Fresh lettuce year-round? Yes, please! Meet #NCStateCALS alumnae Mary Cove (mandm_homestead) and Allison Culbreth who are co-owners of Blue_Thumb_Farms in Zebulon, a state-of-the-art #hydroponic farm. The self-taught #farmers met while pursuing master’s degrees in NCStateAppliedEcology. Working on #aquaculture projects to raise #fish, the two quickly formed a #friendship and, in spring 2017, a grand plan that turned into a farm producing thousands of packages of baby iceberg, arugula, #kale, romaine and other greens each week. The growing process starts in the headhouse where the two #farmers seed plants for germination. Baby greens and herbs go into greenhouse beds on large Styrofoam rafts. Seedlings are lightly misted and left untouched for 20 days, drawing all their nutrients from the waterbed. We realized that the only lettuce we could buy at our grocery stores was shipped from California or Arizona. From our work at the Fish Barn, we knew how to operate hydroponic systems. #Hyd...