Freshly-picked Tomatoes and Lettuce Year Round

—by Karen Kloser

Hampden Park Co-op customers enjoy locally grown, freshly picked tomatoes and lettuce year-round, thanks to the hard work of two hydroponic growers: Michelle Keller of LaBore Farms in Faribault, and Tom Martin of Martin’s Greenhouses in Pine City (delivered by Bob Schuett).

Although these two growers couldn’t be further apart in terms of their size and production, they both are intimately hands-on with their operations. LaBore Farms devotes about one-eighth of an acre of greenhouse space to its hydroponic lettuces: romaines, green leaf, red bibb, mixed greens, double greens, and specialty mustard greens. Martin’s Greenhouses has an acre of greenhouse space dedicated to hydroponic tomatoes and cucumbers.

Similar to soil farming, hydroponics appears to be just as labor intensive and costly in terms of its unique equipment, supplies, and risk. Keller worked a part-time job during the first three years of building LaBore Farms. The Martin family hasn’t taken a vacation since they expanded into year-round growing. Both growers are involved in all phases of farming, from mixing and managing the nutrient solution to picking, packing, labeling, and delivering (in Keller’s case add transplanting hundreds of lettuces, too).

Both growers make deliveries to the Twin Cities’ co-ops, grocery stores, and restaurants twice a week. LaBore Farms supplies the Mississippi Market, Eastside, Seward, Wedge, and Hampden Park co-ops and a couple of restaurants. Martin’s Greenhouses supplies the Festival Foods stores and some restaurants with their #1 tomato variety. Bob Schuett sells Martin’s “seconds” to small grocers, like HPC.

Keller knew she wanted to work with hydroponics in college, where she got a B.S. in biology from UW–River Falls. Martin was working in construction and his wife was home-schooling their kids when she thought growing hydroponics would be a good learning project and a way to earn some income. Reflecting back on the greenhouse he built in 1994, starting with 870 tomato plants, he said, “things got a little crazy and out-of-hand.” In their second year, he quit construction and went into growing full time. This year, the Martin family harvested more than 200,000 pounds of beefsteak and on-the-vine variety tomatoes. Both growers now hire seasonal part-time help.

Keller currently uses rockwool (spun lava rock) as her growing medium. She orders this from Denmark; the rest of her supplies come from within 50 miles of Faribault. “If I’m asking people to buy local, I need to buy local, too,” said Keller. Martin uses the bato-bucket system with perlite and grows tomato vines upwards, often reaching 35-foot lengths.

Hydroponics are not organic

Regardless of how hydroponics are grown, they cannot be labeled organic according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Despite the nutrients’ purity, the relatively sterile growing environment, and precise equipment calibration, the USDA rules prohibit the highly-refined minerals used (i.e., nitrate, phosphate, calcium, potassium, magnesium) in the formulation of the nutrient solution to be labeled organic. Supporters argue the hydroponic nutrient solution is more “pure” than the currently accepted “organic fertilizer" components used in soil growing.

Another issue for federal regulators is the disposal of the exhausted water, nutrients, and used media. Both LaBore and Martin’s pump exhausted water onto their fields. Keller composts the rockwool after she breaks it up. Martin is considering designing his own water reclaiming system.

More than labels

Consumers who shun hydroponic produce because of the labeling (or lack of) are missing out. Supporters say hydroponic produce offers superior flavor, nutrition, appearance, freshness, and a longer shelf-life, and is often pesticide-free. For the environment, supporters say hydroponic growing protects the soil because it eliminates the need for soil and soil organisms. It uses less water and achieves higher growth rates, yields, and crop quality. For example, Keller gets 11–12 lettuce crop rotations per year whereas a soil farmer may get 2–4. Martin grows juicy, flavorful beefsteak tomatoes in the dead of winter.

Martin’s used to be pesticide-free until he started growing year-round. White flies are the tomato’s scourge but he is very restricted in his pesticide use. “I eat the tomatoes, too,” he says.

Keller uses integrated pest management (ladybeetles and predator wasps) to manage the soybean aphids that love her lettuces.

Both plan to expand when the economy and time is right. They started out small, learned a lot through mistakes, and eventually found their niche in the local marketplace. Martin chose tomatoes because it’s a popular item with a large yield and gets a good price on the grocery shelf. Each plant bears 35 pounds of tomatoes per season. He often has 500–600 cases in his truck for delivery.

Keller would like to double her greenhouse space, as she has reached capacity for existing customers. She’d also like to try growing green beans and install geothermal heating and cooling.

Martin’s and Keller’s years of experience have taught them more than any book. They know what the commitment of operating a bigger enterprise will cost them personally and financially. Like their soil-growing counterparts, they have the same love of land (and labor) that keeps them bringing fresh, premium produce—year round—to our tables.

Sources:

www.gthydro.com

www.aquaponics.com

[Karen Kloser is a long-time Hampden Park Coop member and a new volunteer.]