Growing food in water

Growing food in little space is a challenge being faced daily by families in crowded areas. Hydroponics, the art of growing plants with no soil in water with added nutrients, is one solution but it has faced opposition from urban planners and scientists who stress that its complexity is beyond the normal woman or man. As the article on urban agriculture in Spore 81 urged, 'The scientist, whether based in a laboratory or a local community group, who develops a popular and transferable method of hydroponics will be remembered far into the next millennium for a significant contribution to food security.' Is Home Hydroponic Gardens the answer to the prayer? It could well be, with its rugged hard-cover full of careful and detailed texts and superb step-by-step coloured illustrations explaining how to use simplified hydroponics, requiring no mechanical devices. It gives methods and construction techniques for building hydroponic gardens on waste lots in towns, in backyards, on rooftops, with details of experiences in Zimbabwe, Senegal and Colombia. There are precise and proven recipes for the production of home-made organic nutrient mixes, as well as explanations of how plants take their nutrients and grow. This is real popular science at work, with dietary advice and recipes following the section on the daily chores of plant care and harvesting the dozens of suggested fruits, herbs, spices and salad, root and table vegetables. With a little bit of effort, a family with a hydroponic garden will not only end up healthier and wealthier, but also much better informed about how plants grow, and thus able to encourage the neighbours to take the hydroponic route too. Home Hydroponic Gardens. P Bradley & C Marulanda. Global Hydroponic Network. 2000. 240 pp.US$ 34.95 E 40.95 Contact GHN for price of mail, or details of distributors in Zimbabwe, Europe, Asia and Latin America GHN PO Box 151 Corvallis, Oregon 97339, USA Email: [email protected]

Home Hydroponic Gardens. P Bradley & C Marulanda. Global Hydroponic Network. 2000. 240 pp.US$ 34.95 E 40.95 Contact GHN for price of mail, or details of distributors in Zimbabwe, Europe, Asia and Latin America GHN PO Box 151 Corvallis, Oregon 9