Sustainable indoor gardens produce fresh food for families

Here’s a riddle. How can you grow vegetables without soil, without sunshine, and without pesticides? And still get a robust crop in a very short amount of time?

The answer can be found at Tipp City’s newest storefront, Cross Creek Hydroponics.

Owner and Dayton native Tami Kincer explains.

“Hydroponics is the process of growing plants without soil,” she says, “using only water and nutrients.”

“We use a tall tower with a built-in irrigation system and UV lights. You place seeds into small cups that run along the tower. The tower senses when the seeds—and eventually the exposed roots of the plant—need water, and it showers them with a gentle drip. The UV lights are on a timer, and they give the plants just the right amount of light. Young plants need more darkness; maturing plants need more light.”

What’s the point of growing veggies and fruit in a “tower,” rather than outside in the dirt?

“Hydroponics let you grow fresh fruits and veggies anywhere—and I mean anywhere,” says Tami. “Urban areas, deserts, mountains … you name it. They allow people who live in areas that aren’t normally garden-friendly to grow healthy foods for themselves, their families, and their communities.”

“The veggies grow super fast because they’re in a perfect environment. There are no insects, no extreme weather conditions, no harsh UV rays from the sun.”

Tami became a hydroponics evangelist in the 2010s. She was living in Elkin, North Carolina, working on a mission project in a food pantry.

One of the students in the mission approached her about starting a garden to support the food pantry.

“I had no clue how to do that,” Tami says. She started looking into it and quickly discovered hydroponics.
She realized that via hydroponic growing, the food pantry could get four to 10 times the standard yield of plants grown in soil. They could do it with less water, no pesticides, and very little maintenance.

Before long, Tami and her team had their first garden set up in the basement of a nearby church.

“We started with eight towers,” Tami says. “They were donated by the local Rotary club. Before you know it, we got up to 80.”

“What’s amazing is that you start with kids who say they don’t like vegetables. Once they taste buttercrunch lettuce, or pineapple basil, or pepper spinach right off the vine, they change their minds.  And once they start growing and harvesting veggies themselves, and see how easy it is, it becomes a lifestyle.”

Once the garden in Elik was set up, Tami started working with other local missions, food pantries, and outreach programs to help them develop their own gardens. In 2016, she started Cross Creek Hydroponics, and in 2018, she set up the nonprofit arm of the business, Cross Creek Cares.

Education centers and gardens soon followed in North and South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Florida. “I even got a call from someone in Croatia who wanted help,” says Tami.

In 2021, she moved back to Ohio to be near her family. She brought Cross Creek’s mission with her.

“You might think that people aren’t struggling for food in our community, but that’s not true. Food insecurity is everywhere. Whether it’s for a day or for weeks, there are people struggling to put food on their tables. And you can’t tell from the outside. I’ve walked into a mansion that had empty cabinets and an empty fridge.”

Tami’s first venture back in Dayton was to set up a community garden at the American Legion Post on North Dixie to help feed veterans. The project was inspired by the “Victory Gardens” grown during WWII:  home vegetable gardens planted to ensure an adequate food supply for civilians and troops.

Next up are two projects in Tipp City: a grow tower project at the Tipp City Library, and a patio garden at Tipp Pizza.

The library project will feature a freestanding tower growing arugula, basil, rainbow chard, kale, and other veggies. The food grown will support Tipp Monroe Community Services’ “Lunch on Us” program. This program provides free lunches to children in Tipp City and Monroe Township during the summer, when school lunches aren’t available.

The patio garden at Tipp Pizza will feature eight raised garden beds housing fragrant herbs, edible florals, and leafy greens. The garden will be assembled with help from Good Shephard Ministries, an agency that supports people in recovery. GSM’s vision is to build a society where folks suffering from substance abuse disorders are valued contributors to the welfare and prosperity of their community.  Building raised bed gardens to feed hungry neighbors supports that mission.

“Hydroponic gardening has taught me that big things can happen in teeny little spaces,” Tami says. “Just one grow tower can help feed a family. Just a few can bring nutritious food to urban or rural food deserts.”