Hydro Harvest Farms Megapost: Part I

With 4/20 just around the corner, we wanted to ring in the holiday with a hydroponic post, St. EATersburg-style. We know that hydroponic rhymes with chronic, but this ain't Method Man's blog: we spent a sunny Sunday afternoon harvesting fresh vegetables. Hope this doesn't get us kicked out of Wu Tang(!):















We've picked apples before, but our only experience with growing veggies was a packet of radish seeds we got in a Happy Meal two decades ago that refused to sprout. So much for Mickey D's '92 green initiative. Who's laughing now Ronald McDonald.

Anyway, this day had little to do with homegrown cannabis, hip-hop or fast food, but against all odds, we still had fun. Hydro Harvest Farms in Ruskin, FL is but a short jaunt in the minivan from St. Pete. This family-owned operation lets you pick seasonal and organic fruits, veggies and herbs. The super-friendly owners give you a basket, a pair of scissors and tell you to get after it.















With fresh Swiss chard, butter and red lettuce, sweet potatoes, peppers, bok choy, arugula and a ton of herbs to choose from, it was hard to know where to begin. But Jonathan had his sights set on the world's tiniest eggplant.



















Baby (eggplant), you put my heart in mo-tion. I love you with the sweetest of de-voo-tion!

The farm is pretty small, so after about half an hour of pickin', plus a pit stop in the pumpkin patch (see above), we had filled our baskets.















On our way to the register we were placing bets on how much we had overshot our budget. Jonathan guessed $20 and Jessie, doing her best Bob Barker impression, wagered $19. The price is WRONG, bitch! We paid $9 total for this bounty. Whole Foods eat your heart out.















Stay tuned for Part II to see how we transformed this cornucopia into tasty nom-noms...


Hydro Harvest Farms
1101 Shell Point Rd. East
Ruskin, FL
813.645.6574