‘They’re sentient beings’: a new way of raising fish – and vegetables – in New York

Yemi Amu, founder of New York City's first outdoor aquaponics farm, combines growing fish and growing plants without soil, and teaches residents its benefits

Nestled between a Trader Joe's and New York City's East River is Oko Farms, a little hub of greenery in Brooklyn that looks out on to Manhattan's skyline. Fenced off in the corner of an expansive construction site, it's not easy to locate.

Past the gates is a 10,000 sq ft plot brimming with beds of lemongrass, cabbage, okra, peas, peppers, tomatoes, leeks, onions and carrots. They are sprawling patches of greenery, accessed by a narrow wooden walkway that interlaces throughout the property. But unlike most urban gardens, the plant beds have plastic tubes stuck to them. The tubes are connected to large baths of tilapia, carp, catfish and perch, and circulate water between the two.