NEWARK, ILL. — Christina Murphy had them eating out of her hand.

Visitors to the annual Summer Blueberry Festival at Knutson’s Country Harvest were treated to lip-smacking samples of successful blueberry and hydroponic farming when Murphy, the farm manager, passed around freshly plucked fruit and veggie treats from the plants on July 14-15.

Also, Dr. Ed Bell of Oswego, Ill., known as “Dr. B” of Belfry Bees & Honey, stung visitors with facts about the decline in the honeybee population, then sweetened the outlook with ways to help try to preserve the tiny winged pollinators.

Hydroponics gardening is a way of raising plants without soil. Plants absorb essential mineral nutrients from water, not soil. When the required mineral nutrients supplement the plant’s water supply, they no longer need soil for growth and crop production. At Country Harvest, the plants are grown hydroponically in planter units, four plants per unit and five units in a stack, taking up about two feet of ground space.

“We supply our plants with a vermiculite mix to hold some of the water in and give the roots something to hold onto,” Murphy, of Minooka, noted. “Our hydroponic system has nothing but nutrient water that flows across the roots, which only require about three minutes’ irrigation twice a day.”

Most area blueberry bushes lost their fruit this year to the spring frost. Country Harvest did not experience this problem. The farm’s problem is keeping up with the water due to the drought.

Country Harvest raises garden plants such as herbs, strawberries, blackberries, squash, tomatoes, peas, onions and beans. “Pretty much everything you can grow in a garden or a soil-based medium, you can grow in a hydrostacker,” Murphy said.

A major issue is the high heat and lack of water, which supplies nutrients to the plants. This caused the water to bind, and not allow the roots to soak up the nutrients. The farm resorted to fertilizing instead of relying on the irrigation system.

Country Harvest is a pick-your-own farm, in which visitors harvest the fruits and vegetables growing in the hydroponic planter units.

“These gardens don’t take up a lot of space. If this garden were spread on the ground like a regular garden, you’d probably be looking at a five- to 10-acre garden, depending on what was planted. We have 20 plants in each stacker in a 24-by-24-inch space. Our hydroponic garden takes up a 100-by-100-foot space,” Murphy noted.

Roughly six varieties of blueberries are raised at Country Harvest. About a half cup of sulfur is added to the soil for each bush, as blueberries require extremely acidic soil. A mix of sand and peat is also added because peat also is high in acidity. The sand supplies good drainage, an essential to blueberry farming.

Bell is an instructor at the Kendall County Outdoor Education Center in Yorkville, Ill. In his appearance at Country Harvest, he noted that bees are the most important insect humans have.

“They provide food for us – the only insect that does,” he said. “Honey is the only food source that won’t spoil if it’s kept away from moisture. Also, black-and-yellow wasps, or yellow jackets, give honeybees a bad name because they are very aggressive insects, while honeybees are very defensive. They really won’t do anything to you if you don’t bother them.”

Honeybee populations are still declining, due in part to loss of good farmland that had multiple cultures in the past. Farmland with monoculture, or even biculture with corn and beans, doesn’t leave much food for the bees, he said.

“They need a very substantial food source, just like we do. They’re still being ravaged by the Varroa mites, which don’t kill the bees outright, but weakens their immune system, which allows other viruses to take hold,” Bell noted.

“A quote attributed to Albert Einstein says man would live only three to four years after the death of the honeybee. Honeybees have a direct impact on at least one-third of everything we eat, like plums, apples, pears, peaches, zucchini and cucumbers. Honeybees are the major pollinators.”

There is also a big decline in bumblebees, with few seen anymore, Bell said. He classified them as “fabulous pollinators.

“We can help them by planting pollinator-friendly plants in our gardens, by not using pesticides, by becoming a beekeeper and by supporting your local beekeeper by buying their honey.”

To learn more, visit www.KnutsonsHarvest.com