Cedar Sol Hydro Farm satisfies strawberry cravings
By Pat Stinson
Sun contributor
Like their new neighbors at Farm 651, Nichole (Nikki) and Mike McHugh are not farmers, or at least they weren’t three years ago when they began operation of their hydroponic farm on County Road 651 in Cedar. Nikki grew up in Grand Rapids, and Mike hailed from Grosse Pointe. Both had worked in greenhouses as college students while studying to become teachers at Western Michigan University. After graduation, the pair spent three years teaching in a small Eskimo village on the Bering Sea in Alaska. After they moved to northern Michigan, Mike taught for two more years at Grand Traverse Academy while Nikki stayed at home with Parker, their new son.
Agriculture was not part of their experience, but it became part of their future plan after Parker came along. The pair knew they wanted to be involved in local food production and also wanted a family business that could include their young son.
“Leaving teaching was hard,” Mike said. “There was honestly northing I didn’t like about teaching, but it took up a lot of my time.”
At first, the couple dreamed of adding greenhouses to their 14 acres, but the thought of learning how to grow a number of different crops in soil was daunting to them — especially since, as Mike said, most farmers inherit their farming knowledge. They wanted a farm the family could manage. Their vision led them logically to hydroponics, a method of growing a lot of food in a small space, without soil. In fact, Mike said he estimates that 15,000 plants grown in a quarter-acre vertical hydroponic system would need 6-10 acres if grown in the ground in a linear fashion.
During their first year, Mike read books on hydroponics in the winter months and toured Florida farms while taking classes from the founder of the hydroponic method they chose. (They grow their plants in planters, with rocks to hold the roots, and feed nutrients from the top, rather than placing the roots in nutrients.) At home, the couple investigated farmers’ markets, to see what was selling. They also checked out TLC Tomatoes, a hydroponic farm growing tomatoes and lettuce inside greenhouses in the Suttons Bay area.
“That was very attractive to me,” Mike said, “and cool to watch.”
The McHughs knew they wanted to grow more than one crop and decided to focus their energies on strawberries, with greens, tomatoes, herbs and lettuce as secondary crops. Now in their second commercial year, the couple offers a U-Pick friendly farm where visitors can pluck strawberries from the vine without bending or kneeling. They also sell their crops at their farm stand beneath a white tent in the front yard and take their wares to 5-7 farmers’ markets each week in Leelanau and Traverse City.
“The main reason we’re behind the hydroponics is, we’re fans of the local food movement and sustainable food,” Mike said. “This is more of a homesteading lifestyle. The more we can do at home and for the community without going outside the area, the better.”
Parker, now 5, takes customers on tours of the farm and can explain how the nutrients work just as well as his father. He’s learning his numbers and weights and will be helping at the farm stand next spring.
The family’s wish-list for the future includes helping to establish a farmers’ market in Cedar, expanding their strawberry operation, (they grew 11,000 plants this year), and adding greenhouses to extend their growing season.
“Our place is set up really well for events. We would also like to do free classes. We’ve had 15 people purchase their own set-ups. We (sell them) just because we believe in the system.”
As for Farm 651, Mike said, “We’d like to have our strawberries there. The more local food around here, the better it is for everyone.”
To learn more, visit www.cedarsolhydrofarm.com.
