https://www.independent.ie/farming/tillage/could-growing-veg-in-tanks-with-fish-save-irish-horticulture-this-grower-thinks-so/a509828781.html
Help Sustain The Bullaun Ark – Restoring Food, Soil and Knowledge
My name is Charles Carr, and for many years I have been working to restore soil and sea, rebuild living food systems, and recover knowledge in environmental aquaponics, biodynamics and indigenous aquaculture about how we grow living food. Food is medicine after all.
At the centre of this work is The Bullaun Ark, a small biodynamic regenerative farm in Ireland where we grow food, experiment with ecological systems, and share what I learn with our Growing Ark courses
Alongside the farm I run Emerald Aquaponics with Kedar , developing hydroponic and aquaponic systems farms where fish and plants grow together in living water ecosystems. These systems offer a way to produce vegetables and protein with very little waste and minimal inputs.
Much of my work sits at the meeting point between ancient agricultural knowledge and modern ecological science.
Another major part of what I do is searching and probigating rare, forgotten, and lost food crops, particularly within the horticultural history of Ireland. Many traditional food plants and growing methods have quietly disappeared over the last century, and recovering them is an important part of rebuilding sustainable local food systems.
Through aquaponics work I have also been involved in collaborative projects connected with Amazon Aquaponics, working with Indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon who are interested in integrating aquaponic systems alongside their own traditional food practices. Experiences like this remind me how much knowledge still exists around the world about living with the land.
At The Bullaun Ark I try to bring these threads together — combining traditional wisdom, practical experimentation, and modern ecological understanding.
The work includes:
• regenerative soil building
• aquaponics systems through Emerald Aquaponics
• researching and recovering rare Irish horticultural crops
• exploring the horticultural history of Ireland
• teaching practical growing skills through The Growing Arc
• developing resilient ways of producing food locally
At its heart, the work is about something simple but important:
helping people remember how to grow real food again.
Why This Matters
Across the world our food systems are becoming increasingly fragile.
Soils are degrading, biodiversity is disappearing, and many of the practical skills that once connected people to food and land have been lost within only a few generations.
Small places like The Bullaun Ark are trying to keep that knowledge alive while also developing new systems that can work in the future.
A Personal Reason
This work is also deeply personal to me, I have a son, and a large part of why I continue doing this is because I want the next generation to inherit living soil, real food knowledge, and practical skills that will ensure sustainability and survivability in future generations. To be sustainable we must plant the seeds to feed people 7 generations ahead! 2176!
Much of the knowledge surrounding food cultivation and horticulture in Ireland has already faded from memory. The Bullaun Ark is my attempt to help protect and carry some of that knowledge forward while continuing to experiment and learn, in many ways it is becoming a small oasis systems.
The Living Greenhouse
One of the projects currently underway is transforming a large polytunnel (formerly a mushroom tunnel) into a living greenhouse space.
The idea is to create a place filled with plants and water where people can gather throughout the year. The space will include a natural koi pond and integrated growing systems, and will host workshops, education, yoga, talks, dancing and all sorts of and community gatherings.
In Ireland’s social climate, spaces like this allow people to reconnect with growing food and living ecosystems even during the colder months.
What Your Support Will Help With
This fundraiser is simply to help keep The Bullaun Ark operating and allow this work to continue.
Support will go toward:
• maintaining the farm and growing systems
• continuing aquaponics development through Emerald Aquaponics
• supporting education through The Growing Ark
• completing the greenhouse pond and interior infrastructure, we will also add a wood stove we can cook on.
• researching and recovering traditional and rare Irish food crops
All of these efforts are connected by one aim:
building resilient knowledge and systems for the future of food.
Our First Goal – €20,000
Our first goal is €20,000, which will allow us to stabilize the farm and complete key parts of the greenhouse and infrastructure.
If we are fortunate enough to exceed this goal, additional funds will help expand aquaponics systems, educational projects, and crop recovery work.
If This Speaks To You
If you believe in:
• regenerative farming
• protecting soil and biodiversity
• preserving and recovering indigenous agricultural knowledge
• rebuilding local food systems
• passing real skills to the next generation
then your support would mean a great deal.
Every contribution helps keep this work alive.
And if you cannot donate, sharing the page helps enormously.
Thank you for supporting The Bullaun Ark.
Organizer
Charles Carr
Organizer