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Hydroponic Farming
About eighteen months ago, the Newberys - Peter and Sara - dug their first sod, so to speak, in McGhee Crescent Agnes Water commencing the construction of the first hydroponic farm in this region. As the issue of water shortages hits harder, this method of farming will become universally more essential due to its conservation of water and lack of lose through evaporation. Plus its so nice to eat clean veggies! Probably my introduction to hydroponic produce was when I found live lettuce for sale in Woolworths - the ones that had roots and those silvery bits sticking to them. Yum. 
The hydroponic farm on McGhee Crescent is now a rather impressive set-up and its produce is widely enjoyed in the area. To start from scratch, learning the principles and devising the best local system, must have been a bit hairy but it is pretty easy to see that strict attention has been paid to every detail along the production line resulting in a top quality end product for our tummies. We are what we eat! Although when I said that to Sara she replied with a smile "So are the vegetables and that's why ours are fed the minerals they need, not cow poo". I am now a total hydroponic convert!
Come with me on a tour of this hydroponics farm. Everything starts down at the huge clear water dam at the rear of their property. It has seven islands, each with its own tall straight tree. Sara couldn't bear to see them bulldozed when the dam was being excavated, so Ron the earth mover, built the dam around the trees and it looks wonderful. As the water is pumped out of the dam it goes through two filtration units housed in the little corrugated iron hut on the dam bank. Throughout the entire system, I was rather taken with the way everything is so clean and pest free without the need for nasty pesticides. Even when the scoria was being reused as the root medium for the plants, it is totally cleaned and purified first.
Establishing the right mix of minerals for the various herbs and vegetables requires a Jamie Oliver but Peter assures me that once the recipe is right it's a straight forward process. So from the green bins, the ultra rich brew goes out the side through pumps to the four large water tanks (on the right in the photo) and from there, when they are rich and ready to go, they are pumped by continuous control feed out to the waiting roots of the plants in the two bays of covered housing. I rather love the red and yellow fishing floats protruding from each tank to indicate the internal levels. Peter is a great fisherman, I understand.
Of course the seeds need a suitable medium in which to grow and that is when Peter's invention of the Scoria Filter Sifting Device comes into its own. I gather the scoria's only real purpose is to stop the plants falling over. So from seed to harvest is not a long time especially in this sub-tropical climate and using natural pest control plus rich nutrients they have rather good harvests.
The days are rather long for Peter and Sara as they do deliveries every day to the restaurants as well as planting, pruning etc. At least there is no weeding, lucky devils! Unlike most of the village folk, dinner is rarely on the Newbery's table before 7.30 or 8 o'clock when they get to relax in their lovely home which overlooks the dam.
Primary and secondary enrichment tanks
Peter's scoria filter device - patent pending!
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