Ledyard — A new farm stand has sprung up in front of The Arc New London County's Ledyard community home, thanks in part to fertilizer being churned out by 37 bluegills.

The stand, which opened with limited hours in late July, is located at 1671 Route 117. There, a green technology called aquaponics is helping stock the customized woodshed's shelves with foods such as romaine lettuce, arugula, garlic, chives and basil.

"We have a 500-gallon tank where the fertilizer from the fish goes down a tube and flows into the grow bed, and then fertilizes and filters through the plants," said Jason Brear, job coach for The Arc, a Norwich-based organization that provides services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

With aquaponics, waste from an aquaculture system is broken down by bacteria and utilized by the plants as nutrients. The clean water is then recirculated back into the tank.

"By the time it makes a full cycle back into the tank, it's clean water," he continued. "There's no added fertilizer — it's all organic."

The produce, grown in a temperature-controlled room inside The Arc's Ledyard location, contributes to just part of the shed's inventory.

Visible from the farm stand, a 10,000-square-foot garden, newly tilled this spring, produces vegetables such as squash and tomatoes that change on a seasonal basis. Baked goods from The Arc's Employment Transition Center in Groton round out a customer's choices.

The project's goal isn't just to feed the community.

Part of what The Arc does is help its clients gain skills that will lead to "real jobs for real pay," Chief Executive Officer Kathleen Stauffer said.

"Aquaponics as an emerging technology was very attractive to us," she said. "If we train in cutting-edge green technology, it will give people with IDD (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities) better options for employment. It turns on its head this idea that people with IDD somehow are less capable and therefore don't deserve wages for their work."

After the first aquaponics-grown crops came out well last year, Stauffer said, clients and staff members came to The Arc leadership, asking to expand the project.

"This opportunity was born out of the interests of the people we serve and our staff in pursuit of this philosophy we have: people should be empowered to pursue their dreams," Stauffer said.

Now, about a dozen people are involved throughout any given week, whether rototilling, planting seeds, harvesting crops or managing the storefront. All of them are paid minimum wage.

"There are a lot of translatable skills that can come out of this," Stauffer said, rattling off customer service, inventory management and iPad technology, to name a few.

[naviga:iframe width="100%" src="http://www.tout.com/embed/touts/rk0ygt" height="240" frameborder="0"] [/naviga:iframe]

Ken Leger, who Brear said is involved in the many of the hands-on aspects of the stand, said he's involved in part because he likes "the outside and the weather."

Leger said he opted for the farm work over a janitorial job he had in Groton and plans to stick with it.

The stand, which initially was open only from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., is now open 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Next year, Brear said, he hopes to see regular Saturday hours, too, and to expand the garden by about 5,000 square feet.

"I had no experience in this field, ever," Brear said, explaining that he's learned from experimenting and books. "It's definitely a learning project, but I love it."

He said community support so far has been "excellent" and, on many Fridays, has led to the stand selling out.

"There's a Ledyard town forum that I didn't even know we were mentioned on and everyone was talking about us," Brear said, referring to the Ledyard Community Forum Facebook group. "Every time someone comes, they're like, 'We've watched it from grass, to the fence, to the rototilling, to all the plants growing.'"

Stauffer said organizations such as the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, Chelsea Groton Bank, People's Bank and Fresh Farm Aquaponics, as well as Ledyard town officials, also have been supportive.

l.boyle@theday.com

Twitter: @LindsayABoyle