Lettuce Learn About Vertical Farming

Posted: Thursday, December 1, 2016 12:00 AM

The Coeur d’Alene Press is teaming up with Coeur Greens this weekend to raise donations for the Community Action Partnership Food Bank and to bring awareness to the importance of fresh, local food.

Coeur Greens, an ag-tech startup, will be showcasing “Leafy 1,” the first of many vertical farms the company will use to use to grow fresh greens year round in Coeur d’Alene. Leafy 1, once it’s up and running in January, will be able to produce 1,000 heads of lettuce per week.

Leafy 1 will be set up in the Coeur d'Alene Public Library parking lot Saturday, Dec. 3 and in the parking lot next to Hayden City Hall Sunday, Dec. 4, both days from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Bring your kids down with a non-perishable food item and have them sign Leafy 1 before she goes to work next week. Everyone can have fun learning about vertical farming and Coeur Green’s participation in the Farm to School program — a program that encourages schools to get produce from local sources and brings education and farming together for the betterment of the community as a whole.

For every non-perishable food item donated, Coeur Greens will donate one head of butter lettuce produced by Leafy 1 — up to 800 lettuce heads — to St. Vincent de Paul to be used in free meals for the city’s homeless population.

For more information, contact Tom McNabb with Coeur Greens at tom@coeurgreens.com.