Agriculture industry hopes for abundant year By Tammy Sue Struble tstruble@cnewspubs.com Hans Geissler, founder of Morning Star Fishermen, an aquaponics training and re- search center located on 10 acres off Old Saint Joe Road, lost a lot of fish last year. Earlier in the year temperatures in the area took a nose dive and the agriculture indus- try was literally frozen. "I'm not going to let it happen" again, Geissler exclaimed. Now he has his greenhouse covered with plastic and has made preventative measures with more insulation and filling cracks. The nonprofit has more than 110,000 gallons of tank space and a solar-heated greenhouse where tilapia are bred to feed a variety of plant species. Hans Giessler, founder of Morning Star Fishermen and executive director, Barbara Arthur tend to crops at the aquaponics facility. FREE SEMINAR proudly presented by Peggy Watson, M.D. Land O' Lakes Primary Care Wellness Center Ray Patel Owner & Pharmacist Compounder at Rx Express Compounding Pharmacy BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY Safety & Effectiveness of HRT How does compounded HRT work? * Menopause * Perimenopause * Hot Flashes Night Sweats * PMS * Insomnia * Decline in Libido * Moodiness * Mid-life Weight Gain * Anxiety * Fatigue * Loss of Muscle Mass Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Activity Center 20735 Leonard Rd. * Lutz, FL 33558 813-949-2950 R.S.V.P. to Mandy Saunderson Bring a Friend Guest Speaker: Elena Bensonoff President & Founder of Wholistic Nutrition For Better Skin Topic: Risks of Skin Care Products wh6Iistic. Morning Star's main focus is education. Students come to learn how to create sustainable farming systems of their own. There are dormitories on site where people can live and study for up to three months. Morning Star offers courses lasting one day to 12 weeks. In 2010, Geissler said he "Had more students than ever before." He sees a movement of people wanting more and more to go back to the basics,"especially in this economy,"he stated. Morning Star is run on a vol- untary basis; for more information check his website at www.morningstarfisher-Leaders men.org. s a Tony Martin has been work- s s ing at Shannon's Produce in deree Zephyrhills for a little more than Zephyrh four years now. Hydroponic ( farming is becoming more popu- lar with growers; Martin estimated that about 10 percent of the vegetables they get from wholesalers is grown hydroponi- cally. "A lot of peppers, tomatoes, and leaf let- tuce are grown hydroponically," he explained. In fact, Martin was recently planting swiss chard, parsley cilantro, kale, endive, dill and buttercruch lettuce hydro- ponically on the produce stand's property. "I think people are going to start eating healthier. The customers especially like the homegrown swiss chard," he said.They keep asking, and Tony keeps planting, in- creasing his rows every year for the past few years. Martin also explained how recycling water helps keep from draining the groundwater; they use a lot of rainwater to irrigate their plants. It is helpful in reduc- at Neukom Groves hope to avoid scenes this one from early 2010, when it was 24 .According to the longtime citrus growers in ills, a little freezing can make for sweeter fruit. otos) ing well water consumption or having to pay for county water. In January 2010, the area felt a major cold spell, the worst since the 1989 freeze. Even the recent brush with cold air paled in comparison to early 2010. "This is nothing like last winter!" George Neukom III, owner of Neukom's Groves in Zephyrhills, said of the recent cold snap."We hope we don't have anoth- er one like that. However, it is always a little scary to us citrus growers when we see a freeze coming." Although the Neukoms believe a little chill is just fine and actually helps make the citrus a little sweeter. For the citrus growers in our area of our last cold spell says George Neukom (George III's father),"We were very fortu- nate." THE LAKER / LUTZ NEWS * A LOOK AHEAD Land O' Lakes Primary Care Wellness Center and Rx Express Compounding Pharmacy Free Manicure w/Pedicure Weary Feet Wednesday * Tues 8e Wed before 3pm Brazilian Blowout Anti-Frizz Treatment with Keratin Available Here! Competitive Prices! 1930 Land O' Lakes Blvd, Ste 18 r A Lutz, FL 33549 e (Dale Mabry/41 Apex, Harbour Village Plaza) 0 U e 813-949-3900 h Iamd O'lakes www.myhairhouse.com 813-909-2800 / CnewsPubs.com 4 | January 5, 2011 |