To Hudson Valley Vertical Farms: A Regenerative Suburban Microfarm Cropping, High Yield, Nutrition, Farming, and Natural Products
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Dear Friend,
Thank you for visiting! I hope you like what you see. Let me tell you little about myself. Years ago, my family was faced with a mandate by our pediatrician to start eating more whole foods and get toxins out of the house. As I'm sure you know, this is easier said than done. However, after enduring the learning curve of a truly holistic lifestyle, I found myself and my family in a much better position than ever before. But why should it be so hard? Every family deserves to free themselves of the shackles of an unhealthy, toxin- filled lifestyle. I wanted to take the guesswork out of it and show people it doesn't have to be hard or inconvenient. Over the years, we have changed up how we grow our food, cook, clean, and even produce our own energy. Small simple changes over time resulted in our 'Homestead Ecosystem' where we grow our own food on yesterday's kitchen garbage and live beyond organic.
This has been my journey, and I hope to share it with you.
Kathy
We can teach you how to farm!
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Education is a staple of our philosophy. We believe the best way of achieving our goals is assisting and educating all who wish to learn about homesteading and self-sustenance.
Winter is coming. It is time for the annual hibernation to begin. Squirrels bury the last few nuts to last through the winter. Bears head off for their long naps, gardeners curl up in their blankets, waiting for the arrival of seed catalogs as their very early sign of spring. 
At Hudson Valley Vertical Farms, the winter is no time for rest. There are CSA members to feed through the winter months. Despite the freezes and flurries, things are always growing with the benefit of several indoor vertical aeroponic growing systems that were conceptualized by the farm and designed and built by Aero, Rethinking Growth. Hudson Valley Vertical Farms, Inc. is a member of Rondout Valley Growers Association and Stick to Local Farms. It shares some helpful tips from its chances and mistakes made over the years from germination to harvest.
Successful indoor growing starts with the seeds. Heirloom and organic varieties that have a high germination rate of over 90% rate are a good beginning.
The farm chooses seeds from the Hudson Valley Seed Library, because they are locally sourced. The Hudson Valley Seed Library also supports affiliated programs, including the artists who design their seed packets.
The weakest link for any growing cycle is germination. This is the two-week period that starts when we plant the seeds in rock wool and add water. A growing mat and thermostat is used for germinating seedlings at their ideal temperature.
For hydroponic growing, the ideal water temperature is approximately 70 degrees, which can be adjusted with a simple aquarium heater. Within a couple of weeks, we transfer the seedlings from their trays over to the aeroponic vertical columns where they will complete their growing. The plants' roots growing out of the rock wool are constantly bathed with water and nutrients, which helps the plants grow faster and fuller than by regular gardening methods. These vertical aeroponic structures contain no soil, eliminating the need for weeding and cutting down greatly on pests.
As for lighting, it all depends on the daily light needs of the plant. While house plants grow happily in a sunny windowsill (and some of them need less than that), produce being grown indoors will need varying levels of supplemental lighting.
Herbs need those windowsills, too, but a simple lamp with a grow light will give an extra boost.
Lettuces will flourish with a fluorescent light placed about one foot away from the plant, and we run them on timers for 13 hours a day (or night, when the off-peak power is cheaper). If window light is available, we set timers to turn on our lights for four hours in the early morning and four hours in the last evening.
Flowering and fruiting plants usually need a high-pressure sodium light for about 13 hours a day to produce fruit due to the thicker cell wall of fruiting plants.
Winter may have frozen the parasites and pestilence outdoors, but that ADT home protection sign is not going to keep wee beasties from trying to get your produce. Insects and fungus are the most common culprits to bring your indoor growing season to an early end.
...is often due to a combination of overwatering and a deficiency of beneficial microbes. Microbes in Foliar Pack enjoy eating downy mildew, a natural fungicide that works very well and causes no cellular damage to the plants while increasing nitrogen pick-up as a bonus! Many organic growers on a commercial scale employ hungry lady bugs to feast upon aphids, but they are not always the best solution for the small scale indoor grower due to their tendency to wander and get 'lazy' over the winter months. Thus,we are excited about microbial helpers for organic pest management.
If hydroponics seems like something you are not ready for, sprouting using soil trays may be your indoor growing match. Sprouting sunflower seeds and wheat grass in grow trays is a simple process of soaking and spouting the seeds in mason jars followed by patting the seeds on top of a grow tray of damp soil and simply adding sunlight from a sunny window. Sunflower sprouts are a plant-based source of protein and are easy to cut and toss onto your salad or enjoy as a snack.
So, there really is no need to wait for the ground to thaw. The indoor gardener can look forward to thick bunches of herbs and fresh, flavorful lettuce over the long winter.
Please send us an email and we will get back to you as soon as we are able!
