In summer of 2019, Matthew and Landon built a 36 plant hydroponic farm and placed it at The Hub in Old Town Mankato. The Hub is designed for food trucks and has a steady flow of traffic. It was the perfect spot to educate the community on the capabilities of hydroponics. The structure itself is 100% self sustaining. It is outfitted with two 100w solar panels and a battery bank. Everything in the system is powered by this set up. It does not require any outside electricity. The garden utilizes the nutrient film technique, or NFT, on a closed loop design. Just as the name would describe, their is a reservoir of nutrient-enriched water that houses a pump. The pump sends water up to the trays and a “film” of water runs down each tray, keeping each plant fed. At the end of the tray, the water spills into a drain pipe which leads back to the reservoir, effectively finishing the “loop”. This system runs itself and only requires the addition of water and nutrients every once in a while. Overall, the goal of this build out was to put the technology in front of the community and get them talking about it.

In September 2019, there was a significant washout that occurred on a private property near Rapidan. Matt and Landon were hired to engineer a solution for water flow on the property. They implemented a 150 foot drainage system designed to filter and redirect the water away from washout areas and into the river. The project lasted about 3 days and made a monumental difference in the erosion on this stretch of riverbank.