testing, testing... Interview!

Classic interview with the chillest Mr. Clinton - he actually really knows his stuff. Shout out huge thank you to Mr. Clinton if he ever finds the time to read this

Sophie: So let’s get this thing started! When did you first become acquainted with the joys of hydroponic gardening?

Clinton: A long way back! Let’s figure this out. It would be back when I first started teaching so in 1995. Yeah, I started back in 1995 building aquaponics systems.

Sophie: So you’ve been gardening with hydroponics my whole lifetime!

Clinton: Well when you put it like that…

Sophie: So what did you start out doing? What kind of system did you use?

Clinton: Well I was working with some troubled kids at a halfway house and juvenile detention sort of center. We needed some science to do so I thought we could mess around with hydroponics a bit. You know for yourself that you can keep the price low if you know how to do it right. So we build fish tanks and grew strawberries and turtles.

Sophie: Please don’t tell me you harvested the turtles.

Clinton: Nah! The turtles were just for fun. Actually it all started out with the turtles because I had them as pets at the time.

Sophie: So you essentially used the turtle feces as fertilizer for your plants?

Clinton: Yep! We grew our strawberries on turtle poop!

Sophie: So where did you go from there?

Clinton: Well actually I then applied for and got a grant two years later from Toshiba. They gave us a nice stipend of money so we could develop this aquaponics system large scale. We grew tilapia in 1200 gallon tanks.

Sophie: 1200!? That’s huge!

Clinton: Yeah! We upscaled a little bit to say the least.

Sophie: Woah, was this all at the school?

Clinton: Yep, there was a lot of space but not a lot of money. So yeah we grew tilapia or perch depending on the year and then harvested them and cooked them up for the halfway house. They needed cheap protein because they didn’t have any year round.

Sophie: That’s amazing. What plants did you grow?

Clinton: Cukes, tomatoes, some lettuce. It was really great because it was all locally sources and totally fresh. We did that for about 6 years and then I left and moved to Lynn.

Sophie: What happened to the program? I’m struggling with keeping the programs sustainable when I leave next year.

Clinton: Yeah that’ll be a huge problem when you leave…. Tangent…

Clinton: Now they raise salmon.

Sophie: No way! That’s really difficult to do!

Clinton: Yeah, but not so hard when you’ve got a huge tank. They actually raise them from eggs.

Sophie: These are big shoes to fill. Did you stick with hydroponics after moving?

Clinton: Of course! I was hooked and you’ll find out that hydropnics is kind of a life addiction.

Sophie: Ruh roh. My roommate had better look out next year. Ill be growing salmon and lettuce under my bed!

Clinton: Salmon and lettuce is pretty tame compared to what most people grow with hydroponics systems!

Sophie: True! Most of the websites I tried visiting were blocked.

Clinton: I am definitely on the federal watch list due to all of the sketchy hydroponics pieces I’ve bought online. The cops are going to break into my house one day looking for stashes of weed and just find lettuce. But I mean to say I’m not opposed to pot heads furthering the science of hydroponics!

Sophie: I had to write a like disclaimer on my blog that I am not growing a weed farm for my senior project. Although I’d probably be the most popular kid in Acton right now. I’d also probably not graduate. Let’s stick to lettuce.

Clinton: So after the cukes in Marblehead… Right now I am growing basil and thyme and other herbs under the staircase.

Sophie: And everyone appreciates them on their cafeteria lunches!

Clinton: That’s right! It’s great because the lunch ladies just pop down to the staircase to pick some fresh basil during the winter when basil is ridiculously expensive. They use it in soups and salads and most importantly on the pizzas. We make the pizza at the school so it’s nice to keep the ingredients super local like that.

Sophie: You use goldfish, correct?

Clinton: Right! Yeah you’ve seen the tank of goldfish, they provide all the nutrients for the system.

Sophie: I’m not sure what nutrients to use for my little lettuces. Any ideas?

Clinton: Remember this – less is more. Less is more; you want less nutrients in your hydroponics system. Let me repeat – not too many nutrients. Don’t over do it, that is the most common downfall with people’s systems.

Sophie: Good! Because I only just started giving them any.

Clinton: Then you did well without even knowing it! Yeah don’t over do it. Things just get smelly as the plants don’t uptake the excess nutrients and bacteria take over. You don’t want to have to deal with that. Also you can kill off the plants with too much macronutrient floating around in there. Especially nitrogen. Things get really nasty then. But on the other hand, you need some nutrients. Less is more but that leads to slower growth but it’s a constant growth, you see. With plants like basil that’s especially important because they live for such a long time. With lettuce it’s a little bit different because they sprout prolifically and then die off. What kind of lettuces are you growing?

Sophie: Some fancy artisan lettuce.

Clinton: Those will need a little bit more than another type of lettuce like iceberg and head lettuces. But then the artisan lettuce holds a lot more nutrient in it so it’s better for you. I’d look up the specifics that you need for your type of plant.

Sophie: Great, will do. I wanted to say thanks again for letting me use those clay pellets. I couldn’t have done it without them. I have pretty much the whole bucket to give back to you since my system is really tiny. What was the name of that mineral that you gave to me? They chicken eggs came packaged in it.

Clinton: That’s vermiculite and perlite.

Sophie: I don’t want to waste it so can I just mix it into the soil outside?

Clinton: Yeah its great mixed with compost!

Sophie: Cool I’ll use it when I garden this weekend. So, can you think of any local hydroponics farms? I tried when trying to figure out this interview but nothing really seemed local.

Clinton: Hmmmm. Nope. That’s weird actually. Yeah I can’t think of any.

Sophie: Does most of the stuff that you order in from online come from far away.

Clinton: Yeah, I think most of it is from Cali.

Sophie: What role do you envision hydroponics playing in the future?

Clinton: Oh it’s going to grow! More people will grow with hydroponics in the future. Grow pot. Just kidding!... Tangent…

Sophie: The only downfall I see with my system is the contradiction of having to plug my “garden” into the wall socket.

Clinton: I agree. The energy piece is counterintuitive. However, the system at school taps right into the solar panel so at least I know its entirely green energy. A nice closed circuit.

Sophie: I calculated how much energy my system uses annually and it amounts to like 90 cents worth of electricity.

Clinton: Right, well it depends on which type of system you use. For example, I use flood and drain which uses significantly less energy than running a pump all the time. That’s actually why I chose flood and drain over nutrient film. With film you’ve got to have the pump running 24/7 and besides the energy draw, with power outages the plants die because they are so used to having a constant stream of water supplied to their roots all the time.

Sophie: Mine is a sort of flood and drain. I have a pump on a timer which shoots water to the top of the system and then it percolates through the three bottles and back to the reservoir. I am grappling with how long to have the pump running.

Clinton: Well remember that that time will change as the plants get bigger.

Sophie: Good call! That is a really good point!

Clinton: Another great thing about hydroponics which we should probably mention is how easily hydroponics brings gardens into cities and urban environments. 100 years ago there were 78 cities with a million or more inhabitants. Today there are 450 cities with greater than a million people in them. These are essentially food deserts. We need to find a way to grow food sustainably in the cities.

Sophie: And vertically.

Clinton: Exactly, we are facing space restrictions, super hot temperatures, and minimal outside access. So it looks like hydroponics will help people grow food vertically and inside while converting dirty air into clean air and sequestering carbon all while solving the food crisis! Then we won’t have to sustain the tiny city with huge amounts of outside farm land.

Sophie: And as fuel prices go up, the transportation cost won’t be a factor!

Clinton: Exactly! See hydroponics will save the world.