Sat, 2011/01/15 - 2:32pm
Hi All,
I'm setting up a tour of the local hydroponic greenhouse in April! They are growing letttuce and herbs now but did grow tomatoes and cucumbers. I can't wait to see the operation. Here's their website. Take a look at the awesome cucumber plants!
http://www.ahealthierwaytogrow.com/
Beth
Sat, 2011/01/15 - 8:06pm
#2
Hi Gisette,
This is a tour I'm setting up for the Maryland Master Gardeners. I hope to do more this year than just the email distribution list! Work should be slower this year so I can attend the fun things. They are a nice group of folks but don't have day jobs (retired or don't have to work). I keep attached to the group because I really want to share knowledge of growing veggies to the public when I retire! It is just hard because I do work and my commute has increased to at least a couple hours a day. Its all I can do to come home and think about growing things.
I will corner the greenhouse guy about his cucs. I've talked to him before and I know he got his nutes specially formulated for his water from Crop King (I think). I'm hoping he has some leftover nutes that I can try.
Regarding eating local, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find decent veggies here in rural Maryland. The greenhouse is the exception. I still bought a pack of California grown lettuce for dinner tonight because I was at the store and it was just too darn easy to pick up a bag. We did eat 3 cucs from the downstairs ag and I am getting ready to harvest the 4th swiss chard picking tomorrow. One day I'll get it all sorted out...
Beth
Sat, 2011/01/15 - 10:23pm
#3
Hi, Beth,
That's a lot of commuting. 
Glad you're finding time to garden at all!
Interesting re specially formulating cuke nutes for his water. Formulating to what, I wonder. The dratted things are so easy to grow with crunchy local tap water outdoors, in marginal soil, in summer... Mine have lots of little cukes now, but I can't tell if any are growing. Not following the usual first-on-the-stem-gets-fat pattern, anyway...
I'm surprised it's hard to find veggies in rural Maryland. I didn't think it was that different from here in the truck farm zone.
Very cool, Beth! I hope for a thorough report from you picking their brains on the how-to of hydroponic cucumbers.
Is this a personal tour, or are you arranging it for a group?
I love the local-produce angle. For you in Maryland, me in CT - it just feels so wrong to be buying poor-quality produce from the Imperial Valley in California, when we live in some of the most blessedly fertile lands on Earth. There are already vast greenhouses here in Connecticut - mostly growing flats of annual flowers. Aside from the orchards with their special year-round fruit storage bins. Though I'm not clear on how they persuade apples and pears to stay fresh for months on end.