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Hydroponic Farm An Oasis In Carrollwood

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By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 21, 2008

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CARROLLWOOD Along an industrial business stretch of Linebaugh Avenue, a hydroponics farm beckons suburbanites to come pick their own salad fixings.

There are bulbs of baby eggplants peeking out, tomatoes ripening on the vine and leafy lettuce and sprigs of cilantro sprouting from Styrofoam stackers.

Urban Oasis Hydroponic Farm grows all-natural produce without soil.

The organic vegetables are nourished with nutrient-rich water through a timed, micro-drip irrigation system. The plants take root in a bedding mixture containing minerals such as perlite and vermiculite with bits of Canadian peat moss and coconut fiber.

It is open three days a week so customers can harvest what owner Dave Hume has sown as seeds. The plants are grown into seedlings and transplanted into the specialty stacker boxes.

Hume, who recently sold his lawn care maintenance and landscaping business to become a farmer, said he never considered the traditional soil-based method.

Turning the 2 acres of agriculturally-zoned land in the middle of Carrollwood into a hydroponics farm was a "no-brainer," he said.

The idea for the hydroponics farm took root after he stumbled upon a short infomercial featuring a hydroponics strawberry farm in Ruskin while channel surfing.

Hume was intrigued. He visited the farm to learn how to transform his property into a similar venture, but without the strawberries.

Hume has owned the property for nearly 30 years. He once ran a retail nursery there and has leased it to a hot tub business for the past 16 years.

When House of Hot Tubs relocated to Lutz, the Humes spent four months cleaning up the property, clearing out Brazilian pepper trees and turning it into a farm.

"I just really feel like the timing was right for us," he said. "Our tomatoes taste like they were picked from Grandma's house."

The farm is open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. He said more days will be added as supply grows.

So far, the response has been tremendous.

Factor in the growing demand for organic vegetables without pesticides and the grassroots movement to buy local to bolster a self-sustaining economy, and Hume is confident he has a burgeoning business.

"I think the real key is, you just don't get any fresher than this," said Hume's wife, Cathy, who works the register when the farm is open.

Many say they have been driving by, anticipating the "open" sign since workers started sprucing up the property in January.

Interest is so intense, Hume keeps the driveway chained when the farm is not open so he can do his daily trimming, planting and seeding.

After the first two weekended, customers had picked the tomato plants bare. Customers will need to be patient and wait for tomatoes to ripen.

Although most customers walk around with a plastic bin to pick their vegetables, the farm also sells vegetables such as banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, grape tomatoes, cucumbers — whatever is abundant and picked that morning.

The farm also grows watermelon, cantaloupe, corn, snow peas, green basil, parsley, arugula, and habanero peppers.

Hume sells the planting stacker systems, so interested customers can start their own mini-hydroponics garden at home. He said he has been surprised by how many people are buying the planters.

By going the hydroponic route, Hume can squeeze thousands more plants onto the 2-acre site compared with a dirt-based farming operation. The soil-less farm uses one-tenth as much land and a fraction of the water, he said.

Hume estimates he could pack up to 20,000 plants into less than an acre.

Plus, U-pick customers, even those with wheelchairs or strollers, can go up and down the rows of stackers without hunching over and getting their hands dirty.

On a recent Friday afternoon, Carrollwood resident Sharon George said she was hunting for Swiss chard. She also bought a couple of zucchinis.

George said she prefers to eat organic, but it's difficult to find organic produce at reasonable prices.

Hume said prices are comparable to organic produce sold at traditional grocery stores. A bag of freshly picked lettuce goes for $4. Green peppers and tomatoes are $3.50 per pound. Cucumbers and squash are $2.50 per pound.

"I love it, because everything is so clean. I love the idea of picking it because it's fresh, and I pick what I need for the week," she said.

Carrollwood resident Wendy Nakamoto said she likes the idea of no longer buying pre-packaged vegetables at the grocery store that often are crushed or spoiled.

As a member of nearby Sweetwater Organic Community Farm, Nakamoto said she is hoping the new farm will fill the void for fresh produce during the summer months, when produce is not available at Sweetwater.

Nakamoto said she also likes that there are no membership fees at Urban Oasis.

"This is more flexible because you can buy whatever you want," she said. "Who cannot be excited about looking at fresh vegetables?"

The farm also has become somewhat of a tourist attraction.

Laverne Smith brought her grandchildren for a visit. She has fond memories of going to a hydroponics farm while growing up in Florida.

"I grew up at a time when everyone had something [growing]," Smith said. "The produce now, in the grocery store, is what my grandparents would call cull. They may feed it to the livestock."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Urban Oasis Hydroponic Farm

ADDRESS: 5416 W. Linebaugh Ave.

PHONE: (813) 293-3276

HOURS: 2 to 6 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays

Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502 or ebrown@tampatrib.com.

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