Brandon Russo
Brandon Russo is both a student and avid gardener who is innovative and always seeking new ways to grow organic foods. His passion was sparked by his mom; together they started his first garden, an 8’x8’ patch for growing pumpkins. Over the last ten years, Brandon has managed to expand from a small pumpkin patch to now running a garden that spans more than 60 feet. In addition to the variety of vegetables, plants and flowers he grows in his garden, for nearly four years Brandon has also been testing different ways to grow his favorite greens through alternative methods. From building a makeshift and handmade aquaponics unit to growing lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers through various hydroponics systems, Brandon has experienced his fair share of trial and error.
Being Aquagrove’s only student to lead an aquaponics test site, Brandon has taken impressive initiative and expressed great enthusiasm for the Aquagrove system. Even from a bare and dark basement, Brandon’s Aquagrove is currently growing bib lettuce and raising rainbow trout as if it were his outdoor garden on a sunny day. He is one of the few groups to be using a chiller with his system, maintaining a water temperature of 60°F and growing the cool season crops he enjoys.
“There are so many benefits from using the Aquagrove; it’s very easy to set up, and it is the first system I have found that you get everything you need in one kit.” – Brandon Russo