Few
minutes into the journey back, our car smelled like a pizzeria. I could recognize a delightful mix of
appetizing Italian flavours and yet we were nowhere near a Pizza Hut, Papa
Jones or Vapiano. We had just been to a
farm in the middle of the Arabian Desert .
A
farm, none like what I’ve seen before – endless rows of Basil, Oregano,
Dill, Ricotta and Parsley neatly spaced and stacked inside a greenhouse. Just
like a new born, each bed of herbs are rocked, fed and cared at regular
intervals. Staying with the baby analogy, each of the little herbs is kept warm
with a string incandescent lights that hung just above their heads.
Let
me assure you - this is not something out of a science-fiction movie, though
occasionally I had to pinch myself into not thinking so. This is the magic of
Hydroponics – method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in
water, without soil. And the place that we had just been to is Emirates
Hydroponics Farms in a place called Al Bahia midway between Abu
Dhabi and Dubai
To
a person like me who have grown up in a city, the farm certainly is industrial-scale
and yet remarkably it maintains a small-farm-charm. And I would attribute part
of that charm to the live tour given to us by the person who owns the place,
Rudi Azzato.
Rudi
gave us a walking tour of the farm, a crash-course in hydroponics, fielded
about a hundred questions, gave us a bunch of fresh herbs (pictured above) and
put up with our little one who did her best to wreck his workplace. Thank you Rudi, you were a great host and made
our day!
With
my newly acquired collection of herbs, no prizes for guessing what’s for dinner
at our place these days!
----------------------------------------------------------
Post-script: If I managed to tickle your curiosity, you would be pleased to know
that the Emirates Hydroponics Farms offers schools, families, & groups an
educational and interesting field day trip. A fantastic learning opportunity
and it is free! You can find more
details through the link below.
