Now that we’re starting to get into the main growing season, I thought I’d take you on a tour of my little farm.
My farm’s called KTech Farms for two reasons.
- My main method of production is through hydroponics, which tends to be more technology-reliant than traditional growing.
- I come from a tech background and will be creating software and other digital solutions as part of my business.
That being the case, our first stop will be my office area.
The big machine on the table is a Snapmaker Artisan – my 3D printer, laser engraver, and cnc machine. This is where I create my laser engraved products and 3D printed hydroponic items. To the left you can see my computer and monitors, which is where I create my designs using Fusion 360. I also use it to work on my software platform, Agrigate.
Not far from my computer is my germination area.
This is actually just the closet in my office. All of my seeds are started here, where they live until they’re ready to be hardened off and/or transplanted. As you can see, the majority of my trays come from Bootstrap Farmer, and I really like the plugs from ZipGrow. I’m still playing around with the lighting, but the AC Infinity lights from my grow tents work quite well. Meanwhile, the majority of my seed comes from Johnny’s Seeds.
When they’re ready, most of my plants get moved out into the greenhouse.
My greenhouse consists of two grow racks and 5 sets of ZipGrow towers. Each set of towers contains its own reservoir and can have specific nutrients for the crop that’s currently growing in them. So far, these have worked great for various types of lettuce, kale, basil, and strawberries.
Next to the greenhouse, I have 5 raised beds.
All of the raised beds are 4×8, but three of them have soil while the other two will be filled with water for a Kratky-style hydroponic raised bed.Â
So there you have it – my small, but growing, urban farm!
