Trying to be green….whenever we aren’t being pink!

It’s true, Cary lives in a pink, pink world. Any and every pink item I can sneak in I try to, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.

We try very hard to make our lives as green as possible. We buy organic, recycle, compost and now we have added hydroponic farming in an effort to be as green as possible.

Mac Farms in Walton County

There is a small family farm here in Walton County Florida called Mac Farms. Mac Farms uses the hydroponic farming system to grow all their amazing produce.  According to their website: Hydroponics literally translates from Latin to “water labor”, meaning the water is working to bring the nutrients to the plant as opposed to the soil.  In typical Cary fashion we could not just think this was a cool idea or possibly incorporate some hydroponic produce items into our diet, no sir…..we had to start our own!! I have to say this is Cary’s baby, I basically OOOOHHH and AAAAHHH at the unbelievable growth.

Here are some recent pics of the status of our tiny little farm. So far, we have grown beets, collards, romaine lettuce, basil, summer thyme and arugula.  The water contains a nutrient solution from General Hydroponics.

Collards and beets in floating and wick-based hydroponic systems.

The hydroponic systems we’ve been growing in so far have been strictly experimental and homemade, using items we had around the house. The systems are far from perfect, but the results are quite impressive so far.  Now we need some input from you our readers! As you can see we are using styrofoam for our pots and the base which floats on the water. As styrofoam is not environmentally friendly, we need suggestions for other items to use to build a larger scale system so that our system is truly green! All and any suggestions are much appreciated; keep them coming and we will keep you updated on the status!

Collards flourishing in our floating hydroponic system.

Stay tuned for this weekend’s post about roasting coffee!