Since early February, Rod and Gloria Peachey’s Prairie Lane Farm lettuce has been available for anyone with a hankering for fresh, locally grown leafy produce, even in the dead of winter. The couple, looking for wide-open spaces to raise their five children, found it on the historic Experimental Farm property just northwest of Newell.
Their journey began in 2018, when they left a small three-acre homestead near College Station, Penn., and finally settled on 245 acres near Newell in 2020.
Rod Peachey put his construction background to good use, remodeling a home for his family, and adding a pair of hot houses in which to grow fresh garden produce, hydroponically (in water) in winter and traditionally soil-planted in the summer.
The inspiration to augment their livelihood on their new home came from a brother-in-law in Pennsylvania and friends in Wisconsin and eastern South Dakota who also engaged in hydroponic farming.
“I have a few sheep and a little bit of farm ground, but I knew that wasn’t going to be enough,” Rod said. “I can still do construction, but hopefully, this garden will allow me to stay at home more.”
“I just knew that everybody said there was a need in every area for fresh lettuce,” he said. The Peacheys built the hot house structures in 2021, and the couple set sail with their first hydroponic lettuce plants last November. A heavy timber framework lined with a rubber bladder holds 34,000 gallons of water with a total capacity of 10,600 plant seedlings. Hoping to save on heating costs, Rod said he was initially too conservative on the heating levels inside the hot house, with plant growth improving once he raised the water and air temperatures to a steamy 65-70 degrees.
Read the complete article at www.rapidcityjournal.com.
