Popsicle sticks jutting out from small plant containers let Weems know what kinds of varieties he’s growing. “It’s all about experimentation,” he says.

If Mike Weems wants a good, fresh salad, all he has to do is make a quick trip to his backyard. Devoid of preservatives, pesticides and small stickers stating faraway places where the vegetable came from, Weems’ lettuce, he says, is some of the best. It’s the best because he grew it himself. “It’s healthy and it’s cost effective,” Weems says of his growing passion for, well, growing.

Weems isn’t your typical gardener, however. Instead of soil, Weems relies solely on water and a mixture of nutrient solutions to grow his fruits and vegetables. This approach is known as Hydroponics, and Weems believes it’s the future of food production. “It’s the only way we’re going to grow enough food to feed everyone on the planet,” he says.

Thanks to hours of research and plenty of Youtube videos, Weems has mastered the art of growing produce without soil. Tucked inside his backyard shed, in what Weems calls a “grow room,” rows of PVC pipes line the walls. They each house a circulating system of water, nutrients and flourishing produce. Lettuce, okra, butter beans, tomatoes, peppers — you name it, Weems says, it can grow with hydroponics.

Aside from seeing the need for local, sustainable growing that can feed the masses, Weems also had another incentive to invest his time and energy in the unconventional gardening method.

“I got cancer in the liver and the colon over three years ago,” Weems says. “I realized right then and there that you are what you eat. Your food is your medicine.”

Never being one to surrender, Weems took it upon himself to fine-tune his diet to make sure he wasn’t eating anything that would jeopardize his health.

“When they tell you you have cancer, you get serious,” Weems says. “I stayed up all night reading and studying and researching like crazy.” The solution he landed on was hydroponics. Because this growing method offers complete control over what goes into the produce, Weems says he can be certain he’s getting the nutritious food he and his family needs.

To be successful with hydroponics, Weems says you only need a few pieces of equipment. A green thumb — or any kind of background in gardening — he says, is unnecessary. “Before this I never grew a thing. I can’t even grow a hair on my head,” Weems says with a smile.

Besides water, hydroponics requires a medium to house plants (Weems uses PVC pipes, but anything sturdy — even house gutters — will work), a light source, nutrients and, of course, seeds. Some growers might use rockwool or small clay rocks to provide structure for the plants, but it’s not necessary, Weems says.

“It costs $100 to buy this stuff at Lowes. Then an hour and a half to build it,” he says of the simplicity of the process.

Once the system — which Weems refers to as a “build” — is ready, then it’s time to plant. Weems uses a controlled area in his shed that can cool, heat and adjust to humidity. Even in freezing temperatures, Weems can grow produce of any kind, as long as the environment is controlled. Since picking up the trade, Weems has experimented with a variety of plants and vegetables. He already has a list of varieties he likes and plans to plant again and again.

The way Weems talks so easily about plant varieties, you might think he’s spent decades studying the trade. He mentions a specific type of lettuce — the Heirloom Amish 100-year-old deer tongue — as being especially good. Sometimes, he says, the fruits and vegetables he produces don’t look exactly like what you would see in a supermarket aisle. That’s because they’re not pumped with preservatives. They’re all flavor.

“You’re not going to get those big strawberries you’re used to,” he says. “They’ll be small, but when you put them in your mouth, man, it’s a strawberry.”

With plans to build a backyard greenhouse, Weems doesn’t see his newfound passion for hydroponics fading anytime soon. And as for any health issues, Weems says he’s been able to keep those at bay. The only thing he plans on spreading in the next few years will be green and edible.

This story first appeared in The Cullman Times Spring Cullman Magazine. Pick up a copy outside The Times office.