When anyone tells me they don't believe in global warming or that altering plant genes is harmless, I do try not to unleash myself into a rant. My self-talk works at times, thinking that if they don't already see the massive change there is no convincing them. For the past two years, I have noted what seems an increase in pests whose numbers weren't cut down in the winter because of the temperature increase. This allows more pests to survive, and they ultimately need more food with their increasing numbers. As the temperature rises, so do their numbers and the amount of time I spend to cut them down. I noted that I spent more time out in my garden this year working pest control, but also noted I received, still, a smaller yield that if measured based on sustainability would only last until December. This is not good. But throughout the year, after learning of GMO contamination of my corn, excessive heat killing my peppers, squash bugs increasing massively in numbers killing most of my squash, and many small hungry worms munching down my Brussels sprouts, I have decided to give hydroponics a shot.
For me this was a great and inexpensive idea, if done correctly. I could grow what I wanted whenever, without coming out to find the next morning that a deer kindly trimmed my tomato plants or the squash bug army moved in more troops. Either way, I was going to win and can't wait to try out this idea. Fruits and vegetables all year round, who could complain? But digging deeper into my idea, I did find some things that I had to scratch my head over. For example: how was I going to vent out the air? I sat thinking, and well I couldn't drill a hole in the foundation. I could see it now, me sitting in the basement with just a drill and a horrible idea floating around in my head. Then ding! An idea: the dryer vent. Perfect! There was only a small snag, however, the real problem was what method of hydroponics to use? There were several different types. I just thought you put the plant's roots in water and that's it! But there was more, so much more. You had to grow the plants feeding them nutrients that needed to be measured to be sure pH balance was just right, there's algae to think of, and more importantly: light. Yes I had my work cut out for me. It was as though I had to learn gardening all over again. But trust me, I was learning quickly.
I knew I couldn't use the wick system of hydroponics to grow, say, squash, melons, or anything that would bear fruit, really. So as much as I wanted to make things simple it was better for me to read into more ideas. After doing a bit more homework I decided I would go for the system called ebb and flow. A choice that would allow me to grow larger plants where the wick system only allowed things like lettuce, kale, and herbs. Basically plants whose leaves were consumed that bore no large fruit or vegetables. So I was learning! And was excited because I could indulge in gardening year round. It was gardening in a whole new light, so to speak. Except, I would be god and I would have to control when it rained and when the sun came out and for how long. But I didn’t care, I would have fruit and vegetables, if I was successful, that wouldn’t have chew holes in the leaves, little colonies of worms living in my Brussels sprouts, or no armies of squash bugs that seemed to detect when I was coming (yes these bugs do know how to get out of the way).
Although I had lost a great number of plants to the heat, too much or too little water, and the bugs I still found myself successful in a sense. I learned much from this year, what strategies worked and which didn’t. But I also learned that we are living in a changing world because many refuse to see it or give up their ways, and a changing world requires adaptability. Sure a greenhouse is a good idea, but not for someone who can’t afford to invest in a project that would total thousands, only paying for itself years down the line. But hydroponics, a good idea to turn over my seeds without a risk of cross pollination rendering them hybrids that I am not a big fan of. I might hate hydroponics or love it, but only the start of this winter will tell. I don’t plan on leaving my garden to the weeds and bugs come next spring but I will be doing things differently. Hopefully I'll be spending less time fighting many battles that don’t draw out to help me win the war. But next year, I can learn more strategies of fighting my foes, limiting their numbers. I do all of this without the use of sprays, no sense in growing my own if I’m going to practice poisoning my own food, right? So, to me, better luck next year! Because I can say for sure that mother nature was also not working in my favor.
