So lately I’ve been working on getting things set up to survive long term. I’m building my whole basement into a hydroponic farm with zero outside help. It’s been a hell of a challenge because I have some major issues with executive dysfunction, motivation, etc. but it’s also something I’ve been wanting to do in some capacity since my early adulthood (I’ve scaled way way way down as life happened).

But I’ve been making progress. A few hours a day, even. It’s not all the things I need to do, and most of them are things I don’t particularly want to do either, but any progress is good progress. Everything I do today is one fewer things I need to do later when the need is more pressing. And that, at least, feels good. Knowing that all I have to do later is move this thing to its final home, makes it easier to make/set up the thing now.

So tell me about some progress you’ve been making that isn’t “as good as it should be” based on arbitrary external metrics, but gets you one or more steps closer to your personal goals (no employment-related stuff please, personal goals are for your own fulfillment, not your company.)

  • TechnoCat@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    Sounds like quite the experimentation and operation!

    I buy hydroponically and locally grown lettuce here in Milwaukee. It tastes better and lasts longer.

    • ButteryMonkey@piefed.socialOPEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      Oh nice you are semi-local! Small world (I’m in the Green Bay Area). I figured with the crap growing season (and that most of my tiny town yard is a chicken run) indoor hydro would be a better bet. It also grows up to 30% faster and bigger than similar conditions in dirt, which I’m all for.

      I feel like Milwaukee is where I saw those huge pink grow operations, but it might have been Madison. From the highway they are just big pink glowing building-shaped blobs that confuse the hell out of people. I enjoy knowing those are around, producing fresh food all year.

      Interesting that you say it lasts longer; I’ve noticed in the last handful of years that most fresh foods spoil super quickly… it’s been a real disappointment… I’m not sure if it’s from being shipped or if they treat it with something or what, but yeah I def. Don’t blame you on that, especially for something that only lasts a week tops anyway.

      • TechnoCat@piefed.socialEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        I toured the local facility here. It is called 100 Acres. I buy their product at my local Kroger and Outpost. Fresh just means not processed in a grocery story. However it still can be shipped on a truck, frozen on a cargo ship, stored in a warehouse, etc… So by the time it gets to you, you only have sometimes a few days to eat it before it goes bad. I can hold onto my hydroponic lettuce for weeks; It sometimes feels strange.

        If I remember right, it is the Fox Valley area that has some greenhouse farming. Sometimes you see the posts pop up about lights at night and someone wondering what it is.

        I don’t know if you’ve looked into what they’re doing over in Netherlands. They do green house and hydroponic farming on a massive scale. It is incredible to see how many tomatoes that tiny country produces and exports.