Until the 1990s if you brought up “farmers markets” to anyone, they’d think you were talking about some quaint colonial era system where farmers brought their produce to market. These days though, farmers markets can be big business.  To anyone who wants to bypass the clunky and overcomplicated system by which the supermarkets source produce from all over the world, buying directly from farmers in the area is often a great way to go.  Over the past 10 years, farmers markets have really grown across the country. There about 5000 outlets now for anyone who wants to buy local in-season produce. The government has really been doing its part to, to make farmers markets possible.

Hydroponic systems are gardening mechanisms designed to bring a regular or continuous flow of water and nutrients to the roots of a plant without the use of soil.  Normally, soil is the source for both water and nutrients, but the soil itself is not required by any plant.  Hydroponic systems basically work without use of the ‘middleman’.

The term ‘hydroponics’ was coined by the UC Davis professor, Gericke, in 1929.  Though hydroponic systems had been experimented with for many years prior, Professor Gericke was the first to demonstrate that plants could be grown to full size without using any soil.  He came up with the word hydroponics as a variation of the ancient Greek word for agriculture, ‘geoponics’.

Although there are hundreds of different hydroponic systems used today, they all fall under seven basic categories; passive, water culture, flood and drain, drip, wick, nutrient film technique, and aeroponic.

Learn more about Build Your Own Hydroponic System

Still, for the most part my vegetable gardening worked out well. I was surprised by how manageable organic gardening was. It really wasn’t any more difficult than growing a conventional garden, and it only cost a bit more. Organic fertilizer was readily available, and I was able to use compost to supplement it. The best thing was having my own organically grown vegetables at the end of the season. Fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, lettuce, and a few other veggies filled my pantry. I felt like I was eating seriously gourmet food, and best of all I had grown it all myself.

Here’s a quick primer on the basics of planning a vegetable garden. If you’ve never grown your own vegetables, give it a try!

>> Read more at the article on Planning a vegetable garden