After working for years in Afghanistan, Jim Frasche began developing an aquaponics greenhouse in Colorado for communities in both Denver and Kabul (similar high altitude, cold climate regions) where local food wasn’t always readily accessible.

He sells his 500-square-foot aquaponics greenhouse for $25,000 (via Turnkey Aquaponics), but this is an income-producing garden. “Based on allocating a certain square footage of productivity to growing cash crops which you would sell to restaurants or food wholesalers you can cash flow a structure like this in about 2 years while still feeding a family of four.”

The price may be steep, but Frasche explains the idea is to qualify for a loan based on the payback period of the greenhouse.

* Filmed by Johnny Sanphillippo, owner of a small, mortgage-free home. He also films stories about urbanism, adaptation and resilience for his site Granola Shotgun.