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Seeding Change: Woman Launches Eastside Erie, PA Urban Farm
Seeding Change: Woman Launches Eastside Erie, PA Urban Farm
March 18, 2018
Farm plots will take over vacant lots in the city, bringing food choices to people who need them.
Carrie Sachse, 35, a McDowell High School graduate, returned to Erie in 2014 after earning a degree in political economy and labor studies in Seattle and working around the country for a public sector union. She bought a house in Erie’s west bayfront neighborhood and is now poised to launch French Street Farms on vacant lots at French and East 22nd streets that she is purchasing from the Erie Redevelopment Authority. Sachse, an Erie County government worker by day, recently won a $5,000 start-up grant from the Idea Fund for her pioneering work on urban farming in Erie. Here is a conversation with her, edited for length.
How did you get interested in gardening?
It really all stems from my interest in food. I have always been interested in food and the politics of food, where it comes from, and cooking. After living in an apartment forever in Seattle, gardening was never an option. Once I bought my house, it was just very natural. The first thing I am doing is clearing my yard so I can have a big garden.
What took you to Seattle?
Growing up here, I just felt like this was a place that did not have a lot of opportunities. In the 1980s and 1990s, I felt like the Rust Belt vibe was strong and I always wanted to move to a bigger city that I felt had more opportunity. I put myself through college slowly and I was a manager at a little city market, a bodega. They had everything in a very diverse neighborhood.
I studied political economy as my major and labor studies as my minor. A lot of that was driven by trying to understand the economy of a place like Erie versus a place like Seattle — which is thriving — why do some places thrive and other places decline?
What was your takeaway from that?
I did that degree and then I took a job where I traveled full-time for about three and one-half years. My takeaway from that was that Erie was as good a place as any. I realized that more places are like Erie than not and that we do have a lot of natural assets and unique assets that we just have to capitalize on. We just need to change our perspective a little bit.
Where did the idea for urban farming come from?
To me, it just seemed natural to say, well, we have all this land in the city that no one is doing anything with and everyone is talking about a lack of fresh food in the city.
What were your first steps?
My best friend owns a food truck in Pittsburgh and I also knew I wanted to work for myself eventually. So we were kind of bouncing business ideas off each other and we both separately had the idea to do a city farm on individual lots versus trying to accumulate a lot of land to have a bigger farm. It was right after we started having that conversation that Scott Henry (former Erie Redevelopment Authority director) rolled out his adopt-a-lot program and that kind of felt like kismet.
The first thing I did was show up at the Redevelopment Authority and sit down with Scott Henry. I had no idea what I was doing, but I just told him all the reasons I thought it was a great idea and he was on board right away. His thing was I would have to buy the lots — not just rent them or adopt them — for a commercial operation. I was fine with that because I have to invest so much in the infrastructure, it would not make sense to invest in land I did not own.
But first city zoning had to change. That took about two years, correct?
So that was the biggest thing — almost all the vacant land in the city is residential. Scott Henry was able to talk to (former City Councilman) Dave Brennan and Dave Brennan sponsored the urban farming resolution at City Council. No one really knew what it was going to end up looking like. We just knew we needed some kind of a framework for urban farming in Erie because there was really just a void. City Council referred it to the Planning Commission and there was a little bit of back and forth. I went to the Planning Commission meetings and got to know them.
Did you ever have a moment where you thought, “I should just forget this?”
I really have not. It was an interesting process to go through. I am still relatively new back to town, so I enjoyed getting involved in local politics and seeing the inner workings. I was really pleasantly surprised. I found everyone to be really receptive to the idea. They say decisions are made by the people who show up, and just by showing up, people were really receptive to what I had to say. If I had not gone to the meetings, I think it would have been easy to say, “Yeah, we don’t want that.”
Did you have lots in mind that you wanted to develop?
When I went to see Scott Henry, I got a list of all the lots he had. I started on the lower west side and I drove around to see almost all of the vacant lots in the city.
A lot of them are just small overgrown lots in between houses that did not look very promising. But when I saw the lots I am buying, I immediately, I just stopped. I was just like, “Oh! I found them.” They were perfect.
I signed the sales agreement. I will be buying five lots this year.
What is the total price?
The first three, it is $750 for all three. The other two are $200 each and the fees are just nominal.
What are you going to sell and where are you going to sell it?
The more I read, the more I realized for it to be a sustainable operation, in the long run, I do need to have a diverse cross-section of crops so that I can rotate them and the land is not getting depleted. And also, for seasonality purposes, if I only wanted to grow peppers and tomatoes, I would not have anything to sell until August. So I do need to grow some spring stuff and early summer stuff. It will be around 20 different types of vegetables. I grow a lot of heirloom and specialty varieties.
Are you confident about that part of your skill set, actually producing the food?
That is probably the part I am most confident in because of the fact I have been gardening in my yard and I am a strong gardener. The business side of it is more new to me.
I did a master gardening training program. There is also a larger trend in agriculture. The farmers we have are getting older and most American farmers are around retirement age and there is a big problem with them not being replaced. One of the biggest demographics of people moving into farming right now are college-educated women. I am kind of an anomaly, but not totally.
When will you start planting?
I am starting seeds right now. There are also plenty of cold-starting crops, like kale and lettuce, that I can plant pretty early, hopefully by mid-April.
Are flowers in the mix at all?
I am going to do some sunflowers because I think they are great and I think they will do well at the farm stand. I also planted some bulbs as kind of a hedge in case we have a crappy spring, then the tulips and daffodils can round out my stand.
When you say “stand,” what are you picturing?
I am just going to do folding tables and a tent that I set up in different locations. So social media (www.facebook.com/frenchstreetfarms) is going to be really important for getting the word out to people and the regular website, too. I want to hit different areas of the city, so I can find good spots and find where people are especially interested in what I am doing.
You said at the Idea Fund competition that some restaurants are already reaching out?
Yes, which is amazing. If anything I am more concerned about keeping up this year. Judging by the response so far, if anything, I am not going to have enough to sell.
So you are getting good reactions?
People seem to be really excited about it, especially people my age and younger. They are interested in food in a way that I think older generations aren’t necessarily. And they are interested in where it comes from and how it is grown and they understand the importance of having it grown locally. They are excited at having a new option for that because we have been pretty limited in Erie.
And that was part of the Idea Fund competition — impacting Erie? How will the farm impact Erie?
I think this project works on a lot of levels. First, it is about producing more fresh food for people in Erie to eat and for people who have limited access — by being in the city and coming to them. It is also about giving people who have access, access. I have a car and I can drive to the grocery store, but this gives people better options.
The redevelopment component is real for me. I think it is a fun project. It is an interesting project. There is also some vibrancy here that I think Erie needs, in terms of the neighborhood and putting the land back into use on the tax rolls and giving the neighborhood something cool. That part of town has been struggling for a long time. I think there are so many ways (the farm) contributes to the general momentum that Erie has right now to kind of turn the corner.
What is your long-range vision?
I hope it is a successful venture. I think there is a lot of potential in a lot of different directions. We know there is a lot of vacant land in Erie and there is going to be more if the comprehensive plan is implemented. There are a lot of blighted houses and things are going to be changing if we continue to implement the comprehensive plan. I don’t know, but theoretically, there is a lot of room for expansion. It depends on how receptive people are and how successful business is.
You talked about feeling that “Rust Belt vibe” growing up. How does it feel being part of something that might help the city turn a page?
It is really exciting. I really did come around to the idea that Erie is just as good as anywhere else and maybe even better. There is a lot of opportunity here and maybe people who have been here forever and don’t have the broader perspective might not see it. But land is really cheap. Buildings are really cheap. I think Erie has a lot more potential and a lot more opportunity than people give it credit for.
Lisa Thompson can be reached at 870-1802. Send email tolisa.thompson@timesnews.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ETNthompson.
Unilever Launches Vegan Snack Line To Support Urban Farming Projects
Unilever, a global product corporation, recently introduced a new vegan snack line to benefit urban farming initiatives. Fifty percent of profits from these organic vegan crunchy clusters, Growing Roots, will be donated to various organizations that work to make fresh food accessible in urban areas.
Unilever Launches Vegan Snack Line To Support Urban Farming Projects
Posted by Tanya Flink | Mar 12, 2018
Unilever, a global product corporation, recently introduced a new vegan snack line to benefit urban farming initiatives. Fifty percent of profits from these organic vegan crunchy clusters, Growing Roots, will be donated to various organizations that work to make fresh food accessible in urban areas.
The new snack line launched at the Expo West 2018 trade show to attract attention to the product. Each of the four flavors are made with minimal, plant-based ingredients, such as corn, coconut, and seeds. Each is seasoned with spices, and two have a splash of alcohol for an extra kick. The clusters come in both sweet and savory varieties, including Cocoa Chipotle, Pineapple Coconut Rum, Maple Bourbon, and Coconut Curry. All flavors are certified organic, gluten-free, and vegan.
The proceeds from Growing Roots will strengthen Unilever’s work in supporting urban farming initiatives. Although the company services over four hundred brands around the world, it focuses on the individual communities that make up its international consumer base. Unilever is a strong believer in corporate social responsibility, and it is particularly interested in providing everyone access to affordable, healthy foods, and basic nutrition education.
Matthew McCarthy, the company’s Vice President of Foods for North America, said in a press release, “What’s so special about Growing Roots is that it started as a social mission that our employees were passionate about, born from the belief that everyone should have access to affordable, nutritious food.” He continued, “Seeing the transformational impact urban farms have in communities, we created a brand from the ground up to help fulfill and extend that mission.” Growing Roots is not just a product, it is an on-going campaign.
Urban farms are community-supported agricultural projects. These small farms provide produce to metropolitan areas that lack access to fresh foods, which are also known as food deserts. People living in these communities often rely on convenience stores for their nutritional needs, surviving off processed and packaged foods. Urban farms help these people gain access to fruits and vegetables and also serve as an educational tool. Residents learn first hand where their food comes from, in addition to learning about plant-based nutrition.
Growing Roots just launched at ShopRite stores in the Northeast, with plans to expand to retailers nationwide and Amazon.
Image Credit: Growing Roots and Green City Force
FarmBot v6.3.0 Software Update
FarmBot v6.3.0 Software Update
Over the last week, we rolled out version 6.3.0 of our software stack with a host of new features and improvements that make working with FarmBot faster, easier, and more fun.
Photos taken with FarmBot's camera are now rendered in the farm designer map if the camera has been calibrated. Map images can be filtered by date and time via the map menu using date and time inputs or a date slider.
FarmBot OS and Arduino firmware parameters are now stored in the backend API, allowing for greater reliability and easier account switching.
FarmBot can now read messages out loud through your computer or a speaker plugged into the Raspberry Pi. This is great for demonstrations!
Dropdown menus throughout the application have been organized, with some now including Peripherals and Sensors to make configuring your FarmBot faster and more intuitive.
Ready to get your own FarmBot?
We're now manufacturing v1.4 FarmBot Genesis and Genesis XL devices. Visit our shop to learn more and place your pre-order before our March sale ends!
In Support of Farmers Everywhere - More Change, More Growth Coming To Bootstrap Farmer
In Support of Farmers Everywhere - More Change, More Growth Coming To Bootstrap Farmer
On March 1, 2018, Nick Burton joined Bootstrap Farmer as Creative Director. This is huge for us in fulfilling our mission in support entrepreneurs in launching low-cost businesses that merge the agricultural and culinary industries.
Nick Burton runs State of the Soil Media, an online summit platform for agricultural business strategies and marketing. We believe this merger will allow both companies to combine talents to better serve the needs of the local farming community and culinary businesses like food trucks, meal prep/delivery services, and hospitality event companies. By bringing proven high-level business development strategies and effective marketing into the hands of new and practicing farmers and food services who may have never been exposed to business training before.
One of the first big projects we'll be launching is Bootstrap Farmer Radio, an upcoming podcast, which will support our online community and future live events. We've got a bunch of awesome recordings all ready to go - so keep a lookout for an update!
We are going to be challenging each other on this podcast to do great things and will be using The Bootstrap Farmers Business Network Facebook group as a place to interact and keep each other accountable!
Further to that, Bootstrap Farmer will continue to build its product line and online education in support of our client’s business and marketing strategies in a variety of different ways that we are keeping under wraps for now.
Both Nick and I are believers in continuing education and self-development to scale businesses. We feel the lack of beginning and advanced business education specifically for the owners of small farms, startups, and unique distribution models have space to grow within the marketplace in today’s local food movement, has been overlooked, and needs leadership. While there are learning platforms and resources for growing better, and basic business practices, we feel today’s agricultural practitioners are ready and deserve the very best in business development and growth support.
Between the both of us, we've built and maintained two small farms, two food trucks, a salad subscription delivery service, a farmers market stand, farm to table and pop up culinary events, an agricultural supply and manufacturing and distribution company, a yearly online summit for business and marketing for small farmers, an online course for agricultural product and services launch, a social media management company, and a property management company, so we feel like we've got something to say.
The Bootstrap Farmer Business Network and Bootstrap Farmer Radio will be guided by the following cornerstones:
Business Development
Collaborations
Community and Network Building
Continuing Education
Giving Back
Hospitality
Implementation
Leadership
Bootstrap Farmer Radio Podcast will launch the first week of April 2018 followed by regular online learning workshops and yearly live events. Empowering small business owners to scale up and take market leadership rolls locally means quality of life improvements for the owners, their communities, and the environment.
For more information visit Bootstrap Farmer and join our FB community @BootstrapFarmer on Facebook.
Thank you all for reading. I hope everyone has a great start to Spring!
Kind Regards,
Brandon Youst
Owner, Bootstrap Farmer
Profits Mushroom For This Urban Farmer
Kamala makes ₹30,000 a month after turning her Bengaluru house into a mushroom farm.
Profits Mushroom For This Urban Farmer
B S Satish Kumar
BENGALURU, MARCH 16, 2018
Kamala
Kamala makes ₹30,000 a month after turning her Bengaluru house into a mushroom farm
A small house can turn into an urban farm, yielding a tidy income. That is what it did for 40-year-old Kamala, who gave up her job as a garment worker in Bengaluru and turned her house into a 1,200 sq. ft. plot into a mushroom farm.
Two decades of back-breaking work in different garment factories in the city convinced the woman, who has a pre-university education, that it was time to try something less strenuous. “The continuous hard work does not even give you enough time to visit the washroom. It started making me feel as though I was in jail,” she recalls.
She quit the garment job that was fetching her ₹8,000 a month and chanced upon an article on mushrooms in a magazine. Inspired, she went to Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), 4 km from her house on Tumakuru road on the city’s outskirts, and enrolled in a mushroom cultivation course.
“A short training session by experts was offered, after which I launched cultivation in my house about two years ago. It started with two to three kg a month. Now I grow 50 to 60 kg of oyster mushrooms a month without engaging labour, and earn a profit of about ₹30,000,” she says proudly.
What she cultivates is sold to hotels and vegetable shops regularly. Now that Ms. Kamala has mastered the basics, she has joined a training programme at IIHR on value addition: turning leftover mushrooms into sambar powder and ready-to-eat products.
Her quest now is to set up a unique hotel that is dedicated to mushroom dishes in her husband’s hometown of Kushalanagar in Kodagu district. He works as a supervisor in a garment unit, and the couple has a daughter and a son.
“I know I have the potential to increase mushroom production five-fold. But I cannot raise the resources required for such an increase on my own. I am looking for government assistance in any form,” she says.
Ms. Kamala has become an example for her former colleagues in the garment industry, and some have adopted her business model. “People from farming families too can add to their incomes with mushrooms,” she says. On Thursday, she was honoured by the IIHR for her achievements at the inaugural session of its three-day national horticultural fair which attracted farmers from several States.
Welcome To The Family!
Welcome To The Family!
We are delighted that Andrea Theodore and Jorge Inda Meza are joining the GrowGood board of directors. We thought you'd like to get to know them a bit.
Andrea is executive vice president and CMO at Pharmavite, which makes Nature Made vitamins and supplements. She is in charge of leading marketing, strategy and venturing into new emerging spaces for the company. And she has more than two decades of experience in consumer goods at PepsicoEmerging Nutrition and Procter & Gamble. Her husband, Bob, is a builder who also wants to get involved. In fact, it was Bob who saw a posting about GrowGood and told Andrea, "I feel like this is made for you."
Jorge works for Anheuser-Busch as the head of marketing for western North America and is responsible for communications strategy and partnerships and brand programs.
We asked Andrea and Jorge a few questions. Here's what they had to say!
What made you decide that you and GrowGood
were meant to be?
Andrea: I moved to Los Angeles six years ago. My husband and I have always had a passion for inner-city issues and opportunities to grow communities. The first place I was able to use that passion was when I was on the Naked brand and connected with Wholesome Wave (a food nonprofit) to donate fresh fruit and vegetables. The opportunity to work on homelessness was a big one, and I really felt like GrowGood was the perfect place for me to exercise my passion, be involved with an organization that had the same sense of purpose.
Jorge: I think for me it was the notion that these ways of helping, growing food, are more powerful and more personal than just donating money. Having a platform that is about growingfood for a community that needs it and employing people and teaching people to give them job opportunities is such a powerful way of bringing good to the community. It’s such a unique thing, rather than let’s raise money to donate. I wanted to be part of the solution, rather than just a spectator. I have a strong attachment to the community; it is a Hispanic community for the most part, and I come from Mexico.
What are you most eager to get started on
at GrowGood?
Andrea: I am most eager to get my hands dirty and get to spend time with the people in the Bell community and be a part of it. From a board standpoint, I’m most excited to use the 24-plus years of experience I have in consumer goods, packaged goods and help other people see the passion and get involved.
Jorge: I want to help the team to get the word out, to get more and more people in Los Angeles, in Southern California and beyond to know about it, and to find out about the mission of the organization. And following that, telling the town and telling the world, getting people supporting it – donations, volunteering, getting the food out to more places. Making sure that as many people as possible know about it.
Anything else?
Andrea: I’m sort of infatuated with Charlie (Southward, a farmer at GrowGood)
and I just want to be able to exude the same passion he does.
Jorge: I think to me it’s more that in today’s age, everyone can be involved in any sort of capacity to do good -- from sharing a newsletter with your friends to actually volunteering on the farm and making sure people who don’t have the same opportunities have food. In today’s world, if every reader could tell their friends about GrowGood, we’ll get a lot better. Thank you!
Whirlwind Thursday
For a small organization, our dance card can get really full. Thursday, February 22nd, was one of those busy days for GrowGood – a day that shows our reach and the terrific work that goes on at our farm and in our programs.
First, the culinary class served delicious food students made at an open house for staff to promote openings in the next class, which will begin in a few weeks. Reviews of the food were excellent.
It was such a joy to see Carl Mack, Roy Huerta and Izzy Medero all in uniform, showing off what they learned, and watching them made it no surprise they've all been offered employment. There were biscuits and homemade citrus marmalade, a salad with creamy herbal dressing and roasted vegetableswith a green sauce. (If you’d like any of those recipes, please email Mary.)
"You're going to love that. I made that. Roy, here, made the biscuits, and I made the salad, which is organic from the garden.
The vegetables were made by Carl." (Izzy)
One case manager at the shelter, Kyna Morris, said it's gratifying to see "any client come here, at their lowest point sometimes, and to assist them building themselves back up." Of Izzy, she said, "You can see him shining from the inside."
That afternoon, shelter resident Allan Kesick, who is a member of the Algonquin Nation and the Odawa Tribe from Michigan, gave the farm a blessing and told the staff about his traditions.
He filled the bird-shaped bowl of his pipe with sage, sweetgrass, cedar, and tobacco, and used it to reach to the ground and to the sky at the four points of the compass. Traditionally, a blessing would be given for each round of planting, he said. He also cleansed the staff and guests using a white sage smudge stick.
And that’s not all. It was the 30th birthday of our farmhand Velva Flemings! Finally, Jayne Torres, program cultivator, and Mary MacVean, executive director, gave a tour to a group of guests from the Department of Public Health. We’re all hoping for future collaboration.
Photo Report: A Hat-Trick In Tunisia
Photo Report: A Hat-Trick In Tunisia
Building greenhouses in the Tunisian desert can be quite a challenge. The temperatures rise during the day but in the nighttime it's really cold. Combined with the dust and the distances to projects, it's not an easy topic at all. On the other hand, for growing this climate is ideal. That's why over the last couple of years more and more greenhouses have been erected in the country.
Since the rise of the horticulture in Tunisia, the Serbian building company Agrikol is one of the leading building companies in the market. Agrikols Nikola Petković, browsed through his photo album and showed us the hat-trick they made here last year.
Desert Joy
It was only 4 years ago when the first 2.5 hectares of the modern Desert Joy tomato farm was prepared in 2013. The company is located a half hour drive from the coastal city of Gabes, in southern Tunisia. The expansion has continued ever since. The fifth phase was realized last year and concluded 5.4 ha greenhouse and 2 technical rooms. Agrikol provided the supervision and the turn-key overview for this project. In Tunisia, another 6 greenhouses will be erected in the near future.
Agrikol is active more often in Tunisia. Also, Rainbow Horticulture Tunisia, Tunisian-Dutch pepper producing company created in 2015, took advantage of their activities. Last year they extended their facilities with 2.5 hectares. Agrikol facilitated the supervision of ground leveling and foundation and the construction team for the turn-key greenhouse.
The third project realized last year in Tunisia is a bit of a stringer in the midst. This concerns the construction of an algae farm in Tunisia! Also, this crop is being grown more and more in greenhouses and Tunisia holds one of the farms.
How Urban Farmers Are learning To Grow Food Without Soil Or Natural Light
How Urban Farmers Are learning To Grow Food Without Soil Or Natural Light
February 13, 2018
Mandy Zammit/Grow Up, Author provided
Author
- Silvio Caputo
Senior Lecturer, University of Portsmouth
Disclosure statement
Silvio Caputo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Partners
University of Portsmouth provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.
Growing food in cities became popular in Europe and North America during and immediately after World War II. Urban farming provided citizens with food, at a time when resources were desperately scarce. In the decades that followed, parcels of land which had been given over to allotments and city farms were gradually taken up for urban development. But recently, there has been a renewed interest in urban farming – albeit for very different reasons than before.
As part of a recent research project investigating how urban farming is evolving across Europe, I found that in countries where growing food was embedded in the national culture, many people have started new food production projects. There was less uptake in countries such as Greece and Slovenia, where there was no tradition of urban farming. Yet a few community projects had recently been started in those places too.
Today’s urban farmers don’t just grow food to eat; they also see urban agriculture as a way of increasing the diversity of plants and animals in the city, bringing people from different backgrounds and age groups together, improving mental and physical health and regenerating derelict neighbourhoods.
Many new urban farming projects still struggle to find suitable green spaces. But people are finding inventive solutions; growing food in skips or on rooftops, on sites that are only temporarily free, or on raised beds in abandoned industrial yards. Growers are even using technologies such as hydroponics, aquaculture and aquaponics to make the most of unoccupied spaces.
Something fishy
Hydroponic systems were engineered as a highly space and resource efficient form of farming. Today, they represent a considerable source of industrially grown produce; one estimate suggests that, in 2016, the hydroponic vegetable market was worth about US$6.9 billion worldwide.
Hydroponics enable people to grow food without soil and natural light, using blocks of porous material where the plants’ roots grow, and artificial lighting such as low-energy LED. A study on lettuce production found that although hydroponic crops require significantly more energy than conventionally grown food, they also use less water and have considerably higher yields.
Growing hydroponic crops usually requires sophisticated technology, specialist skills and expensive equipment. But simplified versions can be affordable and easy to use.
They grow up so fast. Mandy Zammit/Grow Up, Author provided
Hemmaodlat is an organisation based in Malmö, in a neighbourhood primarily occupied by low-income groups and immigrants. The area is densely built, and there’s no green space available to grow food locally. Plus, the Swedish summer is short and not always ideal for growing crops. Instead, the organisation aims to promote hydroponic systems among local communities, as a way to grow fresh food using low-cost equipment.
The Bristol Fish Project is a community-supported aquaponics farm, which breeds fish and uses the organic waste they produce to fertilise plants grown hydroponically. GrowUp is another aquaponics venture located in an East London warehouse – they grow food and farm fish using only artificial light. Similarly, Growing Underground is an enterprise that produces crops in tunnels, which were originally built as air raid shelters during World War II in London.
The next big thing?
The potential to grow food in small spaces, under any environmental conditions, are certainly big advantages in an urban context. But these technologies also mean that the time spent outdoors, weathering the natural cycles of the seasons, is lost. Also, hydroponic systems require nutrients that are often synthesised chemically – although organic nutrients are now becoming available. Many urban farmers grow their food following organic principles, partly because the excessive use of chemical fertilisers is damaging soil fertilityand polluting groundwater.
To see whether these drawbacks would put urban growers off using hydroponic systems, my colleagues and I conducted a pilot study in Portsmouth. We installed small hydroponic units in two local community gardens, and interviewed volunteers and visitors to the gardens. Many of the people we spoke to were well informed about hydroponic technology, and knew that some of the vegetables sold in supermarkets today are produced with this system.
A simplified hydroponic frame in Portsmouth. Silvio Caputo/University of Portsmouth, Author provided
Many were fascinated by the idea of growing food without soil within their community projects, but at the same time reluctant to consume the produce because of the chemical nutrients used. A few interviewees were also uncomfortable with the idea that the food was not grown naturally. We intend to repeat this experiment in the near future, to see how public opinion changes over time.
And while we don’t think hydroponic systems can replace the enjoyment that growing food in soil can offer, they can save water and produce safe food, either indoors or outdoors, in a world with increasingly scarce resources. Learning to use these new technologies, and integrating them into existing projects, can only help to grow even more sustainable food.
As with many technological advancements, it could be that a period of slow acceptance will be followed by rapid, widespread uptake. Perhaps the fact that IKEA is selling portable hydroponic units, while hydroponic cabinets are on the market as components of kitchen systems, is a sign that this technology is primed to enter mainstream use.
New Partnership To Drive Innovation In Perennial Fruits
New Partnership To Drive Innovation In Perennial Fruits
14 March 2018
AgTech solutions company Autogrow and Plant & Food Research today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) confirming their intention to collaborate in the development of protocols to maximize yield and enable continuous production of perennial fruits.
The agreement was signed by Autogrow CEO Darryn Keiller and Dr Kieran Elborough, General Manager Science - New Cultivar Innovation for Plant & Food Research.
“We are incredibly excited to be working with Plant & Food Research and see collaborations like this as fundamental to furthering our industry, ultimately benefiting both growers and consumers. Plant & Food Research are responsible for some of the best cultivars to come onto the global market and their scientific expertise combined with our knowledge of controlled environment agriculture will take perennial fruits to the next level,” said Mr. Keiller.
Autogrow’s Director of Plant Science and Agronomy Dr Tharindu Weeraratne will head up Autogrow’s team as part of the MoU.
Speaking at the signing, Dr. Elborough said, “Working with a global company like Autogrow has the potential for us to match new breeding strategies with future growing systems that deal with numerous horticultural challenges such as climate change, sustainable food production and reducing land availability.”
IMAGES: Mr. Keiller (in black) and Dr. Elborough (in white). High-resolution images available upon request
About Autogrow
Autogrow leverages the power of technology, data science and plant biology to provide indoor growers affordable, accessible and easy-to-use innovation – 24/7, anywhere in the world.
Our hardware, software and data solutions support growers and resellers in over 40 countries producing over 100 different crop types.
We have over two decades of experience and passionate, fun people creating original ideas and making them a reality.
About Plant & Food Research
Plant & Food Research is a New Zealand-based company providing research and development to enhance the value and productivity of the horticultural, viticultural, arable, seafood and food and beverage industries. With more than 900 people based at sites across New Zealand, as well as in the USA and Australia, at the heart of the Institute is a goal to support the growth of plant and marine-based food industries through the successful application and commercialization of research-based innovation.
Our science supports the sustainable production of high quality produce that earns a premium in international markets, as well as driving the design and development of new and novel functional foods that offer benefits to human health and wellbeing.
In its 90 year history, Plant & Food Research has bred a range of new fruit, vegetable and arable cultivars that are now marketed globally, including Jazz™ and Envy™ brand apples, Zespri® Sungold Kiwifruit and Moonlight potatoes.
For more information:
Autogrow
sales@autogrow.com
www.autogrow.com
Plant & Food Research
www.plantandfood.co.nz
NatureFresh™ Farms Shines Light on Tomatoes in Leamington, Ontario Expansion
NatureFresh™ Farms Shines Light on Tomatoes in Leamington, Ontario Expansion
Leamington, Ontario | March 25th, 2018
John Ketler, General Manager at NatureFresh™ Farms, is excited to announce the newest NatureFresh™ Farms greenhouse expansion taking place in Leamington, ON later this year. Construction of a new 32-acre greenhouse facility will commence in the summer of 2018, with production scheduled to begin in 2019. This facility will house a range of Tomato varieties to be grown using supplemental lighting, allowing for year-round production of fresh, Canadian-grown Tomatoes!
With construction beginning in the summer of 2018, NatureFresh™ Farms will further increase its presence within the Tomato category by 2019. In this new facility, there will be a variety of Tomato crops being grown, including TOMZ® Snacking Tomatoes, Tomatoes-on-the-Vine, and Beefsteak Tomatoes. A greater supply of Canadian-grown Tomatoes produced year-round will ensure that NatureFresh™ Farms successfully meets increased market demands within the Tomato category with consistently fresh and high-quality products.
NatureFresh™ Farms expanded its greenhouse production into the United States in 2015 with the construction of a 45-acre facility in Delta, OH. In Ohio, NatureFresh™ Farms also grows TOMZ® Snacking Tomatoes, Tomatoes-on-the-Vine, and Beefsteak Tomatoes, but these crops are grown using High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) lighting, allowing year-round availability of Ohio-grown Tomatoes.
With supplemental lighting and other innovations being launched in the new facility, the Leamington, ON greenhouse will be equipped with the same state-of-the-art growing technologies as seen in Ohio. Matt Quiring, Executive Retail Sales Accounts Manager at NatureFresh™ Farms, is expecting great success from the expansion: “The first full growing season in our Ohio greenhouse has been very successful so far, so with the same technology that we use in Ohio being implemented in our new Leamington greenhouse, we expect similar success. We should see higher production, greater efficiency in the growing process, and consistently high-quality products from our new Canadian greenhouse.”
NatureFresh™ Farms continues to grow its acreage with this exciting Canadian expansion. Once construction is complete on the new facility, NatureFresh™ Farms will be growing flavorful, high quality Tomatoes across over 90 acres of greenhouses! With exciting times ahead, the NatureFresh™ Farms team is looking forward to further development as a leader within the industry.
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About NatureFresh™ Farms -
NatureFresh™ Farms has grown to become one of the largest independent, vertically integrated greenhouse vegetable growers in North America. Growing in Leamington, ON and Delta, OH, NatureFresh™ Farms prides itself on exceptional flavor & quality. Family owned NatureFresh™ Farms ships fresh greenhouse grown produce year-round to key retailers throughout North America.
A’s Unveil The Farm, Another New Coliseum Feature For 2018
A’s Unveil The Farm, Another New Coliseum Feature For 2018
Quite literally rooted in Oakland.
March 13, 2018
Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Just like last season’s Championship Plaza and this season’s The Treehouse, the Oakland A’s have announced yet another new improvement to the Oakland Coliseum: The Farm.
No, don’t worry, there won’t be a petting zoo, a herd of cows, or a John Deere tractor, but the Farm will be a unique and special new attraction for fans. Located at the south end of the East Side Club near the right field flag poles, it will feature an assortment of produce and flowers planted in large redwood planters along with picnic tables and benches so fans can watch and enjoy the game.
So what makes the Farm different from other gardens, pools, and special features at stadiums around the league? This garden is legitimately “Rooted In Oakland,” and not simply because of its location. To make the Farm happen, the A’s have partnered with Acta Non Verba, an East Oakland nonprofit whose mission is to create safe outdoor areas for people in the community to enjoy.
Acta Non Verba will then be able to sell the produce grown in the Farm. The money will go to students as long-term investments toward their college educations. The upkeep of the Farm will be in the hands of volunteer students of all ages as part of Acta Non Verba’s after-school volunteer program.
The Farm is not just another feature for the stadium — it’s helping Oakland community youths’ hopes for a better education and a brighter future. It will be a place where local children along with adult fans can not only enjoy the game but learn more about urban agriculture, play, relax and expand their horizons.
Kelly Carlisle, the founder and executive director of Acta Non Verba, says she is honored to partner with the Athletics and proud to be able to bring more attention to the nonprofit’s philanthropic work. Acta Non Verba is — like the A’s — also “Rooted in Oakland.”
A’s team president Dave Kaval echoed Carlisle’s sentiments, saying:
“We are thrilled to partner with Acta Non Verba to convert an unused space on the concourse into a unique, interactive gathering place for our fans. Acta Non Verba does wonderful work in Oakland, and this is a dynamic way for us to engage with youth and their families in our community while investing in their futures. This fun space brings a whole new meaning to ‘Rooted in Oakland.’”
Not only will the Farm teach fans about urban agriculture and support children’s educations, it will also educate them about Minor League Baseball by highlighting the A’s MiLB affiliates: the Nashville Sounds, Midland RockHounds, Stockton Ports, Beloit Snappers, and Vermont Lake Monsters. Each team in the A’s farm system will be represented by a scarecrow dressed in the team’s uniform and placed in planters around the Farm, and the area will feature in-game segments on the minor league teams’ accomplishments and prospect updates provided by NBC Sports California.
More importantly, however, celebrity chef Nikki Shaw will host a regular segment teaching kids about healthy living and eating as well as sustainability. The Farm will then not only be a boost to the Oakland community and to the Coliseum, but it will in fact be educating all its visitors on the importance of nutrition as well as saving the planet.
The Farm will be open to approximately 100 fans at a time, but the beautiful new space will also be available for groups of fans to book for pregame events.
The Farm is a wonderful new feature for the stadium promoting education, fun, baseball, and the importance of sustainability to the health of our planet. Plus, by working with an Oakland nonprofit that is also “Rooted in Oakland,” the Farm is yet another way to show A’s fans that the team is committed to the community.
Return Of The Good Life: The New Craze For Front Garden Allotments
FORGET neatly trimmed hedges, tidy rows of begonias and well-tended lawns. An increasing number of 21st century growers in Scotland claim it's time to rebel against the short back and sides approach traditionally taken to front gardening in towns and cities and start making use of them as practical – but beautiful – allotments for growing fruit and veg.
Return Of The Good Life: The New Craze For Front Garden Allotments
Mandatory Credit: Photo by REX/Shutterstock (5532309a).MODEL RELEASED Smiling woman gardening in vegetable patch.VARIOUS.
FORGET neatly trimmed hedges, tidy rows of begonias and well-tended lawns. An increasing number of 21st-century growers in Scotland claim it's time to rebel against the short back and sides approach traditionally taken to front gardening in towns and cities and start making use of them as practical – but beautiful – allotments for growing fruit and veg.
With growing space at a premium – especially in cities – and waiting lists of nearly ten years for allotments in Glasgow and Edinburgh, there is a growing trend to turn front gardens into "quirky and fun" allotments allowing keen gardeners to grow edible plants that look good and feed the family.
Mat Coward, an independent garden writer whose new book is titled Eat Your Front Garden, said that it was time to throw off the "bourgeois" credentials of tidiness and conformity. While front garden vegetable growing might trigger images of the Good Life – the 1970s BBC sitcom about Tom and Barbara Good's attempt at self-sufficiency – or bring to mind Second World War Dig for Victory campaigns, Coward said he and others were advocating a modern approach to making the best use of available growing space.
"The idea of “respectable” changes with every generation," said Coward. "Perhaps your grandparents would walk by a front garden of millimeter-trimmed, bright green lawn, surrounded by precisely equidistant bedding plants, and nod with approval. You, on the other hand, might walk by a front garden clearly arranged to attract bees and birds, and similarly feel 'this householder adheres to the current consensus view of good values'."
He claimed that a combination of our society's reliance on cars, combined with austerity policies forcing longer working hours meant many time-poor families opted to pave their front gardens as a low maintenance option. Coward said there was a growing feeling that growing your own fruit and veg in your front garden was a "small way of repairing the environment".
There is, however, a worry that turning your front garden into an allotment might upset neighbors and make growers the talk of the street if a potato patch suddenly appeared where a lawn once was. However, Coward said: "My book puts forward the idea of the 'Invisible Allotment'." He has collected a list of more than 30 plants which can be grown for food which don't look like crops, including Caucasian spinach and bamboo. "Sometimes they are edibles in their countries of origin which we’ve adopted as ornamentals, some of them are traditionally used as edibles, but you wouldn’t know it by looking. My main criterion is that these are plants you can grow openly out front without anyone raising an eyebrow."
He claimed other reasons for not wanting your front garden to look like an allotment include fear that your produce will be pinched and being forbidden to grow vegetables by landlords if renting. "It fools both the busybodies and the burglars," he added.
Abi Mordin, founder, and director of Propagate, Glasgow-based growers collective, said:"It's quirky and it's fun. It's amazing what you can grow in a small space especially if you use permaculture methods such as polycultures [where you grow multiple crops in the same space] rather than growing in traditional rows." Other techniques to make the most of a small space include stacking up raised beds or containers or creating "micro forest" gardens, which are the conditions provided by forest "layers".
She admitted that while front garden growing did not provide enough space for people to be self-sufficient – it is estimated about an acre is needed – it could make grow-your-own more visible and popularise the trend. "Most people in the workshops that I run have no ideas what you can grow in this country, which is considerable. So at the very least, this opens people's eyes to what is possible."
Paula McCabe, the urban grower at the Concrete Garden, a community garden in Possil in Glasgow, claimed she had seen a huge increase in enthusiasm for garden growing through the projects she runs. She said: "Most people who come along tell us it has a real impact on their wellbeing. People make new friends, get fresh air, fresh produce, exercise, connection to nature, new skills, knowledge, and confidence. It's so therapeutic for so many reasons.
"Whilst there's so much that can be done in small urban spaces it can be hard to know where to start and people can be put off by the idea that it will take a big investment of time or money. Sometimes all people need is a little inspiration and guidance. We run a short course about container gardening in small spaces and on a budget to help folk turn unlikely spaces into attractive and productive growing spaces.
"It's absolutely possible to use the unlikeliest of spaces for food growing. All you need is an area that gets some sunlight and something to grow in."
She advised using raised beds and containers to make sure of good quality compost and topsoil, with simple "crops" like 'cut and come again' salad leaves perfect for window boxes. Veg crates can be repurposed to grow leafy greens and baby vegs such as carrots, beetroot or turnip, she added, while using a trellis to grow peas and beans vertically also helps make the most of a very small space. However, she and others warned against gardening near a busy road. "It would be wise to have a barrier from pollution," she added.
FIVE PLANTS FOR YOUR FRONT GARDEN
Here are Mat Coward's tips for plants for your front garden allotment that won't have the curtains twitching.
1. Chinese yam: with large, nutritious tubers it also produces scented flowers which give it the alternative common name of Cinnamon Vine.
2. Sunflower: the buds can be steamed and served with butter, like artichokes.
3. Bamboo: get a variety bred specially for production of bamboo shoots, as seen in Chinese takeaways, which are also amongst the most ornamental bamboos.
4. Caucasian spinach: used as an ornamental climber in the 19th century, now becoming better known for its edible greens and spring shoots.
5. Fuchsia: the epitome of front garden respectability but with juicy, sweet fruits and edible flowers.
FIVE TOP TIPS FOR FRONT GARDEN ALLOTMENTS
1. Window boxes filled with strawberries can look pretty and a provide summer fruit on the cheap. Ask community gardens if they have plants to spare.
2. Create a kitchen garden by growing fruit and veg together in raised or stacked beds. Edible flowers like Calendula and Nasturtiums look pretty and are a natural pest deterrent.
3. Make a herb spiral - it's an efficient way to grow lots of herbs in a small space and creates an attractive visual feature.
4. If you've got the space fruit trees like plums are a great option for combining good looks with practicality.
5. Plant bee friendly flowers like lavender and buddleia to attract wildlife to your garden and help pollinate fruit.
MOVES TO TACKLE 10 YEAR ALLOTMENT WAITING LISTS
NEW guidance due to be published in coming weeks will put a duty on local authorities to make better provision for growing spaces including allotments as part of the Community Empowerment Act, according to campaigners.
Campaigner Judy Wilkinson, a member of both the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society and the Glasgow Allotments Forum, said that with waits of up to almost a decade on the most desirable allotments, the guidance was welcome news for those demanding improved access to growing spaces.
Under the guidance, which has yet to be enacted, local authorities will have to ensure waiting lists on allotments are no longer than five years and do not exceed 50 percent of the number of available plots. It is claimed that better use could be made of derelict land in urban areas to help meet demand for community growing spaces.
"The Community Empowerment Act will hopefully put pressure on local authorities [to improve access]," said Wilkinson. "It's going to be important for us to work in partnership with local authorities.
"Allotments are holistic growing space. They are about growing food but also about health and well being. It can be an escape place, it's about the individual, about family and about community. Lots of community gardeners spend a lot of their time there particularly in the summer and spring months."
She also said the change would help those in flats and high rises who don't have gardens.
But Abi Mordin, founder, and director of community growing organization Propagate claimed that it was necessary to do more than simply increase access to allotments in order to tackle the need for a local and sustainable growing strategy.
She is currently working with 25 local growers who are hoping to make use of the Community Empowerment Act to create urban market garden plots on derelict land in Glasgow. Propagate has already identified 15 local cafes and businesses keen to make use of their produce. "It ties in with land reform and asset transfer," she added. "It also feeds into the national movement of [creating] sustainable food cities. We are working collectively with local communities to create local economies."
hello@propagate.org.uk
Iowa's Small Farms Are a Treasure. Why Won't Regulators Leave Them Alone
Earlier this week, members of the Polk County, Iowa, Board of Adjustments decided not to force the lone for-profit farm in Des Moines, the county's largest city, out of business.
Iowa's Small Farms Are a Treasure. Why Won't Regulators Leave Them Alone?
"It seemed like every time we had a conversation with our county we had to spend thousands of more dollars to stay in compliance with their regulations."
Baylen Linnekin | March 24, 2018
Earlier this week, members of the Polk County, Iowa, Board of Adjustments decided not to force the lone for-profit farm in Des Moines, the county's largest city, out of business.
While that sounds like the county played nice, the truth is that the small, beloved farm, Dogpatch Urban Gardens, faced this grave crisis for no legitimate reason whatsoever.
Farm owners Jenny and Eric Quiner launched Dogpatch "to promote health/nutrition, enhance the community, environmental conservation, and instill family values for their children." Last year, Dogpatch's second in business, the farm "produced over 7,500 pounds of organically grown food," an impressive amount given its quarter acre of active farmland.
But regulators' growing demands on Dogpatch have proven costly and legion. According to The Des Moines Register, among the changes the county required or sought to require of Dogpatch were creation of a site plan; installation of restrooms, a septic system, a paved parking lot, and fencing; the planting of dozens of trees; and creation of "a berm in accordance with a flood plan for the area, a[l]though they'd already spent $7,500 adding drainage tile to mitigate the threat of their crops flooding."
This week's hearing was described as the thing that could "tip the scale on whether the couple's two-year-old business ultimately succeeds or fails."
The Quiners say they're happy with the outcome of this week's board meeting. But uncertainty over the future of their business has proven costly. The couple has spent about $10,000 so far and anticipates even after the board's decision this week that their that the costs will rise.
"The added costs due to our county regulations have put some of our new business ideas on hold as we had to shift our focus to regulatory compliance rather than enhancing our business endeavors," Jenny Quiner told Reason.
But it's not just the money, Quiner says.
"Aside from the financial aspect, this past year has been very stressful," she says. "There were a lot of unknowns with the business and it seemed like every time we had a conversation with our county we had to spend thousands of more dollars to stay in compliance with their regulations."
One thing is certain about Dogpatch: locals have been quick to eat up Dogpatch's bounty.
"The local restaurants who utilize her organic produce are a who's who of the Des Moines culinary scene," the Register reported this January before regulators came calling. The paper also included Jenny Quiner on its list of "People To Watch for 2018" and notes she's "a leader in the Des Moines food scene."
I traveled to Des Moines in fall 2016. On that, my second trip to Iowa, I served as a guest faculty member at a student food-law summit at Drake University Law School and also gave a book talk at the city's great Beaverdale Bookstore.
Des Moines is a foodie heaven. It boasts easily the best farmers market I've been to in the United States. Downtown's Iowa Taproom features 120 Iowa craft beers (not a typo) on tap.
But costly regulations like those that have to threaten Dogpatch are frustratingly common in the area.
Polk County is also home to Clare Heinrich, a teen beekeeper. It was just before my 2016 visit to Iowa that I learned Heinrich's hometown, Urbandale, had ordered her to get rid of her bees, claiming the bees amounted to illegal livestock.
"It's hardly a stretch to suggest that we should be making it easier for local farmers to connect with eager consumers," I wrote in an op-ed that appeared in The Des Moines Register. "And yet rules so often do the opposite."
Small farms such as Dogpatch are becoming increasingly rare in Iowa. "Iowa farms are dwindling in number and growing in size," the Register reported in 2014. According to USDA data, Polk County lost more than 20 percent of its farmland between 2007 and 2012.
Dogpatch and other small farms in Iowa and across the country already face uphill battles as they fight for consumer dollars. The last thing they need is for regulators and regulations to simply pile up more existential obstacles.
Photo Credit: Dogpatch Urban Gardens
Baylen Linnekin is a food lawyer, scholar, and adjunct law professor. He's the author of Biting the Hands that Feed Us: How Fewer, Smarter Laws Would Make Our Food System More Sustainable (Island Press 2016). Linnekin serves on the board of directors of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.
Urban Agriculture Firm Gotham Greens Will Double Its Footprint In Chicago
The site is near Gotham’s existing rooftop greenhouse, the largest commercial one of its kind in the world, on top of the Method soap factory in Pullman Park which opened in 2015.
Urban Agriculture Firm Gotham Greens Will Double Its Footprint In Chicago
March 16, 2018 | Staff Writer
A rendering of the 140,000-square-foot commercial greenhouse now under construction in Chicago’s Pullman neighbrohood.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gotham Greens broke ground yesterday on the first phase of a 140,000-square-foot greenhouse facility in the Pullman neighborhood on Chicago’s south side. The state-of-the-art indoor farm will be built on vacant land at the former Ryerson industrial site, which is being acquired from Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI), the Pullman-based nonprofit developer.
The site is near Gotham’s existing rooftop greenhouse, the largest commercial one of its kind in the world, on top of the Method soap factory in Pullman Park which opened in 2015. CNI could receive up to $3.35 million in tax increment financing for site preparation and infrastructure. “These are exciting days for Pullman,” said David Doig, president of CNI who credits Pullman’s renaissance with “good bones and great energy.”
Once completed, the greenhouse facility would be the largest ever built in Chicago and will create 60 full-time jobs. The expansion reflects the company’s success growing and selling premium quality produce year-round in technologically advanced indoor farms. The company’s greenhouses yield 30 times more produce per acre than conventional field production while using 10 times less water.
“Thanks to the leadership and hard work of Mayor Emanuel, Alderman Beale, the City of Chicago, CNI and all of our community partners, Pullman has been a great place to innovate and do business,” said Viraj Puri, co-founder and CEO at Gotham Greens. “We’re producing millions of pounds of fresh produce annually for national and local grocery stores and foodservice operators across Chicagoland, far exceeding our expectations. This is the ideal time for us to expand our presence in the Midwest, and Pullman is the ideal place for us to do so.”
“With unparalleled road, rail infrastructure, abundant vacant land, 20-minute proximity to the Loop, complemented by the venerable housing stock and historic buildings, Pullman is becoming the destination where more people are choosing to go to live and work,” said Doig. “Along with great leadership from Alderman Beale and a great partnership with Mayor Emanuel, Pullman is the ‘ultimate comeback’ community.”
Attending the groundbreaking for Gotham Greens’ new 140,000-square-foot greenhouse were (from left to right, starting third from the left) Illinois State Representative Nick Smith, 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Gotham Greens CEO Viraj Puri, Gotham Greens CFO Eric Haley, Pullman resident and Gotham Greens employee Jenny Mitchell, CNI President David Doig and CNI Board Chair Pastor Merlon Jackson.
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Salads Straight From The City
Salads Straight From The City
Prof. Dr. Andreas Ulbrich from the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück brought along exciting new scenarios for the future of urban spaces to this year’s Ahlem Forum. These concepts revolve around plant production directly in conurbations: for example vegetables that grow vertically between residential buildings or in floating greenhouses in Hamburg Harbour.
by Specialist Editor Katrin Klawitter
Grow where you sell: ‘My Smart Green Supermarket’
In Ahlem Ulbrich presented a shopping centre as a possible model where greenhouses were located on the roof. Named ‘My Smart Green Supermarket’, garden production systems are an integrated part of the concept in this vision. “This is a way to combine shopping and production locations – including the recycling of materials, for example with a circuit that uses the CO2 produced in the shops for the plant production”, says this expert. He is also convinced that it would thus be possible to make horticultural production more transparent again for the consumer as well as making an important contribution to a higher degree of self-sufficiency.
According to Professor Ulbrich vegetable production knowledge is now so sophisticated, also through the use of LED lighting spectra, that different, ‘personalised’ products could be made for various consumer demands and customer groups – for example firm tomatoes with a particularly good taste or vegetables with a particularly high level of certain substances could be produced to order.
Of course, urban production will not be sufficient to cover actual demand, Ulbrich conceded following a question from the audience. But this could be compensated for by purchasing intermediate and finished goods so that it would always be possible to offer the customer freshly produced goods on site. “Outside production, in periurban areas will still be decisive in order to supply additional deliveries here”, confirmed Ulbrich.
Floating greenhouses and green fingers
In concrete terms Ulbrich presented a new research project: Together with the city of Hamburg and other players the scientists in Osnabrück are working on floating indoor farms, a kind of pontoon, for salad production. The project with the cumbersome name ‘Regional food production in metropolitan regions with adjoining bodies of water’ is to become part of the ‘Vision for agricultural systems of the future’ project of the Federal Research Ministry and is currently awaiting authorisation for its research application. Another research project for the city of Osnabrück has already been authorised: this is an idea to ensure the ‘green fingers’ of the city are sustained, given the enormous increase in the need for residential space. This needs to be done in such a way that more people can live in the city while still ensuring vegetable production in the city and sufficient green spaces for comfort. The term ‘climate resilience’ plays a central role here as it necessitates, for example, measures to reduce greenhouse gases and regulate temperature.
Improved herb quality using LED flashes
The importance attributed to the project can also be seen in the fact that the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück is currently creating a new research centre ‘Agricultural systems of the future’. Scientists in Osnabrück are doing very practice-based work. For example they are currently testing, in conjunction with vegetable farming operations in Papenburg, how the quality of herbs from winter production can be improved. There are already promising initial results that show how LED light flashes, i.e. pulses of light, can substantially increase the quality of basil and parsley. The participants in the experiment are working together on an efficient, practical system.
Another project called ‘Petra’ is looking at the development of quality tomatoes for sustainable, regional production. The priority here, also working with the vegetable farming operations in Papenburg, is on giving priority to characteristics such as taste and bite as the top quality objectives with less emphasis on suitability for storage as this plays a lesser role for regional production.
Conclusion: Do not leave the topic of regional vegetable production to others
Andreas Ulbrich does state that is it not possible to estimate the quantities of urban vegetable production that will be necessary in the future. However, that is not the decisive point for him: “It is much more important that we do not leave these topics to others.”
He says that up to now this kind of project often failed because the researchers did not have the right horticultural knowledge. For example a well known pharmaceuticals company contacted the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück when medicinal plants that were grown indoors had insufficient drug levels. “Horticultural know-how is necessary for this kind of project”, said Ulbrich encouragingly in Ahlem.
About the author: Katrin Klawitter is a freelance journalist for the green sector. She is part of the editorial team for TASPO and other media.
Prof. Dr. Andreas Ulbrich from the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück
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Behind The Rise And Fall of Growing Power
Behind The Rise And Fall of Growing Power
The urban farming powerhouse had a global reputation. Then, it collapsed last year under mounting debt, prompting big questions about what happened and what comes next.
Will Allen in a Growing Power greenhouse. (Photo credit: Growing Power)
03.13.18
Will Allen is a beloved figure. The former professional basketball player and founder of the Milwaukee-based nonprofit Growing Power has had an influence on urban agriculture that is as conspicuous as his 6’7 inch frame and the characteristic sleeveless hooded sweatshirts that reveal his lumberjack biceps.
In 1993, Allen bought the city’s last remaining farm at 5500 Silver Springs on Milwaukee’s north side, four miles from the nearest grocery store and five blocks from the nearest public housing projects. What grew from that 19th-century greenhouse could not be measured in pounds, bushels, or even dollars. What arose was a nonprofit organization that expanded people’s ideas about what was possible in local food production and youth education.
Then, last November, facing insurmountable debt and legal pressure (the nonprofit has eight pending judgments totaling nearly half a million dollars) the board of directors decided to dissolve Growing Power. Many questions remain about what caused the organization’s downfall, but as Allen told Civil Eats recently, he has no intention of retiring.
“The shutdown was unfortunate and something I had no control over,” said Allen, who is still working on the farm. “We’re trying to get this place back to its original glory days. What’s been reported is absolutely not true. I can’t tell the story because it’s too involved, but I can tell you that we’re on our way back.”
As the story unfolds—and accounts differ—the downfall of Growing Power raises larger questions about the risks of scaling up urban agriculture in today’s complex philanthropic world.
The Early Days
From the beginning, Allen, a son of sharecroppers who grew up on a farm in Maryland, had two distinct priorities for his farm: composting and youth mentorship—the latter informed by the former. In drafty old greenhouses, Allen taught low-income children how to grow compost in rows of wooden boxes. Worms fed on decomposing vegetables, circuitously depositing dense nutrients into the soil and creating healthy compost, which was then sold by the organization. The compost was an essential part of the work.
Where most people see vacant lots, Allen saw vegetables. Growing Power built over 100 hoop houses, each one spread with more than 100 yards of compost over asphalt and concrete. “You have to assume every vacant lot has contaminants in the soil,” he said. “So that why I started this practice of composting at scale.”
Growing Power soon incorporated aquaponics, another closed-loop system that produced farmed fish and simultaneously fertilized the plants with their waste. In just six months, 50 tilapia emerged from this rudimentary but brilliant system.
Growing Power’s Milwaukee farm. (Photo credit: Will Allen)
A defining characteristic of Allen’s work was the way in which his social programs emulated the holistic feedback loops of his farm. Decorative plants were used for landscaping, then sold to schools and community centers, funding the continuation of the program. Students learned how to read, write, and can vegetables. Growing Power worked with the local juvenile justice system, training and rehabilitating children by planting flowers in vacant lots whereby Allen’s own estimation—they might’ve otherwise been used for selling drugs.
The 1990s in urban Milwaukee was unkind to its young Black men. In this period there were four times as many African Americans incarcerated annually for drug-related offenses as white men. (This persisted over the subsequent decade, with disparities rising to 11- to 12-fold between 2002 and 2005.) On a vacant lot at 24th and Brown, a planting flurry would yield what Will calls “a flower explosion.” It was a way of running drug dealers off the corner, as it invited attention and activity. And in just two years, Growing Power itself was beginning to attract attention, on the front page of the Milwaukee paper, and from other civic leaders in high-crime neighborhoods around the country.
By the early 2000s, the local food movement was no longer localized. Farmers’ markets were popping up nationwide, and along with them a legion of so-called “good food” advocates. Growing Power was still centralized in Milwaukee, but its impact had grown nationwide. The two-acre flagship greenhouse was now a training facility with visitors coming from around the world to learn from the organization. It was a good food hub, creating access to healthy food in an area that desperately needed it.
By 2009, Growing Power was selling food online, at farmers’ markets, schools, restaurants, and via below-market-cost CSA boxes, reaching more than 10,000 people. In addition to growing and distributing food, Growing Power-led trainings grew exponentially. Visitors from the city of Milwaukee, the Midwest, and countless cities worldwide adapted Allen’s knowledge of growing, composting, and aquaponics for their communities.
Notoriety and Success
Growing Power’s expansion can be attributed, in part, to the MacArthur Genius Award Allen received in 2008, and the half-million-dollar prize that came with it. It also garnered high-level attention from the media, the food world, and former President Clinton.
Will Allen demonstrates his aquaculture system for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack (left) in 2015. (Photo credit: USDA)
Allen became a star, and his organization grew radically, from a staff of a dozen or so to 200 people. A widespread recruitment and mobilization of urban agriculture and environmental justice workers ensued. A decade later, many of those workers now lead their own urban farming enterprises.
People like Nick DeMarsh—a Growing Power employee from 2008-2010 and currently a program manager at Groundwork Milwaukee—attributes the health of Milwaukee’s urban farming community to Allen’s inspiration, saying, “We’ve seen Will as a model, and people have said, ‘How can I do that in my own neighborhood?’”
Educational programs spread throughout the region. There were leadership programs, job trainings for underserved youth, internships, and hands-on workshops. The funds also supported a Chicago chapter of Growing Power, led by Erika Allen, Will’s daughter.
There were more greenhouses and hoop houses, more kitchens and training gardens, fish, chickens, turkeys, goats, and bees. Most of what was raised on the farm was also packed, distributed, and promoted by the organization. By all accounts, Growing Power was doing exactly what they had set out to do. They were feeding, training, and exposing thousands of people to a more autonomous relationship with their food. The mission was being fulfilled, but with significant costs.
Perhaps the income and activity obscured the high operating costs, but there was income. In 2012, Growing Power was again awarded a substantial grant, this time from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Kellogg had an explicit aim to support racial equity and community engagement, and Growing Power checked a lot of boxes for them.
As the funding amplified, so did scrutiny about its origins. In fact, one of the very people that helped facilitate the crucial MacArthur grant would later become openly critical of Growing Power’s choice of funders.
Andy Fisher, the co-founder of the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC)—a food justice organization on whose board of directors Allen served for six years—had seen Allen as “an inspiring and charismatic leader.” But when Growing Power accepted a $1 million grant from the Walmart Foundation in 2011, Fisher was outspoken about his displeasure with this corporate philanthropy. Some, like Fisher, saw no distinction between the Foundation and the company, and worried that Walmart was brazenly trying to buy its way into the good food movement.
As Fisher saw it at the time, the Walmart Foundation’s giving was 100 percent linked to the strategic interests of Walmart the company. He saw the funds as an endorsement (or absolution) of the corporation’s practice of exploiting and underpaying food-chain workers, farmers, and suppliers. “I thought it was naive and problematic that he was taking the money and giving them a pass on their payment practices,” Fisher told Civil Eats recently.
Some of Growing Power’s hoop houses in Milwaukee. (Photo credit: Will Allen)
For his part, Allen contended that significant progress without the buy-in of large corporations was untenable. “We can no longer be so idealistic that we hurt the very people we’re trying to help. Keeping groups that have the money and the power to be a significant part of the solution away from the Good Food Revolution will not serve us,” he said at the time, in a statement on the Growing Power blog.
Regardless of the source, from 2012 through 2015, more money was exiting than entering Growing Power’s doors. Internal Revenue Service documents from 2014 show that the nonprofit was running substantial deficits, in excess of $2 million that year. In 2015, an investor in a for-profit spinoff, Will Allen Farms LLC, filed a lawsuit against Allen and his accountant Thomas Schmitt. The investor alleged that she had been misled about the development of an industrial laundry site to be turned into an aquaponic facility.
The Fallout
People close to the organization were saddened by the news of its dissolution, but many were not surprised. As far back as 2014, the Chicago chapter of Growing Power had begun to move toward independent accounting and funding strategies. Warning signs about Growing Power’s financial health were embedded in its mandatory annual filings and felt by its vendors.
And despite Allen’s passion and dedication, he may have suffered from a bit of founder’s syndrome. Fisher theorizes that Allen’s inability to empower and retain an operational management team was the main cause of the organization’s collapse.
“Will centralized all the power in himself, but he was never around. It became dysfunctional,” Fisher said. “They tried to at times bring in others to run day-to-day operations so Will could have a more outward-facing role, but that person would resign and inevitably they’d go back to the old system.”
Will Allen (back row, right) at a 2016 White House garden event, alongside Barack and Michelle Obama, Alonzo Mourning, Sesame Street characters, and many others. (Official White House photo by Chuck Kennedy)
Erika Allen, who has reorganized the Chicago chapter of Growing Power as Urban Growers Collective (UGC), also noted an inadequate composition of board members as a vulnerability of the organization. “There were weaknesses on the board. A little analysis would’ve exhibited the losses, and that the nonprofit needed to run more like a business,” she said.
Conflicting Accounts
After Growing Power announced its discontinuance, it was reported that Brian Sales, founder of Green Veterans, would assume the transition. Sales, a Florida veteran who’d only met Allen one year prior, said he created Green Vets as a means of trauma resolution and green jobs skills training for military veterans. He reached out to Allen and soon after had joined him in Milwaukee for a 30-day aquaponics training. He was persistent about working with Allen, who soon gave him a job as an assistant facilities manager at the headquarters in Milwaukee, where he worked until the nonprofit’s closure in November 2017.
Prior to Growing Power’s shutdown, Sales began working with Groundwork Milwaukee, a nonprofit chapter of an environmental land trust that also supports more than 100 urban farms in the city. The hope was that Sales would help manage the transition.
Deneine Powell, Groundwork Milwaukee’s executive director, told Civil Eats she was in regular communication with Allen and that she was under the impression that he planned to retire. Sales also seemed certain about Allen’s retirement and reported that he was “always hinting at retirement” and grooming Sales as a successor.
Allen denied making any arrangements with Sales. And while he wouldn’t share any details about his plans with Civil Eats, he said he hopes to reveal more soon. “My focus has to be on getting this place back and getting possession of it,” Allen said of the lot on Silver Springs Street.
It’s clear that, in the meantime, Allen, Sales, and Groundwork all appear to be actively working to shape Allen’s legacy. But just how coordinated those efforts will be is another question.
Lessons Learned
What can the demise of Growing Power teach the food movement? For some, collaboration (or lack thereof) was a prominent theme. Sales speculates that an inadvertent siloing of Growing Power left it too exposed. “One organization cannot take on that big of a task; you need multiple organizations that will work as part of the spokes on a wheel,” he said. Meanwhile, Allen echoed his daughter’s sentiments that a lack of oversight by board members compromised the organization’s financial health.
What is certain, however, is the undeniable impact the organization has had over the last two and a half decades. “The training, learning, and benefits of Growing Power will be felt for years to come,” said Ricardo Salvador, director of the food and environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a former program officer for the Kellogg Foundation. Everyone Civil Eats spoke to for this article unanimously agreed on that point.
Erika Allen said UGC is now centered on empowering young people of color through education. “Growing Power was about feeding people, but for us, the education component is higher-stakes,” she said. She noted that training programs are expensive to operate—even those that generate their own revenue tend to rely on outside funding. More fastidious financial oversight would’ve likely helped Growing Power arrive at the same conclusions, but for now, she hopes “to take the lessons of what worked” and move forward.
Will Allen photo by Carlos Ortiz (Photo courtesy of Will Allen.
It’s clear that Will Allen’s legacy will live on in the many organizations that grew from his work. In addition to empowering a generation of community leaders all across the country, who have gone on to radically transform their lives and neighborhoods, he also succeeded at teaching and protecting vulnerable Black children in an era when very few other entities were up to the task.
A common adage for Allen was, “We’re not just growing food, we’re growing community.” By that measure, his success is timeless. Allen is optimistic about the next generation of farmers, but he knows it will be a hard road and frames this challenge as only he can. “To be a sustainable farmer and grow without chemicals is harder than being a professional athlete,” he said, adding that he knows this first-hand, “because I‘ve been both.”
Italy: SAIM Service's Vacuum Cooling Technology
Italy: SAIM Service's Vacuum Cooling Technology
Vacuum cooling uses the principle of low-temperature evaporation of a fraction of the humidity found in a product. This results in a quick stress-free pre-cooling that guarantees a reduced drop in weight while hastening commercialization times.
"Leaf vegetables can be cooled in 20-30 minutes, taking them from 25 to 3-5°C without stress," explains Yuri Simonelli from SAIM Service.
How vacuum cooling works - Click photo to enlarge
The company has been working in the post-harvest technology sector for 30 years - from cold storage units, ozone gas applications for the sanitation of air and water, detanning and modified atmosphere to hydro and pressure cooling.
The vacuum cooling technology
In 2017, SAIM Service added vacuum cooling to the vast range of technology supplied thanks to its partnership with Dutch company Weber Cooling.
Vacuum cooler models - Click photo to enlarge
This type of cooling is particularly suitable for products with a high surface/weight ratio such as leaf lettuce, spinach, mushrooms, sprouts as well as more compact products such as green beans, broccoli, celery, and corn.
Vacuum cooling works from the core of the product, extending its shelf-life and storage time. This, in turn, makes it easier to ship it to foreign markets.
"Different internal and final temperatures are needed according to storage and shipping times: a cooling temperature of 5°C or higher is enough for short times and distances while longer storage times and long distances require a temperature closer to 1°C."
Such conditions can be achieved and managed using refrigerated storage and transport in combination with vacuum cooling.
Vacuum cooler models - Click photo to enlarge
The company has a flexible demo machine (small quantities) for those wishing to test the technology.
More than just vegetables…
SAIM Service's partnerships with companies both in Italy and abroad and its attentiveness towards new market needs have led it to developing new applications. Compost for mushroom cultivation and heavy products such as peat for grass-turf can also be cooled with this technology. And there's more: it is also suitable for pre-baked bread and flowers.
Some of the products vacuum cooling can be used for
In 2018, SAIM Services also extended its headquarters and hired new personnel. In addition, it is active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Contacts:
Yuri Simonelli
Cell.: +39 335 6270026
SAIM Service
Via Pantanello, 19 (Z.I)
04022 Fondi (LT)
Tel.: +39 (0)771 510470
Fax: +39 (0)771 532029
Email: info@saimimpianti.com
Web: www.saimimpianti.com
Publication date: 3/14/2018
This Local AGTech Startup Wants You To Forget Everything You Know About Farming
This Local AGTech Startup Wants You To Forget Everything You Know About Farming
By Andrew Moore
March 15, 2018
In November 2016, Tyger River Smart Farm constructed a 13,000-square-foot greenhouse and 3,500-square-foot harvesting facility on 30 acres in Greer. The expansion has increased the farm’s production capacity tenfold. Photo by Will Crooks.
Industrial agriculture has allowed farmers to maximize the potential yield of their crops for centuries. But it has done so at a major cost to the environment — a cost characterized by a steady decline in soil productivity, reduced water quality, elevated levels of carbon dioxide, habitat loss, and more.
Unfortunately, the negative consequences of industrial agriculture are set to worsen in the coming decades as the national population grows and urban sprawl continues to swallow large swaths of productive farmland. The American Farmland Trust, a group working to promote healthier farming practices, estimates that 24 million acres of agricultural land have been developed since 1982.
As a solution, an increasing number of entrepreneurs are turning to controlled-environment agriculture (a combination of engineering, plant science, and computer-managed greenhouse control technologies) to optimize plant growing systems, plant quality, and production efficiency.
One company that’s leveraging the power of CEA is Tyger River Smart Farm.
The Greer-based operation grows a variety of lettuces, chard, kale, and basil through the use of hydroponics — the method of cultivating plants without soil by instead using a nutrient-rich solution to deliver water and minerals to their roots.
“I don’t have a problem with people who adhere to conventional farming methods,” said Ryan Oates, owner and founder of Tyger River Smart Farm. “But I do think growing crops with hydroponics is more beneficial to both the consumer and the environment.”
Growing a business
Despite being the first person in his family to farm, Oates is no stranger to plants.
Oates studied plant biology at Clemson University and conducted numerous research projects at the Genomics Institute. He then enrolled at Miami University in Ohio to pursue a graduate degree in plant molecular biology but decided to drop out after becoming disenchanted with academia.
Upon his return to the Palmetto State, Oates spent several years as a financial planner in his father’s business. He then worked in commercial cabinetry for nearly a decade. In 2012, Oates stumbled onto the concept of hydroponic farming and decided to install a system in an existing greenhouse behind his parents’ home in Duncan.
“My mom loves to garden, so she built the greenhouse as a hobby,” Oates said. “But she was no longer using it, so I thought I would give hydroponics a try. It just seemed like something I would enjoy doing as a full-time job.”
Ryan Oates
Oates eventually outfitted his mother’s 1,300-square-foot greenhouse with fans, an evaporative cooling system, a propane heater, overhead LED lights, and hydroponics equipment. He officially launched Tyger River Smart Farm in August 2013. But the new venture didn’t come without challenges, according to Oates. A power outage, for instance, stopped the flow of water for about two hours and decimated about 70 percent of his crop. Oates outfitted the greenhouse with a generator shortly after.
Following the first harvest in February 2013, Oates had to give away most of his produce to neighbors due to a lack of customers. But then Tyger River Smart Farm was accepted into the TD Saturday Market in downtown Greenville. The market, which runs on Main Street on Saturday mornings from May 6 through Oct. 28, has become a signature event since its launch in 2002 and typically features more than 75 vendors that sell farm-fresh produce, baked goods, meats, cheeses, seafood, and other specialty foods.
“We owe a lot of our success to the TD Saturday Market,” Oates said. “The market not only helped us sell our produce that summer. It also helped us get our name out there and gain new customers.”
Tyger River Smart Farm has since become a vendor at the Greer Farmers Market and Hub City Farmers Market in Spartanburg, according to Oates.
The farm also sells fresh produce to a variety of local restaurants and grocers, including the Swamp Rabbit Café and Grocery in Greenville, Tandem Creperie and Coffeehouse in Travelers Rest, The Farmer’s Table in Spartanburg, Stella’s Southern Bistro in Simpsonville, Cribbs Kitchen in Spartanburg, Restaurant 17 in Travelers Rest, Adam’s Mobile Market in Easley, and GB&D in the Village of West Greenville.
Farming as a science
As the farm’s reputation and customer base continued to grow over the years, Oates realized that Tyger River Smart Farm would need to scale to survive.
In November 2016, Oates expanded his operation by constructing a 13,000-square-foot greenhouse and 3,500-square-foot harvesting facility on 30 acres in Greer. The expansion has increased the farm’s production capacity tenfold, according to Oates.
Oates said the new greenhouse relies heavily on automation. The facility features natural gas heaters, recirculating fans, exhaust fans, mechanical vents, and an evaporative cooler that aids in controlling the temperature and humidity. It also features a retracting shade system that helps with temperature control and light levels.
“Traditional farming isn’t easy,” Oates said. “But our CEA system requires us to monitor our plants on a real-time basis and watch how they react to different conditions. It’s much more process-oriented, so all the automation really helps.”
He added that the farm’s greenhouse uses carbon dioxide generators, which enrich the surrounding air if the levels become low, and more than 100 LED lights, which provide supplemental lighting during the winter months when solar light levels are too low for growing crops. It also uses an environmental controller, which is responsible for sensing environmental conditions and integrating all of the equipment through computer logic to produce a consistent environment year round.
As for growing the produce, Tyger River Smart Farm employs a Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) system, a soilless technique that bathes the roots of the plants in water infused with carefully monitored nutrients.
Tyger River Smart Farm uses over 100 LED lights to provide plants with supplemental lighting during the winter months when solar light levels are too low for growing crops. Photo by Will Crooks.
Oates typically begins the process by purchasing seeds from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Maine or Paramount Seeds in Florida. The seeds are then germinated in a propagation room, which is completely enclosed and controlled with central heat and air.
After basking in the pink glow of LED lights for one to two weeks, the seedlings are relocated into nursery channels in the greenhouse, which sits on a well and 600-gallon underground tank. The water from the tank is then mixed with nutrients and sent down the channel, where it flows over the roots of the plants. Excess water is then collected at the end of the channels and returned to the water tank.
The nutrient water is then pumped from the main storage tanks back into the plastic channels, according to Oates. Thus, no water or nutrients is ever wasted. The same environmental controller in the greenhouse is responsible for maintaining optimum nutrient and pH levels in the storage tanks.
When the produce is harvested, it is packaged and sold with the roots in order to maintain the plant’s lifespan and nutritional value. During the peak of the season, Oates harvests between 8,000 and 9,000 plants a week, but he continues to produce plants all year round.
“The best part about hydroponics is that I get to harvest plants during the winter months when other farms are buried under the snow,” Oates said. “It definitely helps me stay ahead of the competition.”
The farm’s hydroponic system also has various environmental benefits, according to Oates. About 1,500 square feet of the greenhouse, for instance, is dead space reserved for an insect screen, which allows the farm to not use any toxic pesticides, insecticides, or herbicides during the growing process. And the recirculation process from the farm’s NFT system uses about one-tenth of the water a traditional farm usually uses. And since soil is not used, there is no chance of contamination through runoff.
Tyger River Smart Farm also utilizes various methods to conserve energy. Last year, for instance, Oates purchased and installed a large solar array behind the greenhouse that’s capable of producing enough electricity to power the entire operation.
Planning for the future
While hydroponic farming can be more lucrative than traditional farming and beneficial to the environment, it can also be challenging. Plants, for instance, require over a dozen essential nutrients that must be administered according to species, growth stage, and local conditions, such as water hardness.
“Hydroponic farmers have to understand how plants and nutrients interact in order to be successful,” Oates said. “We use a lot of automation, but we’re still dealing with living things that react to the environment. Luckily, I have a background in plants and can tell pretty quickly whether or not I need to make an adjustment to the system.”
Oates has hired three full-time employees since launching the farm in 2012, but he still spends up to 70 hours a week tending to plants in the greenhouse. “Hydroponics is a double-edged sword,” he said. “We get to farm year-round, which gives us a leg-up on the competition. But we don’t really get vacations or holidays because we have to get the work done when the plants demand it.”
Tyger River Smart Farm grows a variety of lettuces, chard, kale, and basil through the use of hydroponics — the method of cultivating plants without soil by instead using a nutrient-rich solution to deliver water and minerals to their roots. Photo by Will Crooks.
The industry forecast, however, makes all the hard work worthwhile, according to Oates.
The U.S. hydroponic industry has grown consistently the past five years and is projected to continue into 2022, according to market research group IBISWorld. Industry revenue rose 3.4 percent to a total of $848 million the past five years ending 2017. Its outlook declined to a yearly rate of 0.2 percent until 2022.
Oates hopes to reach new customers in the coming years by selling produce through local distributors. The farm has already partnered with a wholesale distributor to sell basil at numerous Ingles supermarkets across the Upstate and Western North Carolina.
He also plans to expand the farm by constructing another 13,000-square-foot greenhouse in 2019. “It will just be an addition to what we have now,” Oates said. “We really want to become an industrial operation, and we’re pretty close to that now, but this addition will pretty much complete that transition.”
Local Garden Becomes Family Business Venture
Local Garden Becomes Family Business Venture
March 8, 2018, by Zarah Parker, Leave a Comment
Amy Williams (bottom left) with husband and children standing by their backyard garden. Photo supplied
From backyard garden in our local community to a small business, Amy Williams is keeping the gardening tradition alive in the family with Underhill Urban Farm Co, a non-GMO, organically grown farm and garden that uses heirloom seeds, that are all locally grown.
Her father, an organic farmer, taught her the ins and outs of farming, while her mother taught her how to can different items, like pickles, jams, and jellies. Growing up with fruits and veggies in the backyard and on the table was something Williams was used to. So, it was natural that she’d have a garden of her own and use it to teach her children as well.
“We kind of grew up like that. It was a natural thing for me to do it, and for the kids to be a part of it,” said Williams.
Around a year and a half ago the thought of using the garden as a business sprung up, then everything fell into place and the business was born. Underhill Urban Farm Co is first and foremost a family thing. Williams grows in her local garden but uses her father’s garden as well. Williams is also always accompanied in the kitchen by a family who helps develop new recipes, as with the grapefruit Jalapenos jelly that sold out first during their last farmers market appearance.
In all it’s her parents, her husband, and her five children that take on the responsibility that comes with the garden and business.
“I like it being small, I like it being just a family thing. There’s something about that that makes it really special to us, and I don’t want it to get to a point that it loses what it is, because this is our passion and being able to do that with my kids, that’s really special to me,” said Williams.
With a garden to upkeep, and business to run, Williams also homeschools. She says it’s never easy to find the perfect balance, especially with five kids, but gardening and the creation of Underhill has provided amazing learning opportunities for the kids.
“There’s so many different aspects of [gardening], but also with the business side. They’re kind of seeing how to run a business; what you need to do to run a business. It’s been a really good learning experience for them,” said Williams.
A challenge Underhill had to face recently was the weather this winter. With fall being almost nonexistent, to an unexpected winter, it was tough to keep the garden in good shape. Luckily, with the help of the whole family, they made it through the freezes, whereas other farms weren’t so fortunate.
During the spring and summer months, the only worry is garden pests.
“But we’ve gotten to where we are able to do companion planting. So, there are certain herbs that will repel certain pests, which makes it easier because we don’t use pesticides,” said Williams.
Except for a few months ago when Williams couldn’t figure out what was getting in her garden. She’d even put a new fence up. Turns out, they were having a Peter Rabbit situation of their own. Williams soon noticed the fault lay with her.
“Then I realized I had bought rabbit fencing and I had put it upside down. The big holes were supposed to be at the top and I had put them on the bottom,” said Williams. The rabbit was able to hop right through the fence with no problem.
Beginning this month, they will be close to home at Little White Oak Night Market. For Williams, the best part of joining a Farmers Market is the encouragement given by other vendors. There’s no competition—everyone’s there for one another hoping they succeed as well.
Look out for Underhill at the market with their variety of squash, zucchini, melons, luffa gourd, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, peas, asparagus, citrus, and blackberries!
You can be kept up to date on which markets they will be at on their Facebook page at Underhill Urban Farm Co and on Instagram @underhillurbanfarmco.
Urban Farm Creates Much-Needed Retail ‘Customer Experience’
04 MAR 18
Urban Farm Creates Much-Needed Retail ‘Customer Experience’
Frasers Property Australia has teamed up with the “poster boy for zero-waste living”, Joost Bakker, to build the world’s most sustainable shopping centre – equipped with a 2000sq m rooftop urban farm.
As bricks and mortar retail struggles against the spectre of online shopping, retailers will need to adapt to constantly-evolving consumer needs to stay relevant.
And Frasers is doing just, announcing plans to regenerate the Burwood Brickworks in Melbourne’s east into a shopping mall that focuses on customer experience rather than the simple “need to shop”.
Frasers development manager Jack Davis says that creating a new level of experience will be crucial in addressing the needs and desires of customers.
“The real commodity becomes the visceral experience when a shopper walks through the front door, because the better that feeling is, the more often people will seek it out,” Davis said.
Related reading: Building an Edible Future: Joost Bakker
To achieve this, Frasers are using “The Living Building Challenge” in order to create the world's most sustainable shopping centre.
The Living Future Institute created the challenge, which is described as the “world’s most rigorous performance standard for buildings” – only 15 buildings internationally have achieved full certification and Burwood Brickworks aims to be the first retail development to do so.
The LBC requires that projects must deliver 20 per cent of site area as urban agriculture.
Related reading: Frasers Acquires Infill Land Site for Masterplan
Davis reached out to Bakker in early 2016 because of his reputation as a global pioneer when it comes to combining zero waste with organic food growing.
“After a glass of unpasteurised milk and a home-grown vegetable soup to workshop ideas at his amazing house in Monbulk, I was sold.
“Joost, who has worked as a creative consultant on the project, has brought an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience through his own personal ventures and brings a creative yet remarkably simplistic response to the challenges of the accreditation we are chasing.”
While the design encompasses a strong sustainability focus Davis says the biophilic nature of the design – which aims to connect people to the environment – also has its financial benefits for retailers.
“In a shopping centre, we believe this helps de-stress and leads to shopping at a slower pace. For our retailers, this translates to an increase in dwell time and resultant spend.”
Related reading: Frasers Buys Land in Braeside to Develop Industrial Estate
The Urban Developer spoke with a very excited Bakker, who, after more than 15 years of “talking ideas” with developers is eager to see the project come to life.
“Developers are brilliant at ‘talking’ about ideas like this (trust me I’ve spoken to many!) and rarely does an idea get executed. It’s so frustrating and a massive time waster!” Bakker said.
Despite his frustration, Bakker sees Frasers stepping up to the challenge as a monumental move towards re-thinking how shopping centres “behave” and operate.
He identifies one of the biggest problems we face as a society is the lack of nutrition in food which the Burwood Brickworks project stands to address.
“Today our food no longer nourishes us and it’s simply because we have exhausted our soils or another way to think about it is that we’ve mined the world’s top soils.
“We have been able to hide this because of the invention of synthetic fertiliser. This has given us higher yields in terms of kilos but at a massive compromise in nutrition.
“I believe the only solution to this problem is to reintegrate the ‘waste’ we generate and use it to grow food.
“I also think the most efficient and economical way to do this is to do it where we generate the waste and that’s where we live.” Bakker said.
Related reading: Frasers Property Achieves Carbon Neutral Status
Frasers acquired the Burwood East site in 2014 and the shopping centre will form part of a much larger mixed-use development – which will include residential buildings – on the 20.5 hectare former Burwood Brickworks site in Melbourne’s east.
Frasers are currently running an expressions of interest campaign to secure a tenant that will be responsible for delivering the design, construction and operation of the urban farm.
The EOI period ends 28 March 2018 with construction expected to commence mid-year.