A Year-Round Harvest with Indoor Organic Hydroponics

The growing season for most of the United States spans on average from May to October. So for six months out of the year, fresh produce can be harvested from your outdoor garden. For the remainder of the year, one has to rely on grocery store produce, unless the harvest has been preserved in some way. Most people will agree that the quality of grocery store produce is inferior to that which is produced in the home garden. It has typically been shipped in from California and Mexico, losing quality along the way. For optimal nutrition and quality, a person would need to grow their food year round. For the majority of the people in the United States, that is just not possible.

One possible solution is to grow vegetables inside over the winter under grow lights. This involves bringing soil inside or purchasing potting mixes. This can get quite messy. In addition, there may be insects lying in dormancy in the soil, ready to spring back to life in the warm confines of your home. This is true even in bags of purchased potting mix. So dreams of growing your own vegetables in the dead of winter can easily turn into a disaster.

Fortunately, there is a way of growing vegetables indoors with less mess and fuss. Hydroponics is a system of growing plants without soil. If you provide water, nutrients, and adequate light, plants can grow and thrive. Nothing else is needed. Many people think of hydroponics as being expensive or too technical to implement in the home. This is certainly true of some of the higher-end commercial systems. However, one can grow vegetables with a very inexpensive passive hydroponic system. If you have a nice sunny windowsill, you don't even need a grow light. With a little bit of time and effort, one can enjoy organic salad fixings all winter long while the snow piles up in garden outdoors.