uncle buck’s sugar house in ashaway, r.i. felt the impact of such a cold and snowy winter.

“we had to use the tractor to shovel the snow so that we could get to some of the trees to tap them,” said uncle buck.

uncle buck’s maple trees had a tough winter. he usually taps his trees in late january or early february. this season he couldn’t tap a tree until march 6th. it was this late start that really changed how buck does his business.

normally bringing in well over 65 gallons of sap a year, this year he was only able to bring in just under 60 gallons. he had a loss of about 8% of his business because of this harsh winter.

buck is optimistic about next winter though hoping to get some more equipment so that he can have 100 more taps next season.

“that first winter in 1997 was a cold one watching water boil on the back deck for only one gallon of sap, but my business has grown every year since then,” said uncle buck

this system is built right in the greenhouse attached to the side of the marine and natural sciences building on roger williams’ campus. this group of talented engineers have designed and built this system that will not only feed the fish, but use no additional water.

its this method of growing food that will sustain the campus community. this ebb and flow system can flood the tray that contains the soil and plants to water them. the excess water drains back into the fish tank, where the freshwater fish will feed off of the nutrient runoff from the plants. that water then goes through a series of filters before flooding the tray, and starting all over again.

the group engineers without borders hopes to travel to developing countries to teach them this way of farming. weather conditions, soil conditions and droughts are no problem for this system. nestled in a greenhouse for temperature control and protection, plants can grow and sustain themselves.

the club is working on getting a solar panel so that there is zero outside energy used to power the pumps circulating the water. they grow plants that are local to rhode island and they sell to local farmers markets and to the dining hall on the very campus they grow on.

with the world’s population taking over farming land, and having all those mouths to feed, hydroponics is the most efficient way to feed all those hungry people. this takes up virtually no floor space and there are companies that are now converting storage containers into full fledged farms.

this is an innovative way to continue to feed the world’s population now, and 50 years from now.