I originally wrote this story for the June / July issue of Liberty Life Magazine published in 2015.
The mere thought of losing the love of his life sparked a complete turnaround in Herbert Stacy’s daily routine. The owner of Stacy’s Florist in Hinesville says he was devastated when his wife, Donna, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006.
“We’ve been married 28 years. We met on a blind date … and got engaged on our eighth date,” Donna Stacy recalls.
She joked that she thinks he proposed quickly because he was tired of driving to Atlanta, her home at the time.
“We were a little bit older when we got married, had our children later, and it’s been wonderful,” she says.
With sons Adam and Scott Stacy all grown up now, the loving couple were enjoying their lives, staying busy running the store that’s been in Stacy’s family since 1976.
The news of Donna Stacy’s health condition was an unexpected jolt.
“I am doing very well now,” Donna Stacy says recalling the difficult time her family went through. “I had surgery and chemotherapy.”
Herbert Stacy knew that he and his wife would have to modify certain things in their life, including their diet.
“Yes, eating healthier has been an issue, and that is why I appreciate this so much … it is one of the reasons he is doing this,” Donna Stacy says while watching her husband tend to his newfound passion. “It’s for me and our family and now for everybody else.”
Herbert Stacy is trying to help his family and others attain better health through organically grown produce using a form of farming known as aquaponics.
Stacy may be the first —possibly, the only — commercial aquaponic farmer in Liberty County.
“We started trying to eat healthier foods for her, primarily, and for me as well,” he confesses.
“As time passed, I started to grow food in my yard for us to eat, and that kept growing and growing. Around three or four years ago, I started to grow some produce in the back of one of the greenhouses here,” he says, pointing to the expansive greenhouse behind his store. “That also started to expand to the point where I am now.”
Now Stacy’s aquaponic setup takes up two-thirds of a greenhouse, and he is still expanding the system.
“Aquaponics is the most sustainable form of agriculture that there is,” he explains. “It is a marriage between aquaculture and hydroponics.”
Simply stated, aquaculture is fish farming, the rearing of aquatic animals or the cultivation of aquatic plants for food. Hydroponics is the process of growing plants in sand, gravel or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil.
Aquaponics, Herbert Stacy says, takes the best parts of aquaculture and hydroponics and is much more environmentally sustainable.
“Aquaponics uses 90-95 percent less water to grow the same amount of food than (what is) grown in the ground,” he says.
He points out that many states, like California, would benefit from this form of farming because it would help their water-shortage problems.
“Even though everything is grown in water, we don’t get rid of the water,” Stacy says. “It is a natural cycle. It goes through the fish and then back to the plants. … It goes through a natural cycle just like God intended.”
Water tanks line one corner of his greenhouse. Floating on top of the water are pieces of foam cut into squares. Each square has a small hole cut into the foam where a variety of lettuces are in several stages of growth.
Several buckets line the middle of the greenhouse. Extending from each bucket are various types of tomatoes. The plants have grown so tall, Stacy has ties coming down from the ceiling to hold them in place. The tomato plants are so lush and healthy, they extend for several feet, sprouting sweet, purple tomatoes — beefsteak varieties along with and grape and cherry tomatoes.
PVC piping provides a water tunnel perfectly suited for growing strawberries and runs across the length of the wall of the greenhouse. The vibrant red fruit is juicy, sweet and easily the Stacys’ favorite of the bunch.
Herbert Stacy has vertical water towers that are used to grow herbs. The vertical system takes up less space and allows him to grow more herbs in a smaller area.
Water flows through the tanks feeding the plants’ roots. The water then flows into a tank where Stacy is farm-growing his own tilapia. The effluent from the tilapia is run through a filter that captures all the solid materials. The filtered water retains all the nutrients from the effluent, which is run through the plants again, providing all the essential natural elements needed to grow the crops.
Herbert Stacy says there is a major difference between a hydroponic system and aquaponic farming.
“In a hydroponic farm, I would have a vat or container that I am going to add all kinds of chemicals in to grow whatever it is that I am growing,” he says. “And that is cycled through all the plants. After two to four months, the plants will use up what they want, leaving some of those chemicals in the water.”
Stacy adds that the farmers will then dump that chemically tainted water and refill the vat.
The chemically treated water seeps into the ground, hurting the environment.
“With an aquaponic system, I never dump the water ever,” he says, noting that the only additives in an aquaponic system are iron and magnesium, “which are natural components.”
“It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of hours,” Donna Stacy says. “And when he is not out there working, he is usually doing research on it, but he thoroughly enjoys it.”
She says her son Scott, who has a degree in environmental science, helped her husband build the current system.
“The hardest part of aquaponics is the building of the system — at least for me it was,” Herbert Stacy admits. “Because as soon as you finish, you see things you could have done better or newer things come along. It is a new process across the country so a lot of new things are coming out all the time.”
He spends countless hours researching various news topics about foods and how important an organic, nutrient-dense meal is in staying healthy and in healing the body. He says he truly thinks there is a lot of merit to the adage, “You are what you eat.”
“Regretfully, most of the food that is produced in this country is a chemical-based food,” he says.
He acknowledges that he doesn’t understand every technical detail, but he understands enough of what he’s researched to know that, these days, even the simplest foods, such as tomatoes, are sprayed or covered with waxes that have synthetic materials.
“At the very least, most of our produce is sprayed with a variety of chemicals to keep the bugs away or kill surrounding weeds,” he says.
Herbert Stacy says the thing that scares him the most is what he has learned about genetically modified organisms, more commonly known as GMOs.
GMOs are organisms in which the DNA has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally.
The two most commonly produced GMO foods are corn and soy. These plants’ materials have been genetically modified to include built-in pesticides into their DNA, no longer requiring the external use of spray pesticides.
There are several plants, vegetables and fruits that are GMO foods and currently, most of the seeds are GMO seeds.
“And that is what you should be afraid of,” Herbert Stacy says.
He doesn’t think enough long-term research on the effects GMO foods on the public’s health has been conducted.
Often, GMO-tainted corn, soy and food products are used as feed for cattle, poultry, hogs and fish. People, in turn, consume meats that are tainted with GMO products on top of the many antibiotics injected into meats and poultry, and coloring agents used in fish and seafood.
“It is everywhere, and I do mean everywhere,” he says.
His research guided him toward aquaponics so he could provide his family with the cleanest foods he could possibly grow.
“Everything that I grow is guaranteed to be non-GMO and is organically grown from seeds that I started with,” he says.
Stacy even grows organic duckweed, which he uses to feed the fish.
He got his original supply of fish from a reputable organic producer and has since grown his own.
“I even hatch out the babies,” he says, laughing. “In so many places … other parts of the world, they will hatch out the babies and immediately dump chemicals on them to change the sex of the fish so they will grow faster. I don’t do that.”
Herbert Stacy is filling out the paperwork that would allow him to also sell his farm-grown tilapia. For now, his friends and family get the benefit of the fresh fish he produces.
Having enough to feed his family, Herbert Stacy wants others to benefit from better food choices and currently sells his produce at the Hinesville Farmers Market held each Thursday from March through October in Bradwell Park.
“Somebody came in the store the other day and said they had bought some tomatoes and lettuce at the farmers market,” Donna Stacy says. “They said they did a blind taste test, and they said our tomatoes tasted so much better. I love tomatoes and I end up eating most of the profits, but you can tell they are just better.”
Herbert Stacy is in the process of getting his greenhouse and aquaponic system certified as an organic site.
“That takes an awful lot of work and time,” he says. “I am a founding member of GAAN, which is the Georgia Agriculture and Aquaponic Network. It will encompass all the groups in Georgia that are trying to do this.”
And he wants others to benefit from good food.
“I’m in the process of trying to draw a smaller system that, possibly, people could do in their backyard,” he explains. “I wish everyone would have a chance of doing something like this in their backyard and grow their own perch, trout or bass in the summer and then harvest them in the fall before winter. They would be able to freeze the fish and have fish available all winter as well as having their tomato, lettuce and whatever they wanted to grow.”
He hopes to bring in the local school system so children can learn a different farming technique.
“I wish they would have this whole setup in one of their greenhouses because they could produce food for the lunchroom themselves. It teaches animal husbandry with the fish as well as starting (from) the seed all the way to the production and harvesting of the food,” he says, his eyes flushed with excitement. “I want them to get used to doing things so they can do this in their backyard.”
Herbert Stacy and his wife both admit they occasionally cave in to an unhealthy food craving.
“When you have a craving for those doughnuts and you haven’t had one in some time, and you go back and eat one,” she says.
She notes that she mostly has a weakness for salty foods and, often after indulging, she realizes the treat was not as good as she remembered.
The couple say it’s about doing your best and eating healthy food as much as possible.
“I’m sure it helped,” Donna Stacy says. “I’m nine years out and healthy.” (Herbert Stacy is still strong and healthy as of this posting 2/7/2019)
Photo by Geoff Johnson
The mere thought of losing the love of his life sparked a complete turnaround in Herbert Stacy’s daily routine. The owner of Stacy’s Florist in Hinesville says he was devastated when his wife, Donna, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006.
“We’ve been married 28 years. We met on a blind date … and got engaged on our eighth date,” Donna Stacy recalls.
She joked that she thinks he proposed quickly because he was tired of driving to Atlanta, her home at the time.
“We were a little bit older when we got married, had our children later, and it’s been wonderful,” she says.
With sons Adam and Scott Stacy all grown up now, the loving couple were enjoying their lives, staying busy running the store that’s been in Stacy’s family since 1976.
The news of Donna Stacy’s health condition was an unexpected jolt.
“I am doing very well now,” Donna Stacy says recalling the difficult time her family went through. “I had surgery and chemotherapy.”
Herbert Stacy knew that he and his wife would have to modify certain things in their life, including their diet.
“Yes, eating healthier has been an issue, and that is why I appreciate this so much … it is one of the reasons he is doing this,” Donna Stacy says while watching her husband tend to his newfound passion. “It’s for me and our family and now for everybody else.”
Herbert Stacy is trying to help his family and others attain better health through organically grown produce using a form of farming known as aquaponics.
Stacy may be the first —possibly, the only — commercial aquaponic farmer in Liberty County.
“We started trying to eat healthier foods for her, primarily, and for me as well,” he confesses.
“As time passed, I started to grow food in my yard for us to eat, and that kept growing and growing. Around three or four years ago, I started to grow some produce in the back of one of the greenhouses here,” he says, pointing to the expansive greenhouse behind his store. “That also started to expand to the point where I am now.”
Now Stacy’s aquaponic setup takes up two-thirds of a greenhouse, and he is still expanding the system.
“Aquaponics is the most sustainable form of agriculture that there is,” he explains. “It is a marriage between aquaculture and hydroponics.”
Simply stated, aquaculture is fish farming, the rearing of aquatic animals or the cultivation of aquatic plants for food. Hydroponics is the process of growing plants in sand, gravel or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil.
Aquaponics, Herbert Stacy says, takes the best parts of aquaculture and hydroponics and is much more environmentally sustainable.
“Aquaponics uses 90-95 percent less water to grow the same amount of food than (what is) grown in the ground,” he says.
He points out that many states, like California, would benefit from this form of farming because it would help their water-shortage problems.
“Even though everything is grown in water, we don’t get rid of the water,” Stacy says. “It is a natural cycle. It goes through the fish and then back to the plants. … It goes through a natural cycle just like God intended.”
Water tanks line one corner of his greenhouse. Floating on top of the water are pieces of foam cut into squares. Each square has a small hole cut into the foam where a variety of lettuces are in several stages of growth.
Several buckets line the middle of the greenhouse. Extending from each bucket are various types of tomatoes. The plants have grown so tall, Stacy has ties coming down from the ceiling to hold them in place. The tomato plants are so lush and healthy, they extend for several feet, sprouting sweet, purple tomatoes — beefsteak varieties along with and grape and cherry tomatoes.
PVC piping provides a water tunnel perfectly suited for growing strawberries and runs across the length of the wall of the greenhouse. The vibrant red fruit is juicy, sweet and easily the Stacys’ favorite of the bunch.
Herbert Stacy has vertical water towers that are used to grow herbs. The vertical system takes up less space and allows him to grow more herbs in a smaller area.
Water flows through the tanks feeding the plants’ roots. The water then flows into a tank where Stacy is farm-growing his own tilapia. The effluent from the tilapia is run through a filter that captures all the solid materials. The filtered water retains all the nutrients from the effluent, which is run through the plants again, providing all the essential natural elements needed to grow the crops.
Herbert Stacy says there is a major difference between a hydroponic system and aquaponic farming.
“In a hydroponic farm, I would have a vat or container that I am going to add all kinds of chemicals in to grow whatever it is that I am growing,” he says. “And that is cycled through all the plants. After two to four months, the plants will use up what they want, leaving some of those chemicals in the water.”
Stacy adds that the farmers will then dump that chemically tainted water and refill the vat.
The chemically treated water seeps into the ground, hurting the environment.
“With an aquaponic system, I never dump the water ever,” he says, noting that the only additives in an aquaponic system are iron and magnesium, “which are natural components.”
“It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of hours,” Donna Stacy says. “And when he is not out there working, he is usually doing research on it, but he thoroughly enjoys it.”
She says her son Scott, who has a degree in environmental science, helped her husband build the current system.
“The hardest part of aquaponics is the building of the system — at least for me it was,” Herbert Stacy admits. “Because as soon as you finish, you see things you could have done better or newer things come along. It is a new process across the country so a lot of new things are coming out all the time.”
He spends countless hours researching various news topics about foods and how important an organic, nutrient-dense meal is in staying healthy and in healing the body. He says he truly thinks there is a lot of merit to the adage, “You are what you eat.”
“Regretfully, most of the food that is produced in this country is a chemical-based food,” he says.
He acknowledges that he doesn’t understand every technical detail, but he understands enough of what he’s researched to know that, these days, even the simplest foods, such as tomatoes, are sprayed or covered with waxes that have synthetic materials.
“At the very least, most of our produce is sprayed with a variety of chemicals to keep the bugs away or kill surrounding weeds,” he says.
Herbert Stacy says the thing that scares him the most is what he has learned about genetically modified organisms, more commonly known as GMOs.
GMOs are organisms in which the DNA has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally.
The two most commonly produced GMO foods are corn and soy. These plants’ materials have been genetically modified to include built-in pesticides into their DNA, no longer requiring the external use of spray pesticides.
There are several plants, vegetables and fruits that are GMO foods and currently, most of the seeds are GMO seeds.
“And that is what you should be afraid of,” Herbert Stacy says.
He doesn’t think enough long-term research on the effects GMO foods on the public’s health has been conducted.
Often, GMO-tainted corn, soy and food products are used as feed for cattle, poultry, hogs and fish. People, in turn, consume meats that are tainted with GMO products on top of the many antibiotics injected into meats and poultry, and coloring agents used in fish and seafood.
“It is everywhere, and I do mean everywhere,” he says.
His research guided him toward aquaponics so he could provide his family with the cleanest foods he could possibly grow.
“Everything that I grow is guaranteed to be non-GMO and is organically grown from seeds that I started with,” he says.
Stacy even grows organic duckweed, which he uses to feed the fish.
He got his original supply of fish from a reputable organic producer and has since grown his own.
“I even hatch out the babies,” he says, laughing. “In so many places … other parts of the world, they will hatch out the babies and immediately dump chemicals on them to change the sex of the fish so they will grow faster. I don’t do that.”
Herbert Stacy is filling out the paperwork that would allow him to also sell his farm-grown tilapia. For now, his friends and family get the benefit of the fresh fish he produces.
Having enough to feed his family, Herbert Stacy wants others to benefit from better food choices and currently sells his produce at the Hinesville Farmers Market held each Thursday from March through October in Bradwell Park.
“Somebody came in the store the other day and said they had bought some tomatoes and lettuce at the farmers market,” Donna Stacy says. “They said they did a blind taste test, and they said our tomatoes tasted so much better. I love tomatoes and I end up eating most of the profits, but you can tell they are just better.”
Herbert Stacy is in the process of getting his greenhouse and aquaponic system certified as an organic site.
“That takes an awful lot of work and time,” he says. “I am a founding member of GAAN, which is the Georgia Agriculture and Aquaponic Network. It will encompass all the groups in Georgia that are trying to do this.”
And he wants others to benefit from good food.
“I’m in the process of trying to draw a smaller system that, possibly, people could do in their backyard,” he explains. “I wish everyone would have a chance of doing something like this in their backyard and grow their own perch, trout or bass in the summer and then harvest them in the fall before winter. They would be able to freeze the fish and have fish available all winter as well as having their tomato, lettuce and whatever they wanted to grow.”
He hopes to bring in the local school system so children can learn a different farming technique.
“I wish they would have this whole setup in one of their greenhouses because they could produce food for the lunchroom themselves. It teaches animal husbandry with the fish as well as starting (from) the seed all the way to the production and harvesting of the food,” he says, his eyes flushed with excitement. “I want them to get used to doing things so they can do this in their backyard.”
Herbert Stacy and his wife both admit they occasionally cave in to an unhealthy food craving.
“When you have a craving for those doughnuts and you haven’t had one in some time, and you go back and eat one,” she says.
She notes that she mostly has a weakness for salty foods and, often after indulging, she realizes the treat was not as good as she remembered.
The couple say it’s about doing your best and eating healthy food as much as possible.
“I’m sure it helped,” Donna Stacy says. “I’m nine years out and healthy.” (Herbert Stacy is still strong and healthy as of this posting 2/7/2019)
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