Racks of different plants are stacked to the ceiling at Urban Organics facility in St. Paul. The facility is an old brewery that has been converted to a small farm. Its post-brewery status comes with an additional bonus as well: Having been built a brewery gives Urban Organics access to freshwater wells, so they don\u2019t have to treat the water.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dave Haiden, president and co-founder of Urban Organics, explained that it\u2019s not easy to build an ecosystem indoors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of engineering,\u201d Haiden said. For an aquaponic farm to work, the waste from the fish travels through the water and becomes a natural fertilizer for the plants. In turn, the plants filter out the waste before it returns to the fish\u2014but that\u2019s an oversimplification.<\/p>\n