Keep in tip-top shape with super greens from 160 Hydro Farm

How times have  changed! Foreign travel having become commonplace for adventurous tourists, business people, and a large number of university students studying abroad, eating habits have altered. For many Zimbabweans, a crisp green lettuce salad layered with natural-tasting fresh, raw vegetables and a perfectly blended vinaigrette dressing, is now a daily must-have dish, rather than an affectation of the munozi (nose brigade).

Heavy rainfall and flooding in the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland have affected the growing of lettuces, pushing the price for an iceberg lettuce up from A$2.80 to almost A$12. In the Salinas Valley in California, a major lettuce growing area, lettuce prices have tripled after heat waves damaged the crop. Back home at your local green grocer or supermarket in Harare, a pristine iceberg lettuce and a velvety-textured butter lettuce both cost US$0.75. As summer gets underway in Zimbabwe, the demand for this highly nutritious food that strengthens your bones, improves your eyesight and helps you sleep like a baby, is set to increase.

Hydroponics farmer Tino Violet Mukarati has the answer to the country-wide craving for all things fresh and green. In another life, Tino was a tourism and hospitality professional, but in 2020, she joined her mother, Venensia, in a scheme to grow salad greens without soil. Gardening without soil, known as hydroponics, is a system whereby plant roots are suspended above a stream of continuously flowing nutrient solution.

Plants sit in small openings on top of a tray, and a pump pushes nutrient water from a reservoir into the channels. As the water is continuously recycled, very little water is used. This system, known as the nutrient film technique (NFT), was adopted by Tino and Venensia following  much experimentation, and after considering a number of other methods of hydroponics. While the system relies on ZESA to ensure the constant flow of nutrient-rich water to plants, Tino has installed a solar backup system in case of power cuts.

Just before the end of winter, I made a visit to 160 Hydro Farm on Carrick Creagh Road, where different types of vibrant green lettuces, fed by a rippling stream of nutrients, flourished in serried ranks beneath shade cloth structures. Tino explained that equipment for the hydroponic system had been imported, and that she and her Mum had experimented with different growing methods, before  settling on the current system. Most vegetable seeds are obtained locally from National Tested Seeds, although seeds for super-nutritious curly kale and certain micro greens are imported.

Frilly lettuce, both bright green and deep red, with crisp leaves and a mild flavour, grow in abundance at Hydro Farm. Another popular variety is butter lettuce, characterised by its large, soft leaves and tender texture. Numerous herbs, essential in every type of international cuisine, also flourish here. Basil, parsley, coriander and rocket are harvested and marketed in environmentally-friendly bundles, avoiding the use of any plastic.

Ably assisted by Tinashe, described as gardener, plumber and head manufacturer, and co-worker Colin, Tino runs a tight ship at Hydro Farm, supplying supermarkets, high end restaurants and individual customers with the super greens needed to keep one in tip-top shape. Philanthropists at heart, Venensia and Tino are keen to share their expertise with others.  Training sessions are held in the communal lands as well as for urban communities, and some local schools, under expert tuition, have been able to set up their own hydroponic farming systems.

With the arrival of summer, light, refreshing meals are the way to go, so prepare to up your salad game and experience many culinary adventures with layers of lettuce leaves, parsley, rocket and coriander. Join the ranks of salad lovers, learn more about hydroponics, and enjoy a healthy and vibrant lifestyle.

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