Fourth-generation farmer Kelsie Diehl is bringing a new-age approach to organic farming.
The owner of Del Ray Farm Aquaponics in Strasburg, Diehl, 25, is adding a waste-to-energy system to power her greenhouse that could be the first of its kind.
Outside the greenhouse, a compost bin covered in foil-backed foam insulation will transfer the heat generated from the compost pile -- which could reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit -- to heat the water in the greenhouse fish tanks.
Waste from the catfish in the tanks will fertilize a pair of plant beds filled with vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, spinach, kale and herbs.
"And the plants will actually put oxygen back into the water and kind of clean it for the fish," Diehl said, "so it's really kind of a cool cycle the way everything works."