get an aquaponic water bath.” He then demonstrates by throwing a handful of fish food into the tank, setting off a chorus of splashing and flopping as the fish descend.

“It’s fun because we learn every single day,” Chris says while wandering through rows of radiant butter lettuce in the brightly lit greenhouse. Despite the humidity in Central Texas that can sometimes make less than ideal conditions for growing produce, the greenhouse allows greens to grow year-round, even in the shorter winter months when there’s less light.

Chris and Bob worked with a manufacturer to add LED lights to amplify growth time when necessary and counter the effects of UV filters on the greenhouse as needed. Surrounded by lettuce varieties and leafy greens on all sides, Bob says with an eye to the produce, “Yeah … We eat a lot of salads.” Chris laughs and adds, “My mom will text him and say ‘Hey, can you bring home eight heads of lettuce?”

For Chris and Bob, so much of the fun and passion of aquaponics is found in the experimentation. “It’s just so different from regular agriculture. I don’t think anybody has the exact science behind it. Everybody does it a different way because we’re learning,” Bob says.

“We don’t ever, ever pretend to be experts at this. I feel like we’re just floundering our way through this and having more success than failure,” Chris humbly adds, while chuckling at the accidental pun and eyeing the tanks holding approximately 3,600 fish behind him.

Though tilapia is sold on occasion, at Crisp Farms, it’s really about the produce. With offerings that include kale, chard, collards, spinach, bok choy, parsley, basil, oregano, cilantro, mint and other specialty vegetables in addition to the various lettuce varieties, consumers can take heart knowing that what they’re buying is pure Texas produce grown in a way that protects the environment and honors nature’s processes.

Left page: The farm

Below Left: Growing area

Top Right: Grant lifts lettuce from water

Below Right: Some of the 3,500 fish

Chris says he loves all their produce, but if he had to choose, he might be slightly partial to the spring mix and the microgreens, which he describes as “babier baby greens.” On average, these greens are 10 to 14 days old when harvested, so they never develop into full-grown plants. In this state, the greens can be described as nothing less than cute, and creative names like “Make it Mighty,” “Amazing Asian” and “Little Italy” on their packaging only make them cuter.

Altogether, the word that comes to mind when looking at this produce is “clean.” Because everything is grown in a greenhouse, the produce doesn’t suffer the harsh effects of the environment. Other than a small root ball at the bottom of the lettuce, the produce is ready to be eaten at the moment of harvest without needing to be washed. No soil or dirt lingers on the leaves. No animals or pests have mingled with it. The produce is nothing but organic and sustainably grown, and it’s harvested on average 24 to 36 hours before being shipped to Central Markets, Whole Foods and Wheatsville Food Co-ops around Texas.

As Crisp Farms continues to expand, their hope is to one day be Texas’ source for organic salad produce — a dream well on its way to becoming a reality.

Edible Ink

Beets were used by the ancient Romans as an aphrodisiac. In fact, the nitrates in beets increase blood flow, and they contain high amounts of boron, which aids in the production of human sex hormones.

Sliced pickled beets are often served on burgers in Australia.

Beet leaves were used by Hippocrates to bind and dress wounds.

“The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious.”

—Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume

Beet juice can be used to determine the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. The juice turns pink in an acid solution, and yellow in an alkaline solution.

Tractor tires are often filled with liquid to increase traction and allow them to pull heavier loads. Beet juice is commonly used, as it weighs about 30% more than water, and resists freezing to about -37ºC.

Beet juice is also added to rock salt for de-icing roads—it can melt to lower temperatures, and its stickiness helps keep the salt on the road.

Bumper beet crop?

Make beet chips!

Thinly slice beets using a mandoline.

Toss with olive oil, place on a non-stick baking sheet, and put in the oven immediately. Bake at 300ºF for about 20 minutes, then reduce to 225ºF and bake for about an hour. Remove from the oven just as they begin to brown to avoid overcooking. Toss with sea salt and serve.

Beets are said to have grown in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon farmland.org

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