Hydroponics at home

So if you’re a micro homesteader like me then one of the most important things is finding new and creative ways to grow more food. My mission is to help people realize that you don’t need a lot of land to grow your own food. I mean it WOULD help for sure, but if like me you live in a house in a neighbourhood you can at least START growing food now. Using hydroponics at home is an amazing way for any micro homesteader to make use of some indoor space to grow more food!

I view this as a great way to start honing your homesteading skills. So that when you DO get the acres of land you dream of (I am assuming it’s not just me dreaming of this) then you will have loads of tools in your homesteading tool belt to draw upon.

One such tool, at least for me, is growing indoors using hydroponics. On top of not having a lot of land to grow on, I also live in Ontario, Canada in Zone 5b. This means it gets cold and we get a lot of snow in the winter. Not to be dissuaded. I looked into ways to grow food year-round and landed on Aerogardens. I started with a Harvest on my kitchen counter and a Farm Plus in my basement. Over the years I have used it to grow so many different things. I have even grown charentais melons, you can check out a video on that here. I have since gifted the Harvest to my mum and shifted my focus to Rise Gardens.

Personal Rise Garden — My personal Rise Garden or as I call it The Low Rise

Why? Well, they are just so darn pretty. I love all the thought that has gone into the systems themselves and the app. I do still have my Farm Plus, but I focus most of my time on my Rise Gardens. Recently, I came across another system that I’m curious about. The Avea, was developed out of U of T which as an alumnus caught my attention. I haven’t bought one yet. As I am doing more research but I may add one of these to my indoor garden in the future.

I also plan to build a DIY hydroponic system in the basement as buying systems can get a bit expensive. Plus, I just love a good DIY! So if you are interested in growing food year-round then using hydroponics at home is a great way to accomplish this. There are so many different things you can grow using this method. Check out my post on 14 things you can grow hydroponically, for some inspiration!