In March, my husband attended a business conference in Orlando. I went with him the weekend before the event and we bought tickets to Epcot Center. We spent most of the day at Epcot giggling at ourselves for going there and feeling like we were in an alternate universe of reality. Around 4:00 p.m., however, we rode the Living with the Land attraction, which takes people in a small boat through Disney's hydroponics center. It was a very cool experience and I wanted to see more. So we booked the very last guided tour of the day, which lasted about 90 minutes. We learned a ton! And we developed a new hobby, as result.
When we returned to Virginia, C and I started researching how to design a hydroponics system for our apartment. After several weekends living on YouTube, we had a design. C built the system, with lots of help from my Dad (thanks Dad!).
We germinated our own seeds, grew the sprouts in an incubator, and then transferred the baby plants to the system. From seed to table was six weeks. We have since grown and eaten two additional rounds of lettuce, spinach, kale, basil, and cilantro.
People ask us why we are growing lettuce inside our home. My question back is "Why not?" It's fun. It's a rewarding hobby that gives back! As system designers, we are fascinated by hydroponics, aquaponics, permaculture, sustainable agriculture, vertical farming, and urban gardens. Perhaps one day our hobby will sprout into something more, but for now, we're just enjoying the goods and living the change we wish to see in the world.
Update:
We've developed our second system, which is three times less expensive per growing site. This system was built in C's office to take advantage of the incredible window and natural sunlight. We planted our first plants yesterday, so we'll see how it goes!