Hydroponics Course

Some women in my community had expressed concern in starting a hydroponics garden a few months ago so I started to research the process online.  I had mostly found information on large scale farming and growing with the plants floating in water.   It seemed a very complicated process.  However, about a month ago I heard that the 70 person town next to me was going to have a three day course.

So this week I went to teach in the morning and left at 11 to catch the bus to my town and walk a km to this course.  The first two days were theory which I had already read a lot about.  The main difference is a huge one though.  The class was taught by an engineer from the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia (MAG), which is the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. Hydroponics is the growing of plants outside of soil.  He focused more on growing plants in solid substratum rather than water.  The best part about taking this course was learning how to make it happen here in rural Costa Rica and on a budget.  So the idea is that we build our containers out of stuff we have such as wood.

The most expensive materials will turn out to be the black plastic which protects the vegetables from bacteria and other growths.  Then ,we can use river rocks/sand, coconut fiber, or rice/coffee shells, most of which are inexpensive and can be used for several years.  It turns out the nutrient concentrates that we add to the water does not cost that much.

I'm in the beginning stages of how this class can benefit me.  I'm going to start growing a few things on my own here at home.  I haven't decided to just do one pot or to go all out and make one out of bamboo.  I've found a decent place to put it where it can get a lot of sun but I'm worried about the rains now in the rainy season.  Otherwise, I'm hoping to start a community garden but what looks more likely is a school garden that the school can use for its own veggies.  Plus it's a great tool to use for charlas on eating healthy, growing organically, and growing hydroponic vegetables that I'm hoping to do with the students at my elementary school.

I really enjoyed meeting new people from this town.  It was an interesting dynamic having half farmers and half house-wives there.  We even built our own container yesterday and learned how to  make the mixture to use as the solid substratum.  We have another charla scheduled to learn how to make plant extracts to use to naturally fight bacterias and other pests.  And we're going to take a tour to several different farms already growing hydroponic vegetables from small to big.  I'm excited to work with these farmers and learn from them.  They make up a large majority of my neighbors so it's really great to be able to relate to them more.  I'm excited to start growing tomatoes and peppers!  Mmm... I think it's lunch time!