A Conscious Decision to Start Living Without the Land
A Little Spark
It started in the Great Recession. Jim Rogers' ongoing case that farmers would be the ones to reap great rewards from a changing economy served as an unusual source of inertia. The peaceful visual of walking through orange groves in North Florida during this tumultuous time served as a small bit of tinder. The dream of owning an orange grove was born and the desire to do so in an area where growing citrus was not as political became a long-term goal.
Curiosity and Research
The informal research started with checking as to where oranges can be grown outside of Florida and California, which led to the discovery that oranges could be grown in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. This was a boon of a concept, but there was something missing at that time: the funds to make the dream a reality. Also, the amount of capital expenditures, labor, and the exposure to the elements made this dream seem too far out of reach. A dream was deferred.
Fortuitous Discoveries
Inspiration from unexpected places can turn dormant dreams into reality. A casual ride on Living with the Land seemingly changed everything. The land purchase was not necessary, the risk of having crops exposed to the elements in changing times could be eliminated, yields could be higher, experiments can be made, labor could be automated or significantly reduced, and less space was needed to achieve the dream. Aeroponic and hydroponic growing techniques were the future- and have become more mainstream as vertical farmers are starting to gain more steam in urban areas across the United States.
Delaying the Dream
Other projects and efforts were prioritized and a future outside of the United States was coming closer to reality. In fact, another citizenship and a renunciation of U.S. citizenship was actually on the table as a life in Medellín was a distinct possibility, which meant the agribusiness dream was likely to never be. Offshore finance was the new dream, and while former colleagues dreamed of receiving free tomatoes from a grow house in Richmond, Virginia, plans and paths would diverge from those external hopes. It turned out to be a path that would result in being collateral damage in a large financial and regulatory crime investigation with heavy political associations. The demise of this venture disappointed many, but the lasting remains can now be found in the Paradise Papers.
Tariffs Spark Revival
The looming Liberation Day and the heavy, inconsistently applied tariffs that would come from this revived the desire to grow hydroponically. Tariffs meant that avocados, berries, citrus, and much more could rise in price or face supply shocks. It was time to start growing out of a sense of necessity rather than pursuing a lofty dream.
An Avocado Seed Named Romilly
It started with a Hass avocado that would be pitted, peeled, and placed partially in water with toothpicks. This seed was hoped to become a tree that bore fruit after a grafting. The seed was mighty and the process started with the hopeful Luck of the Irish on St. Patrick's Day 2025. The seed would shoot down a white root in a clear bar cup and then was transitioned to a container that once held a quart of wonton soup. A sprout emerged, a stem followed, and leaves started to appear, the avocado was ready for a life in a bucket.
The growth of the avocado seed into something much more precipitated the purchase of a 5-gallon Vevor Deep Water Culture Bucket with Top Drip Irrigation . The seeming permanence of the avocado seedling prompted a desire to give it a name and one of the more unusual benefits of gambling with cryptocurrency took root as a game show host with the stage name "Romilly" had a name that fit a plant so well. The genesis of Romilly the Avocado inspired the naming of future plants and served as the start of the garden.
Romilly the Avocado was placed into clay pebbles and initially fed a cocktail of water and Miracle-Gro Quick Start Transplant Solution. Romilly grew multiple leaves that were quite large for a seedling and then she was transitioned to TPS Plant Food meant for hydroponic growing. Romilly's leaves started wilting and ChatGPT served as a bearer of bad news in the role of plant doctor. Avocados are divas in the plant realm, they need specific conditions to grow and the wilting was caused by two main problems: (1) Root rot caused by an extremely high water table and (2) Nutritional imbalances. The nutritional imbalances could be overcome, but saving Romilly from root rot was a daunting, if not impossible task.
Saying goodbye to Romilly the Avocado was a tough day. The grow lights were left on over her empty bucket for 24 hours in remembrance of her. However, there was a determination to continue the garden and even an attempt to introduce Romilly II in a contest to determine which of 3 avocado seeds were worthy to fill Romilly I's void. However, all 3 avocado seeds ended up being duds and failed to be worthy of the Romilly name.
Berries Enter the Void
Bare root strawberry plants (Seascape) were purchased from a nursery and placed in an AHopeGarden with 8 pods, they would take 2 months to start growing strawberry fruits, but they started getting tangled with each other in the tank. They would need to be moved out as 2 of the plants ended up dying as a result of the overcrowding. A strawberry tower would be introduced for what would be called the "Money Honeys" in the newly christened "Hell Energy Tower".
A blackberry plant (Prime-Ark Freedom) named Izzy was purchased from the same nursery as the strawberry plants and this was planted inside of Romilly the Avocado's old bucket home. Izzy has three canes, one of which is quite active. Like many blackberry plants, the Prime-Ark Freedom Blackberry plant was developed at the University of Arkansas and many of the blackberry cultivars have names that are associated with the State of Arkansas.
Cherry tomato seeds were planted in the AHopeGarden that the strawberry plants used to reside, they are Tiny Tim cultivars, and they are nicknamed "Mimis". They are expected to grow cherry tomato fruit by New Year's Eve 2025.
Recent additions of Pearl Strawberry bare roots were inserted into the Hell Energy Tower and the most mature strawberry plants were placed into a new Deep Water Culture bucket to encourage runner growth. Sweet Dees are truly made of these as they are supposed to taste like Vanilla and Pineapple, which means that it should taste like a Dole Whip.
A Golden Raspberry plant was added to the mix with the name Nessa, snaps will come soon to show off the size of this plant's root ball. This plant looks like a Tomahawk Ribeye Steak. She is currently in a Deep-Water Culture bucket and will require regular root trimmings in a few months. She's on a lighter plant food diet to start (252 ppm) and she'll be ramped up in terms of plant food concentration. Apparently, Anne Raspberries are a bit more sensitive in this regard. Anne Raspberries were developed in a lab at the University of Maryland-College Park in coordination with Virginia Tech, Rutgers University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Romilly the Avocado had a lasting wish it seems, her spirit wanted to be in a red raspberry. So Romilly the Red Raspberry is in a bucket too, she's a Heritage Raspberry, which happens to be the most popular cultivar in Chile. Heritage Raspberries require regular root trimmings at a certain point as well. The cane sits upright and above the clay pebbles while the roots enjoy the initial lighter feeding of 325 ppm cocktail of TPS Plant Food and water. The Heritage Raspberry was developed in a lab at Cornell University in 1969.
Come along and check out the progress
This account is mainly going to be used for snaps of progress pictures of the plants. For those who enjoy plants, progress, and images of buckets, this may become a favorite.