Feed My People Page 2

experiments and test new developments. Things have been working well, and we were able to not only provide the fresh produce for our campus food service, but also to several restaurants in the area. Now, we wanted to test it out on a really large scale operation. We got a grant and started putting in this stuff last year, as you know. We just got the two greenhouses, this one and the one behind it, up and running before the storms hit again. Hoping to get the third one online soon. Need a break in this weather, though. Want a tour of the works?”

  “Yeah, I’d love to see how you are managing this.”

  Bobby led Frank to the back of the greenhouse. He opened a door and led Frank into a room with several large water tanks. Pipes ran from outside the greenhouse to the tanks at one end, and from the tanks into the planted area at the other. There were smaller tanks along one wall. Everything was connected to several computer stations in the center of the room.

  “This is where we mix the fertilizers with the water that circulates through the growing flats. The computers control the mix, and how often and how much liquid is sent to each flat. The mix depends on what’s growing, of course.”

  “Where does the water come from?”

  “We collect it in underground storage tanks. That way, we don’t get the evaporation when the storms are over.”

  “Don’t you run out of water when the droughts hit?”

  Bobby shook his head. “We recycle about sixty to seventy percent of the water from the flats. We haven’t run out yet in any of our trials. We think we can extend that to this larger facility. That’s one of the things we are monitoring closely. We have a pretty good idea how much volume is needed for any given crop, but the numbers don’t always tell you everything. That’s why we wanted to set up a large farm operation. It will tell us whether this sort of thing will be viable as a future source of growable food.”

  “What about the heat? I saw the lights out there, but how do you control the heat in the dry spells? It gets pretty brutal.”

  “That’s why we’re below ground level. Temperatures can be maintained more evenly here, even when we open the top- it’s got controlled panels to let in sunlight when we can. We use solar, wind, and hydro for power. Mostly hydro now, since the plants are running at full with the rains. Part of the grant is to work with the energy providers to figure out how to make these farms efficient and productive. It’s pretty exciting stuff.”

  “It’s pretty delicious stuff, from my end. Dad says you can send us more anytime.”

  Bobby chuckled. “I can have more lettuce tomorrow. That stuff we just saw is ready to go. And tomatoes, vine ripened, next week. Once we get fully up and running, we should be able to produce hundreds of pounds of lettuce. We expect somewhere around a yields of 50 to 50 pounds of tomatoes per square foot of space. We’ll add peppers as soon as we get the other greenhouse working, and stagger the planting, of course. That way, we can supply you with a fairly steady flow of produce. And we can grow year round.” They walked back into the main part of the greenhouse. Bobby pointed to the small PVC pipes running along the edges of the planted beds.

  “That’s where the fertilized water comes in.” He picked up one of the hoses so Frank could see the flexible tubing running from the pipe into the container that held the lettuce plants. “Circulates through the beds constantly and we collect it at the end for recycling. It’s efficient and produces well. We’re hoping this trial will prove that these hydroponic farms can take the place of conventional methods, and thrive in the changed climate. We’re going to be able to feed people real food again. There are even researchers working on integrating fish into the system. The fish waste would provide nutrients for the plants, the plants provide food for the fish, and the farmer can harvest both plants and fish for food.”

  “This is a miracle, Bobby.” Frank looked around. They were surrounded by a sea of green and deep red ruffled leaves. The air smelled of fresh greens with just a trace of chemical that left a faint metallic taste in his mouth. He ran his tongue over his lips.

  “Yeah, that’s the fertilizers.” Bobby chuckled. “They’re naturally produced from recycled waste materials, but they are concentrated individual nutrients. That way, we can tailor each mix to the specific crop. You get used to it and it doesn’t affect the taste of the vegetables. If you come by early tomorrow, we can load up this lettuce for you. I’ve got a few students coming out to help with the farm now that we’re getting bigger.”

  Frank shook Bobby’s hand and left. He drove back to the store. This was going to be a real boost for the town. And pretty good for business, I’ll bet. Frank was grinning in spite of the rain by the time he got back into town.

  The arrangement worked well for a few weeks. Every few days, Frank would drive the truck out to Mae’s and load up on Bobby’s produce. The third greenhouse went online, and Bobby added more crops to the ones he already grew. Frank was in the store’s office, planning his weekly run to Oligowma Foods when the floor manager knocked on the door.

  “Frank? Someone here to see you.” Frank swiveled his chair around as Mae came in.

  “Mae! This is a surprise.” Mae stood there, running a hand up and down the strap of the purse hung over her shoulder. “Is something wrong?”

  “I think so. But Bobby won’t talk about it. Doesn’t want to frighten me or some such nonsense. I think there is going to be trouble at the farm.”

  Frank gestured to the other desk chair in the office. “Why don’t you sit down and tell me what happened?” Mae sat, setting her purse on the edge of the other desk.

  “Benjamin Oligowma came out to the farm a couple days ago.”

  Frank’s eyebrows raised at her words. “Beni? What did he want?”

  Mae shrugged. “I don’t know. They talked in the den, where Bobby has his office. The door was closed, so I couldn’t hear them clearly, but they were arguing more than talking. When Beni opened the door to leave, I heard him say “Friday. That’s my last offer.” I was standing in the kitchen doorway, and when he saw me, he said, “Talk to your son. Tell him to do the smart thing.” Then he left. I asked Bobby, but he said it was nothing.” Mae looked across the room at Frank. “He can say nothing all he wants. I’m his mother. I know when it’s something.”

  “If Beni Oligowma is involved, I’m sure it’s something.” Frank got up. “I’ll go out and talk to Bobby. Whatever it is, I’ll find out.”

  Mae got up and slipped her purse back onto her shoulder. “Thank you, Frank. I don’t want any trouble with that Oligowma fellow. He’s bad business, that one.” Mae left, and Frank went down into the store to tell his father he was going out to the farm.

  When he arrived at the greenhouses, he found Bobby at one of the mixing computers. When the young man turned around, Frank could see the purple bruising around his left eye.

  “What happened?”

  “Fell. Against one of the grow platforms. It’s nothing.”

  “Nothing? Like the nothing of Beni Oligowma’s visit out here? That kind of nothing?” Bobby didn’t reply for a moment. Then he sighed, made a last adjustment to the computer, and turned to Frank.

  “Oligowma wants me to stop selling to you, or anyone else except him. He said if I don’t he’ll make sure I can’t sell to anyone. He also wants full control of the farm and the tech. He sent one of his men out here this morning to “remind” me that Friday is my deadline. He’s not going to scare me into this, Frank. This technology and what we are learning is too important to everyone, not just this town. This could be the resurrection of farming, not only here, but around the world. We have several manufacturing companies interested already. I’m not going to let some goon stop all this!”

  Frank held up a hand. “No one said you were going to. But you may need some help convincing Beni that he’s not taking this away from us. Let me see what I can do. We have a couple days until Friday. You keep up with the work out here. If we do this together, we’ll beat him.”

  “I hope so, Frank.” Frank started
to leave. “Frank?” Frank turned back to Bobby. “How did you find out about Oligowma?”

  “Your mother came to see me.”

  “Figures.”

  “She’s your mother. What did you expect?” Frank said with a grin.

  The next morning, Frank was in the county sheriff’s office.

  “I do understand, Frank, and, yes, Oligowma Foods is in the county lines, but I don’t have the manpower to keep tabs on somebody who hasn’t done anything wrong.”

  “He sent one of his goons out to smack Bobby around. That’s legal?”

  “The kid want to press charges?” Frank shook his head. “I thought so.” The sheriff spread his hands on his desk. “Look, I am at less than half staff right now, what with people moving to bigger cities where they think things will be better. And the floods have stopped most shipments of food and other goods out toward the coast. There’ve been riots over three year old cans of beans, for god’s sake! If Oligowma does something more, you let me know, but I can’t spare a detail on speculation. I haven’t got the men.”

  Frank left the sheriff’s department and drove back to the store. He sat at his desk, drumming his fingers on the surface. He pushed the chair away from the desk and stood up. The sheriff may not be able to help, but that didn’t mean someone else couldn’t.

  Frank woke up early on Friday morning.