We had the good fortune of connecting with Yseut Berlingeri and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yseut, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I am originally from Ponce, Puerto Rico. I grew up spending endless time with my maternal grandparents. My grandma Josefina was an amazing cook and my grandpa Roberto had a farm where he grew a lot of vegetables and fruits. This is were my journey started. At a very young age I decided to become a chef, and now later in life a modern farmer.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am the proud owner of MY Epicurean Farm, an aquaponics farm that specialized in live trays of microgreens and petite greens. My career started as a chef by attending The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY right after high school. After many years as a professional chef in both fine dining and hotels and being part of the farm to table movement, I decided to become a modern farmer. I did spend about a year learning about Aquaponics and growing microgreens at my cousin farm in Florida, before opening our farm in Decatur, TX. What it makes our boutique farm unique is the type of farming that we do, which it is called aquaponics. Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture which it is raising fish, in our case koi and goldfish and hydroponics which is growing plants without soil. What it is fascinating about aquaponics is the symbiotic relationship in which plants are fed, the nutrient-rich water from raising fish that works as a natural fertilizer for the plants and the plants help to purify the water for the fish. By using this method of farming we can farm all year around, indoors and provided our chefs and costumers beautiful nutrient dense greens free of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to dedicate this shoutout to my maternal grandparents, Roberto and Josefina, for teaching me the value of the land, for the endless hours of cooking and for supporting my dream of being a chef. And to my cousin Helga Tan-Fellows for inspiring me to become a modern-farmer and sharing her passion of aquaponics and farming.

Website: http://www.myepicureanfarm.com
Instagram: myepicureanfarm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myepicureanfarm

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