Hydroponic gardening systems are the future of urban gardening. A hydroponic system is both an easy, cost-effective way to produce abundant food with no runoff, little bending, no weeding, using a fraction of the chemicals and nutrients necessary in a traditional garden or raised bed, requires significantly less work, provides automation and all in a fraction of the space needed to grow food in the soil. The physical requirements can be met by most 5-6-year-olds as well as upon into your 90’s.
It also creates a perfect opportunity to teach your kids some very important skills. So many kids these days really have no idea where their food comes from. Ask your 3-4-year-old. What do they tell you? The store, a package, a fast food restaurant? What if something dramatic happened to disrupt all that? And regardless, is it really healthy? Is it fresh? Who handled it? Is it wholesome? What chemicals were applied to it? You may be aware that all the recent “recalls” of Romaine lettuce are because the fields are irrigated with fecal waste. This is not exactly achieving my intent when I choose to eat a “healthy” salad.
Throughout human history, for thousands of years, one of the first things a parent would teach their child is how to grow their own food. The Native American Hopi tribe provides us with an excellent example. At a very early age, Hopi children are taught how to germinate a seed. Their very existence was dependent on their ability to grow corn and maize. Without it, they could perish. Not only is seed germination important for nourishing their body but it also reinforces their connection with the earth as well as all other living things. This simple lesson nourishes their mind and soul as well.
In today’s suburban, hectic chaos, hydroponic gardening is an easy way to introduce your kids to a better way of gardening, for all of the above reasons. All you need are some seeds, Rockwool cubes to plant them in, water, a small number of nutrients, and some sunlight. This, as opposed to clearing some ground, digging out weeds, rocks, grass, adding fertilizer and soil amendments, and watering your seeds regularly, hoping the rain does not flood your newly planted garden and that an animal will not dig them up. Then the weeding, bending, getting filthy stained clothes, nails, dodging fire ants, etc…Nah, starting a hydroponic garden is done at the kitchen table, as a family, all while wearing even your Sunday best. It’s a basic biology lesson at first, which also expands to some basic chemistry-easy biology and chemistry! What you are also accomplishing is planting the proverbial seeds in your child’s mind to expand their natural desire to understand “why” as well as developing critical thinking, problem-solving, deductive reasoning, and resourcefulness.
The simple requirements and necessary efforts for a successful hydroponic garden are also an easy way to teach your kids some ownership and responsibility, as well as the work ethic needed (5 minutes a day/an hour a week) to achieve results/goals in life and one that’s not so intensive (or expensive) as say…a puppy? And hey…when they go off to college, what parent wouldn’t want to inherit their kid’s hydroponic system? And yes…we are dog owners and dog lovers too.
I sincerely hope you appreciate this “food for thought” as much I enjoy being part of the solution.
All the best to you and I’m wishing you and your family peace and safety,
Joe Nash
-Founder, LMNdeavors, LLC Custom Hydroponics and Solar Solution
LMNdeavors LLC – Hydroponics & Solar Solutions
2503 Cypress Trace Cir
Orlando, FL 32825
(321) 947-5208
https://orlandohydroponics.com/solar-solutions/
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