Down on the Farm

Hubby took the kids Saturday to a hydroponic farm. I didn't go, but hubby is going to help me write this blog, so yippee! A guest blogger. I've never done that before. There's a first time for everything, I guess.

The place they visited had a 2,000 sq ft greenhouse. Mercy, that's a lot of vegetables. Everything is grown in the towers that they sell, but theirs are modified a little. The use 5-10% of the water that a normal farm would use. Everything is organic and hydroponic. The screens on the greenhouse are metal and have small holes. The holes are big enough the bees can come pollinate, but the critters can't have a buffet.

This is one of the towers. It's smaller and set up like the home version. We have one. This one has eggplants and an extra frame for support. They are made of food grade PVC and are quite genius. The plants grow faster and are super healthy for you. They did have a snack you could put together of lettuces so you could try before you buy.

This is the family. It was hot and sunny and I'm glad they were smiling!!

The pots that they have set up for their use rotate. The power for that is from this baby. Oh, how hubby and I dream of being off the grid. They are working on some other things running off solar, but for now it's just this.  

 This is our tower going up. Hubby has been researching and looking into hydroponics for many years. This was his opportunity to see a setup that works and try a little hydroponic growing himself. Along with the tower, he brought home seedlings. They were: green leaf lettuce, green kale, romaine, red leaf lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, squash, watermelons, and red bell peppers. Wait til you see how big our plants are already.

 Up, up, and away it goes. The boy, the big girl, and the baby all helped. As did our friend T. T went with the family on the tour. He was impressed as well with the set up.

 That's most of it. We had seven sections. It comes with five and we bought two more. Quite impressive to watch it go together so easily. Even more impressive when it was done.

So there you go.

The best thing about it- it's American made. I don't get political here very often. I save that for the other blog. But this, I have to say, would have sold me on it. They had me at the sticker. Everything else is just a bonus.

We should be harvesting in a couple of weeks. You can grow a head of lettuce and eat it, from the tower, for up to 2 months. When have you ever had a head of lettuce stay fresh for two months? How often have you gone out and picked veggies and they just kept growing? Hubby said the tour took about 20 minutes and they packed a ton of information into it. You should have seen the sparkle in his eyes. He did get "debriefed" about how to set up the tower and was like a kid with a new toy. I wish it was a motorcycle, but I think I'm gonna like the tower, too

Have a great day.