Hydroponics et al aren't the way to go, IMO.

Check out this, by a very good author:

Soil Not Oil: Why We Need to Kick Petroleum Out of Our Farms

There's little point in replacing one artificial process with another.

The main reason I was pushing hydroponics, is the time and labor savings. True, the process is somewhat artificial but the question is, “is it possible to be profitable with a one man show growing things”; the only why is the by the use of automation. While I understand the desire to total divorce oneself from petroleum, it’s just not practical in every case. Why not try having the best of both worlds, speaking as an engineer/scientist; in the future you will be a rotting corpse if you don’t use technology to your advantage. The world I see will have to very distinct camps, the “high techs” and the “low techs”.

I'm sorry, but there's nothing higher tech than nature. We can't even grow a blade of grass on our own. Let use learn the mechanics of nature.