In 1998 my wife and I were growing using traditional methods when I became ill and the reasons were traced back to the chemicals that we were using on our produce.
This diagnosis made my wife and I make the dramatic decision to find a better way to grow our vegetables and herb.
After this decision we looked at every available growing system on the market and also looked and researched into ways that we could develop one specific to our needs. This process ended up taking four full years but the final result was our “Hydro Healthy Growing” system.
What is Hydro Healthy Growing?
HydroHealthy growing is an evolving process.
The basic aim is to produce healthy, tasty, nutritional produce for our family and customers within the guidelines of sustainable food production.
Why not organic?
The three organic associations in New Zealand only recognise soil growing. We have found that hydroponic growing allows us more control over producing a healthy plant that can naturally fight off pests and diseases. We are, however, experimenting with trying to produce a solely organic nutrient mix. We do actually grow to the organic Association of California Standards.
Growing Spray Free;
How do we do it? Firstly the healthier the plant, the less disease, exactly the same as humans. We avoid plant stress by growing under cover with a level of climate control. We don’t over crop our plants as young fresh plants fight disease easier and we have reduced the size of our hot houses so any disease outbreak can be controlled.
Pest control is done by a mix of healthy plants, introduction of predators and pest traps. We have found that the first result of not spraying is a build up of natural and introduced predators. When people spray to kill a pest, they also kill its natural enemies.
We hope you enjoy your Hydro Healthy vegetables.
Should you require any further information on how we grow, just ask us.
Regards
Murray and Nicola Burns
Selling every Saturday morning at the Whangarei Growers Market.
Good Eating!
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