Growing Stronger Community Gardens through Soil-less Farming

By Alexander Hernandez

A farm in Kenya that uses hydroponics to provide hundreds of families with free vegetables. Source

When combating many problems in urban landscapes — declining biodiversity, food deserts, and more — there is one overlooked but capable tool: community gardens. Community gardens are a kind of Swiss army knife. They combat food deserts by providing fresh fruits and vegetables in areas that don't have access to grocery stores; their garden beds allow a variety of plant species to grow; they even provide a breath of fresh air and connect people to nature. Despite all these benefits, community gardens still struggle to succeed, whether through limited space, not enough care by volunteers, associated costs, or several other factors. So how can we help community gardens thrive? The answer may lie in nontraditional farming methods such as hydroponics and aquaponics.

Hydroponics and aquaponics are both farming methods that revolve around abandoning soil and using nutrient-rich water to grow plants. The main difference between the two is the nutrient sources. Hydroponics relies on synthetic nutrients, whereas aquaponics relies on using fish to fertilize the water. Both methods are incredibly efficient; they grow plants faster than traditional methods, are incredibly space-efficient, and are nearly 100% self-sufficient, as most of the water used is constantly circulated within the system. 

Through the introduction of these non-traditional methods, community gardens may be able to address some of the challenges associated with running a community garden. If space is an issue, both hydroponics and aquaponics can be built vertically to maximize it. 

Through the construction, maintenance, and decoration of these projects, people could build a long-term community around them. The additional costs of hydroponics and aquaponics are relatively low once built, and they don’t require much upkeep since these systems are self-sufficient. Even struggling gardens can benefit immensely.

As more and more habitats are destroyed through the process of urbanization, finding ways to incorporate biodiversity into urban areas is also more important than ever. Community gardens can help provide that much-needed biodiversity through the sheer amount of species being grown in gardens. Hydroponics and aquaponics can help support these biodiversity ventures even more, as their space-efficient nature allows for more plants and different species to be grown in the same amount of space, thus helping create more biodiversity. 

Food deserts are another such challenge that community gardens hold the solution to. For context, food deserts are areas in which people don’t have access to fresh, healthy food (think grocery stores), and instead many residents are forced to settle for unhealthy fast food options. Community gardens often serve as places for community residents to get or grow their healthy food. Non-traditional farming methods have been proven to grow plants at a faster rate than soil-based farming. If a community garden invested in a climate-controlled environment like a greenhouse, it could bolster its food production, ensuring that residents of these food deserts have access to high-quality food year-round. 

With non-traditional farming methods, community gardens can thrive and better support local communities. Whether through supporting struggling gardens or bolstering garden production, non-traditional farming methods hold the key to combating many urban challenges such as biodiversity loss and food deserts, and local gardens should look towards implementing these systems.