First Day - A Snow Day!

Well. Here I am snowed in at home and wishing I could be at school in my warm & cozy greenhouse where it is summer all year-round! But there is good in all things, so I am finally able to create this blog site for an industry I care very much about. And, I know everything will be fine in the greenhouse as our hydroponic systems will chug away, producing gourmet-quality food whether I am there or not!

Harley and I just took a trip to Washington, DC and met with staff at our Michigan state senator´s office to talk about hydroponic food production and what part it might be able to play in our nation´s food production future. Turns out we were ¨preaching to the choir¨ as Sen. Stabenow is a huge supporter of agriculture and healthy foods! We simply threw our names in the hat as folks to contact about hydro issues.

Of course, we also pointed out that hydroponics can play an important part in getting fresh foods to our urban populations and meet some important health initiatives (Michelle Obama´s new objectives) as it contains increased levels of important vitamins and minerals. Another important benefit is the increased shelf life that hydroponic foods offer when picked at the peak of ripeness - very important to those urban stores that would carry fresh fruits and vegetables. Not to mention the bumper crops and shortened time it takes to get them!

Another important thing that hydroponic food production can provide is a way for our northern-tier states to be able to participate in our Farm to School programs and provide school lunch programs with fresh salad bar ingredients without those schools being at the mercy of trucked-in produce and the large carbon footprint that implies. (Trucked in fresh produce often lacks quality and can have reduced vitamin content over time. I know because I worked for three years at Holiday Inn where we ordered from companies who truck in produce. Sometimes, our chef had to refuse a shipment because it was not the quality that he desired...)

I have always said that if you can get folks to just taste locally produced hydroponic vegetables and fruit, the taste then says it all! We have students who hate veggies grazing in the greenhouse while they work in there. We never seem to have a strawberry to give to our CSA customers as the students get to them first! Since we are a teaching greenhouse, our students try all sorts of things and we have found an untapped market for hydroponically grown snow peas and string beans. Oh, the sweetness on those is incredible! Even those who hate peas go away from our greenhouse with a newly found taste for them! Because we control the root zone and the ambient environment of the crop, we are able to steer the crop to produce to it´s genetic potential and increase the sugar content in the crop grown. If you are a connosier of hot peppers, you can literally take a jalepeno and increase the heat to taste more like a habenero! And the best part is that it is reproducible every time! Incredible, huh?

But here´s what I think is the best part - the numbers of us who are interested in this as an industry for food production are growing every day! Some of us have recognized that there is now a need for someone to step forward and help standardize this new industry and that is how the Progressive Hydroponics Education Council was born. Currently, we are seeking ANSI certification (American National Standards Institute) and are in the process of creating a national assessment and certification program for those who complete a program of study in hydroponics and environmentally controlled agriculture. We will join the ranks of other Career & Technical education groups like the electricians and auto techs who can obtain a national certificate saying that they are proficient in their fields. This process is young, and we are still looking for hydroponic experts to participate in the question development phase which is going on presently. If you would like to be a part of this important phase of certification and feel you have an advanced knowledge of hydroponics, please blog me and let me know of your interests.
Thanks!

I see the snow has quit for now and, unfortunately, I have to go and dig ourselves out! At least I won´t have to be hoeing & pulling weeds when I get back to the greenhouse tomorrow as well! I´ll just graze on some golden cherry tomatoes and dream of the warmer weather to come...

Thanks to all of you who might follow our PHEC´s progress and join us in our efforts! Here´s to growing for a healthier tomorrow!!

Sue