Home Grown (Greater Houston Weekly)

The Hydroponic Garden--A Guide to Hydroponics
Hydroponics allows us to grow the plants, fruits and vegetables of our choice--even in limited space--without using soil. It's an amazing way to produce perfect specimens and offers TONS of advantages that traditional gardening can't come close to touching!

May 9, 2008
There’s a line at Ed Pole’s tomato stand.

The Bayou City Farmers’ Market in Upper Kirby has barely been open for an hour on this Saturday morning and this is Pole’s first time as a seller. He doesn’t even have a sign up. But he does have a plate of freshly sliced heirlooms with a shaker of sea salt on the table. Just one juicy taste, and the line gets longer.

“It’s overwhelming,” Pole said staring at the line of waiting buyers like the proverbial deer in the headlights. “I should have brought another scale.”

Timora Pole is busy weighing produce and bagging the ripe veggies, while Ed Pole makes change as fast as he can. No one leaves the line with less than a pound of tomatoes.

The Poles, like many growers, started out as hobbyists. Their Humble home sits on a half acre at the end of a cul-de-sac, complete with a greenhouse Ed Pole has fitted with his own hydroponics system.

“I’ve been a gardener pretty much all of my life,” he said. “My hobby kind of got the best of me, I ended up with 200 pounds of excess tomatoes this year.”

Whether growing for your own consumption, making a little extra money to cover your hobby expenses or producing vegetables and fruits as a profession, growing your own is fast becoming a way of life for those wanting to eat better and lessen their carbon footprints.

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