Hydroponic Gardening Brings Fresh Produce To Your Table

Hydroponics is a technique of growing plants without soil, using mineral nutrient solutions and water. Plants grow with their roots directly submerged in mineral solution in soilless medium such as rockwool, coconut fiber or other similar products.

But don’t you need soil to grow plants? Not always - we’ve all sprouted seeds and eaten bean sprouts, or have purchased them at our local market, and in some way, this is a form of hydroponic gardening.

Recently I joined members of the Calusa Garden Club’s special tour of Colusa Farms in Naples to explore hydroponic gardening.

According to their website, Colusa Farms was founded in Naples in 2011 by Jonathan and Isabel Way, a husband-and-wife team committed to environmentally sustainable farming specializing in microgreens, gourmet mushrooms, leafy greens, edible flowers, herbs and other gourmet surprises.

Isabel Way knows her plants and with her background in Environmental Science and as a Collier County Master Gardener, she partners with Jonathan in their passion for fresh local produce. They have developed the concept of “two hands one plate” – where your food should only be handled by the farmer and chef before it arrives on your plate.

Jonathan has a passion for building aquaponics and hydroponic gardens and this blossomed into a business. Their “smart farm towers” are perfect for balconies, patios, restaurants, country clubs and private lanais or patios.

These hydroponic towers have a 13-gallon reservoir, and pump timer. One unit will grow over 40 plants guaranteeing a fresh supply of vegetables, herbs and flowers directly to your plate.

Why Try Hydroponics? For the beginner, there is a lot to learn and the process can be a bit intimidating. Keeping an open mind, the garden club members listened to Farm Manager, Janet Restrepo and Bill Badge and learned of the benefits of the hydroponic method.

The group were ushered through the different sections of the farm with rows of hydroponically grown herbs, vegetables and edible flowers. We were blown away with the robust and healthy plants overflowing from each hydroponic tower.

According to Bill Badge, vegetables grow faster; hydroponic towers require less space, less water and the best perk of this technique – no weeds and soil borne pests.

Beginners should start with easier plants such as lettuce, Swiss chards, kale, peppers, herbs, mints and fruiting plants such as Everglades grape tomatoes. 

The tour also became a culinary adventure where the gardeners tasted fresh cut microgreens. According to Janet, microgreens are packed with health benefits and chefs use them as garnish to salads or to main ingredients. 

Microgreens are young herbs harvested between one and two weeks. They look like sprouts, which they are. Janet shared that they used only organic and NON-GMO seeds.

According to Jonathan, they supply 72 restaurants and country clubs with lettuce, microgreens and edible flowers. Fifteen locations are currently using his hydroponic stacking towers.

I asked Jonathan when is the ideal time to start with my own hydroponic tower. He suggested that mid-September is a good time to start.

Feast for the eyes and taste buds. At the farm, it was nature’s magnificent glory in full display, and here we were plucking petals from a variety of edible flowers. Tasting edible flowers was a new experience - did you know that the marigold flower is edible? It has a mild citrus to lightly spicy taste.

The nasturtiums in yellows, whites, orange, reds and pinks are guaranteed to make your salad bowl pop in colorful ways providing spicy sweet/ peppery taste. A pansy petal tasted like sweet lettuce – very subtle and juicy.

Caution: Janet does not recommend using flowers from local nurseries due to the presence of pesticides in the soil. 

Energized with the new experience, we all left the tour with a small plastic container of edible blooms, herbs and microgreens. My salad that evening was the MOST colorful with fresh picked edible flowers – thanks to Colusa Farms.