In Charleston, "Farmer Rudd" is a hydroponic farmer and also a Garden/Hydro Consultant for home gardeners and small plot farmers. He grows cucumbers and tomatoes hydroponically for a living, but that's not all he's growing. Check out his feed, @farmer_rudd over on Instagram!
What are some of the other things you would like to have other people understand about living a healthier and self-sufficient life style? The main thing is that it feels great! My mind and my body have never felt better since I started taking care of myself and eating healthy. I do yoga and run almost every day, which helps a lot as well. I'm glad I realized this pretty early in life, but it's never too late to start. The longer you do it, the easier it gets!
What tips and tricks could you share with other people? My biggest tip is to start your seedlings as early as possible. I've missed valuable growing time by starting mine too late. If you have the equipment and space inside, utilize it. Also, if your plant LOOKS dead, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is. I've seen people (myself included) try to toss plants that look wimpy, but aren't dead. Give it some time and love! My best "trick" is to make sure you give your plants time to grow. If you notice that your plant is putting off fruit/flowers while the plant is still small, pluck the fruit/flowers so that the plant puts more energy into its vegetative growth. This lets the plant to get bigger and stronger, thus producing more/bigger fruit. Also, harvest your herbs often. This stops the plant from flowering and it allows it to get stronger and bushier.
Have you ever made mistakes or failed doing something? Almost everyday! I'm a full time hydroponic tomato and cucumber farmer. Hydroponics can get very involved because you aren't only dealing with the plants, but the nutrient levels, the plumbing, and other greenhouse issues. There is something I screw up almost everyday, but I try to learn from my mistakes and not make the same one twice.
How did you overcome any obstacles? Finding proper land to grow on is a huge obstacle. Access to land isn't something everyone has, unfortunately. Until I was finally able to use a decent plot of land, I did a lot of container gardening. This allowed me to hone in on my techniques and get to know what specific plants liked and didn't like. Ask friends and family if you can use some of their land...you never know!
Have you ever dealt with a person who disregards your life style? Luckily I haven't had to deal with that. I've had the occasional person try to crack jokes because I don't eat meat, but it hasn't been often. Most people I've encountered that haven't understood my lifestyle, are open to hearing my point of view.
What are some of your greatest rewards with a lifestyle such as the one you live? I'd say the greatest reward is knowing what I'm putting inside my body. Too often, people pull things off the grocery store shelf, vegetables and fruit included, without knowing what is in the product. I like knowing what I'm eating. I also get the freshest of the fresh! To be able to go outside or inside the greenhouse and pick what I'm eating that night is a wonderful feeling.
What's your favorite variety of crop to grow and why? I'm definitely a pepper guy, but my favorite thing to grow is the herb, Spilanthes or "Toothache Plant". When eaten, Spilanthes causes your mouth to salivate almost uncontrollably. The sensation is hard to explain, so I suggest trying some if you have the opportunity. I like to make a tincture out of the plant and use it to make mouthwash and toothpaste. You can also mix the herb with lemon balm and echinacea to make a cold/flu tincture. It's also pretty funny to see your friends eat one.
I had to take early retirement due to medical disabilities. I needed to focus on something positive in my life, other than the chronic pain and physical limitations I was dealing with every day. So, I decided to share my passion for gardening through a website, which is now called Abundant Mini Gardens. 
around for the kids to learn about and pet. My son would not put down the little red hen! He carried it all around! Only the promise of birthday cake distracted him from this hen. The little red hen and the instant bond with my son got me thinking about backyard chicken keeping. I started my research after the party. I read everything I could get my hands on about chicks and chicken keeping. It took about 5 years before I came to a place in life that I could execute this dream of a backyard coop. Everyone thought I was crazy. I met a wonderful guy who had previous chicken experience and better carpentry skills than I. He believed in my dream and helped make it happen!
check your local laws. If you have a home owners association, check the rules. There is nothing worse than finding out, after investing time and money, that your hens are illegal. Also talk to and educate your neighbors! Don’t hide your chickens. Plus it is amazing how quickly minds change when offered a bribe of fresh eggs! Also, these are living, breathing, feeling creatures! With the rise of backyard chicken keeping, we are seeing a rise in abuse, neglect and abandonment of hens and especially roosters. This is a commitment! A hen lives 8-10 years on average and are typically only productive layers for 5-7 years. What are you going to do once a hen stops laying? You have to ask yourself the hard questions before taking on the responsibility of raising chickens.
Do not underestimate how many chickens you will adopt and how much space they need. There is a quote going around “People thought I was crazy building a chicken coop. They were right, I should have built two!” Chickens are addictive (again, check your local laws as to how many chickens you are allowed)! I started of with a respectable size coop. Then I added a 4x10 run. And now I have a 10 ft x 20 ft protected chicken yard. All this is in addition to letting the girls free range in the afternoon and evening. A small hobby has turned into a chicken complex. Remember that overcrowding leads to bullying, feather picking and unsanitary conditions.
Have you ever dealt with a person who disregards your life style?
My suburban micro farm is a work in
My goals for the future are to make MI OFO a household name. I have been pairing Veterans with the ATI program that reach out to me on our outings. Many Veterans have met my dog, and had questions in regards to obtaining a dog. I have helped pair 4 Veterans with service dogs with no cost to them. My partnership with Stiggys Dogs out of Howell Mi, has been amazing. I thank them everyday for my right hand man Baxter. 
ed in the Philippines when I was a young and we had fruit trees where we lived, such as mangoes, guavas, bananas and coconuts. We enjoyed eating fresh picked fruits. When we moved to the United States, my mother started a small vegetable garden. We also had blackberry bushes that grew wildly, every summer we would pick the berries and sometimes our mother made blackberry jam. In the summers, we also picked blueberries to earn money for school, we were paid by the flat. These experiences and memories inspired me to garden organically, especially during these times, of how conventional food is mass produced. I also wanted to instill these lessons to my own children so they can pass it on for generations.
th dolphins and manatees. I can say that I actually did get to experience my dream but chose another.
you have radishes below your beans and your beans below your tomatoes! Spacing was largely decided upon for big farms to have room for tractors to come through and perform necessary operations without disturbing soils and plants. You have your hands not a tractor - fill spaces in! Tomatoes tend to want lots of space but basil don’t mind bunching so fill in the gaps between plants.
I did start blogging around the same time that I transitioned to a more self-sufficient and healthy lifestyle. I had been a vegetarian for 25+ years but never really attempted to grow my own food. My first attempt at gardening was such a great learning experience. It was filled with so many opportunities to learn and grow. That first season had so many ups and downs, but was worth every bit of frustration as the knowledge I gained is invaluable. I became so passionate about growing food, I wanted to share it with everyone I could.
my parents and I lived on my grandpa’s farm in Phoenix, AZ. There he raised cattle, chickens, pigs and always had a plethora of vegetables and fruits growing each season. This was my very first experience to a more self-sufficient lifestyle. I have very vivid memories of days spent in the garden harvesting whatever he was growing and evenings spent enjoying the food we had harvested earlier in the day. I remember being a little girl and thinking that this lifestyle was what I wanted to live. Fast forward many years later to a time that I found myself ready to start an entirely new life that was centered on being more self-sufficient and being more aware of where our food was coming from. It literally was a lightbulb moment for me. I remember sitting at work and suddenly thinking to myself it was time to make a drastic change… and so I did. My passion for growing our own healthy, organic food was truly sparked after I saw the excitement in my family’s eyes as they would see me bringing in food to be served that was just harvested from the garden. There’s nothing quite like homegrown goodness cultivated from hard work and love.
First and foremost, I would like others to know that there is nothing like growing your own food! It is so rewarding! It feels so great to know that we have the ability to provide for our family and that we do not have to depend on anyone (or any store) to do so.
I think one of the biggest things I would share with others is to remember that starting a life of being more self-sufficient is that it is a process, not an event. It is not something that you can jump into in one single day and have it done perfectly right out of the gate. It is many days of trying to do a bit better than the day before and building upon knowledge that you are learning. As you try new things whether you are learning a new skill, getting dirty in the garden or building a new project that is challenging you, just remember to enjoy the journey and keep it fun! After all, if you are not enjoying whatever it is you are doing, why are you still doing it? Don’t get me wrong, some tasks on the farm are not totally enjoyable, but I do try to still have fun while doing them.
instance, this past year I set out to learn how to make homemade jam from the fruits we are growing here on our farm. It was so lovely having a pantry full of delicious homemade jam to use and to give away to friends. I also decided that I wanted to learn to make homemade soap, delicious homemade pies and how to preserve and can our food that we are growing. I took on all of those challenges and ended up becoming pretty proficient at them. When I first learned to do canning, 
Oh yes! I have made plenty of mistakes and have failed at multiple things while following this journey. I do believe that it is in those teachable moments that I can grow as an individual. Many of my failures on the farm have created opportunities to slow down, re-evaluate and figure out another method of completion of the project at hand. One year we had a freak ice storm late in the spring that took out our entire garden in one swoop and boy was I mad, sad, frustrated and bewildered all at once.
Have you ever dealt with a person who disregards your life style? 
Our biggest goal from the beginning when my husband and I started dreaming about creating this kind of life was simple- we simply wanted a healthier more self-sufficient lifestyle. We wanted to grow our own food, preserve and can what we could and live a life that had more meaning. We really wanted to slow down, take a deep breath and enjoy the rural lifestyle with our family and friends. The greatest reward so far is seeing our farm guests get excited about being on our farm and heading straight out to the gardens to see what is growing. They love helping to harvest veggies and fruits and they all especially love the garden to table experience as well.