OK, I’m not sure if hydroponically is actually a word, but given that I’m not getting a spelling error from a proofreading application, I’m guessing it is. So to start off, I will state that I am no green thumb. I mean, I have successfully grown plants in the past. When I was younger (maybe 12), I had a small garden I raised in my parents back yard with some basics. Tomatoes, onions and (I think) some herbs.
It was a pretty rewarding experience, and given that I actually followed through on that and maintained it all summer, I feel pretty good saying I managed to do OK. But beyond that, I’ve never really tried my hand at gardening.
The fact is, it’s kind of hard to maintain a real garden of that nature when you live in a rental unit and have dogs that would likely tear everything up. Not to mention wild animals eating your crops. So after due consideration, I’ve had the crazy idea of trying to do a bit of hydroponic gardening.
I won’t lie, I am NOT experienced with this in the least. But one thing I love about the internet and YouTube is that, if you want to learn, there are ample opportunities to do so. And it’s a nice break from the usual garbage that makes up political discourse, religious nonsense (not that faith is a problem, just people who are hypocritical about their supposed faith) and the general insulting and condescending nature of Social Media.
At any rate, I found a few great videos on YouTube and it inspired me to look much more seriously at the necessary efforts to do some hydroponic gardening. My big takeaway is: yes, I can probably manage this, with a bit of effort and some minimal to moderate funding.
So in the next few weeks, I plan to set up, with my daughter’s help, the basics of an indoor, hydroponic garden… as soon as I figure out where we will do it, that is. The first planned crop will be strawberries. If you haven’t heard, I have cut out a large portion of foods that are not beneficial to my health; candy (not that I ate tons), ice cream, fast food (again, not that I ate a ton), and most other carbohydrate-heavy foods that contain added sugars and starch. I also cut out pop, which was the only real thing I had a hard time controlling myself with, but that’s a whole other topic to discuss. One thing I don’t have to cut out, according to my doctor, is fresh fruit. But have you seen some of the prices for that? Man, sometimes you end up paying $4 for a small container of strawberries – and either you consume them in two days and have to shell out more, or you get to day 3 and… wait, they’re already spoiled or getting moldy? REALLY?
So gardening it will be. I’ll be starting a new section on the topic soon, and as I work through the process, I will be trying to document it here. So watch for a new set of articles coming soon on my experiments with gardening.