Melbourne hydroponic farm lets you pick, cook and eat your vegetables on the spot

Looking for fresh, pick-it-yourself produce?

Wichmann Farms and MJ Farm to Table on John Rodes Boulevard in Melbourne has it. 

How about a food truck serving said fresh vegetables in flavorful salads and other dishes? 

Well, that's there, too. As are cooking classes for kids, hydroponic gardening workshops, a country store, an event venue and a shady back porch that's perfect for relaxing and sipping a cold drink.

Joyce and Matthew Wichmann bought their three-acre patch of paradise back in June. They took over the spot formerly occupied by Avalon Farms.

The farm, with its rows and rows of hydroponic fruits and vegetables, chicken coop and resident Sylvester the Cat, combines many of the Wichmanns’ passions: farming, fresh food, education and family.

Sitting on the back porch of the general store with David Murray, farm manager, they can’t help grinning as they talk about their operation.

Joyce owns Ambassador Christian Academy, a non-profit private school on Merritt Island. Matthew is a minister. Between them, they have a “Brady Bunch” of seven children, many of whom work at the farm.

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Joyce grew up on a farm in Indiana, so she feels like this place brings her back to her roots.

“We’re family-oriented,” Matthew said. “We have opportunities for mothers to come here and get healthy food at reasonable prices.”

“And to educate the children about where it came from,” Joyce said.

High school students from the school spend time at the farm, too, in project-based learning sessions.

“There’s all kinds of things we can teach out here, not just healthy eating,” said David, who is the hydroponics expert who designed the farm’s systems. “There’s chemistry and business. We try to show them different hydroponic designs.”

David teaches adult hydroponics classes, too.

For cooking classes, young chefs trek into the garden to pick strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, herbs — basically whatever is fresh at the time. Then they learn to make their own pickles, strawberry jelly, salsa or spaghetti sauce.

“It’s our hope to give the kids a hands-on learning experience,” Joyce said.

The farm recently got its food-vending license, so lunch is now available from a farm-to-table food truck. It’s a limited menu, with pork sandwiches and lots of salad.

“I tell everybody all the time, it’s the best salad they’ll ever have,” David said. “Everything we grow out here has lots of flavor.”

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There’s a misconception that hydroponic vegetables lack taste because they’re not grown in dirt.

“But we can give it all the nutrients it needs,” he said.

Even Matthew, who admits he’s not a big fan of salad, likes these greens.

The farm is self-pick, which means customers get a pair of scissors and a basket and head out on a veggie treasure hunt. For those with less time and ambition, bags of mixed lettuce greens, tomatoes, fresh eggs, local honey and jams and jellies (made by Matthew’s sister are available.

Animal life on the farm includes several chickens, a couple of pigs, two cuddly Guinea pigs and Tom the Turkey, who minds his own business unless David is around. He’s prone to chasing David away from the henhouse.

Most of the animals were either donated or rescued. Visitors can feed the chickens or scratch Sylvester’s ears.

“A lot of families can’t afford pets or animals,” Joyce said, “so children can love them here.”

As David leads a tour of the farm, he plucks a tiny carrot the size of a sharpened pencil out of a starter pot and brushes it clean with his fingers.

“Want to try it?” He holds it out for inspection. It’s OK to eat it, he said. Because no pesticides are used, it doesn’t even need to be washed.

It’s delicious, one perfect bite of crisp, sweet freshness.

He passes through the rows offering samples of tomatoes, green beans, celery, kale. Strawberry season is winding down, but a few bright red berries hang from the plants. Look for the ones that are swollen up around the seeds, he said.

Flavors dance on the tongue: sweet, tart, peppery, tangy. This isn’t the place to find cardboard-flavored mush.

At a recent birthday party held at the farm, children went home with goody bags full of vegetables, Joyce said.

“If they pick it, they’re more likely to eat it,” David said.

The Wichmanns have big plans for their farm. They’ve already hosted holiday and seasonal festivals. They’d love to become an event venue, a place for corporate retreats, family reunions, summer day camps and weddings.

“She can plan the wedding, and I can perform the ceremony,” Matthew said.

They'd also like to work with more local restaurants. If a chef is looking for a particular type of lettuce or hard-to-find vegetable, the Wichmanns will give growing it a shot.

Traffic may zoom past on busy John Rodes, but it’s easy to forget urban reality lurks nearby.

Wichmann Farms and MJ Farm to Table is a place to escape, if only for an hour or so. Feed the chickens. Bite into a tomato so plumb and juicy, the seeds dribble down your chin.

The quaint country store and tree-shaded farm yard are a step back in time, a visit to Grandmother's house, where food and family are all that matter.

And while the hydroponic growing towers might have befuddled Granddaddy and his tractor-driving sensibility, he'd approve of the resulting flavors. This is how fresh vegetables are supposed to taste.

"It's a family-oriented business," Joyce said. "To me, that's important. We take so much pride in people enjoying the farm."

Find the farm

What: Wichmann Farms and MJ Farm to Table

Where: 930 S. John Rodes Blvd., Melbourne

Info: 321-914-0461 or wichfarms.com 

Hours: 9 am.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

Email Leonard at sleonard@floridatoday.com.

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