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Australia: This Car Park Turned Urban Farm Has Grown 300 kg of Produce For People In Need
Forget the assumption that cities have a lack of space available to grow fresh produce. This experimental urban farm proves that it's possible to grow masses of vegetables in a space as small as a car park
Produce grown in the urban farm in Port Melbourne. (William Hamilton-Coates)
28 August 2019
Forget the assumption that cities have a lack of space available to grow fresh produce. This experimental urban farm proves that it's possible to grow masses of vegetables in a space as small as a car park.
By Yasmin Noone
An urban farm project in Melbourne, powered by coffee compost and food waste that would otherwise go to the landfill, has successfully reached its target and grown around 300 kilograms of vegetables and herbs for people in need.
The farm, spread across two empty car spaces in Port Melbourne industrial parking lot, was originally intended to be a 12-month experimental project run by Cirrus Fine Coffee, Biofilta and Australian Ecosystems.
But having already generated 360 kilograms of produce in under eight months and donated more than 90 per cent of food grown to OzHarvest, the farm will now remain functioning on-site indefinitely.
"So an urban farm like this aims to tackle the existence of food deserts in cities like Melbourne, and improve the nutrition of people in need.”
“In our cities, we have food deserts – areas where there are high concentrations of fast food outlets,” says Brendan Condon, director of the three sustainability companies involved in the collaboration.
“But many people can’t get access to nutrient-dense, high-quality food. So an urban farm like this aims to tackle the existence of food deserts in cities like Melbourne, and improve the nutrition of people in need.”
OzHarvest collects the produce grown at the urban farm in Port Melbourne. (Image: William Hamilton-Coates)
The small farm will now be used as a test case for a much bigger scale rooftop farm, Melbourne Skyfarm, to be built on a larger parking lot in the heart of the city in 2020.
“We tend to think that cities are congested places with no space, but in Melbourne, we have huge amounts of spare, under-utilised space to be growing food,” explains Condon.
“On top of that, we have huge streams of organic waste streams that come out of our cities, as well as massive amounts of water running off our rooftops. We could be using the water and organic waste and putting it back into urban farming.
“This small project proves that cities can be really food abundant and we can grow huge amounts of food in small spaces.”
How coffee compost and food waste is charging this urban farm
The farm's recipe for success is multifactorial. Firstly, it uses water-efficient wicking beds. But the real secret seems to lie in the soil, featuring composted coffee grounds and coffee chaff from the company’s roaster, as well as composted organic waste from South Melbourne Market.
Composted coffee grounds contain a large amount of minerals such as potassium, magnesium and phosphorus, calcium and iron, making them a good additive into compost. They are also a valuable source of nitrogen.
The organic waste from the markets includes fish residues. “That’s fish guts, heads, bones and innards,” he says. “Fish residues turbocharges your garden, as it’s high in nitrogen.”
Off-cuts from produce stalls at South Melbourne Market also make it into the farm’s compost heap.
“Fish residues turbocharges your garden, as it’s high in nitrogen.”
South Melbourne Market stall-holder, Alan Li from Fruits on Coventry, tells SBS he contributes masses fruit and vegetable waste to the farm.
“We sell around 45-50 tonnes of fresh food a week,” says Li. “So we fill around three green bins a day of green waste, plus two extra bins of green waste from the oranges we juice for our customers. In total, that’s about 5 big bins of green waste a day. That’s a lot of green waste that we produce, which doesn’t end up in landfill.”
Li explains leaves, off-cuts and leftover produce from the stall goes into green waste bins, before being hot composted and then donated to the urban farm for fertiliser.
“We are using our green waste to create a benefit for the community as most of the food grown at the urban farm goes towards feeding the homeless and people in need. I’m really happy with the outcome.”
Volunteers work on the urban farm, spread across two car spaces in the Cirrus Fine Coffee parking lot in Melbourne. (Image: William Hamilton-Coates)
Since the project started in January this year, the double car-park garden has grown heritage varieties of tomatoes, corn, zucchini, pumpkin, spring onion, beetroot, rainbow chard, spinach, silverbeet, flowers to attract beneficial insects and also a range of herbs like chives, basil, oregano and coriander.
Although winter has been slow, Condon believes that spring will reap a plentiful harvest.
“We can’t grow all of the diverse food plants that comprise the entire modern diet,” says Condon.
“But by volume, weight and value, we can punch a big hole in city food demands within city limits by using readily available organics that we currently treat as waste.”
This Brilliant Hydroponic System Puts A Whole Garden On Your Countertop
Growing your own food is one of life’s great pleasures—plus it’s good for you and for the environment. But in increasingly tight, urban homes, we don’t all have room for gardens
08.19.19
It’s Not Just A Garden—It’s A Work of Art
[Photos: courtesy Bace]
Growing your own food is one of life’s great pleasures—plus it’s good for you and for the environment. But in increasingly tight, urban homes, we don’t all have room for gardens. And hydroponic systems, as appealing as they may be, often appear to be a whole lot of hardware for only a bit of actual green. Some fresh arugula would be nice for dinner, but who wants giant plastic box taking up half their kitchen to get a few leaves?
[Photo: courtesy Bace]
The Rotofarm, by an Australian company called Bace (which appears to have produced skincare products in a past life), is a space-friendly hydroponic system, and it doubles as a beautiful sculpture in your home. With a circular design, which rotates plants like a Ferris wheel through the day, the Rotofarm is able to fit nearly five feet of growing area inside a countertop footprint of just 11 inches. Water is dispersed through the nutrient and water reservoir in the stainless steel base, and a bright LED grow light lives in the middle like a tiny sun. Then to harvest, you can tilt the farm 180-degrees and pull off its clear cover. You take what you want (kale, mint, lettuce, spinach, or, yes, marijuana), and close it back up.
Of course, you might be wondering, will it work? Can you grow plants upside down? In fact, you can. NASA has discovered that root systems understand how to grow just fine in zero gravity. Meanwhile, existing rotary systems like the Omega Garden contend that moments of flipped gravity can actually help plants grow and flower, but you wouldn’t want the Omega Garden’s giant drums in your apartment. “The rotary design has been around in agriculture for a while, but these are things that take up a whole room with giant troughs of water underneath,” says Bace’s founder Toby Farmer (yes, his name is “farmer”). “Rotofarm is the first concept that really belongs inside the home.”
[Photo: courtesy Bace]
The Rotofarm is supposed to debut on Kickstarter next month. Despite connecting with Farmer on email, we’re left with all sorts of questions about its true feasibility. Will you need to buy the special, potentially expensive fertilizer packets for the machine seen in the teaser video? What’s the monthly power usage like? How will some teased automation features—from misting to overgrowth sensors—actually work? And of course, what will the whole thing cost?
As a prototype, the Rotofarm is intriguing. As a product, it has all sorts of everyday execution details that need to be just right for the system to be a productive joy rather than a big, annoying, green lamp. That said, so far, so good. Rotofarm offers a convincing thesis on the future of urban gardening. Now we’ll see if the Bace product team can deliver it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Wilson is a senior writer at Fast Company who has written about design, technology, and culture for almost 15 years. His work has appeared at Gizmodo, Kotaku, PopMech, PopSci, Esquire, American Photo and Lucky Peach
VIDEO: Growing Underground
Best job title EVER! Food Futureologist Morgaine Gaye on the importance of technology and farms like ours for the future of food. With our co-founder Richard and Ben Thompson for BBC Breakfast
Growing Underground@GrownUnder
Best job title EVER! Food Futureologist Morgaine Gaye on the importance of technology and farms like ours for the future of food. With our co-founder Richard and Ben Thompson for BBC Breakfast @BBCBreaking @BBCBreaking @BBCWorld
To View The Video, Please Click Here
Resetting The Table: An Aquaponic Farm Rooted In Community
The sun is beating down on Oko Farms, and goldfish the size of sandals swim lazy circles through a tank of water shaded by a tarp-covered tent. Sunflowers sway in the wind, a light breeze rustles through planter beds, and bees hum as they move between clusters of bright little flowers
Elazar and the camera crew head to Bushwick, New York to meet the woman behind New York City's largest outdoor aquaponic farm
August 27, 2019
To View The Video, Please Click Here
[Photographs: Vicky Wasik. Video: Serious Eats Video.]
Editor's note: Resetting the Table is a monthly Serious Eats video series celebrating the diverse foodways that inform the way we eat in America. In each segment, Elazar Sontag cooks and talks with someone whose work in food, farming, or social justice is making a difference.
The sun is beating down on Oko Farms, and goldfish the size of sandals swim lazy circles through a tank of water shaded by a tarp-covered tent. Sunflowers sway in the wind, a light breeze rustles through planter beds, and bees hum as they move between clusters of bright little flowers. It’s not the kind of scene you expect to find in noisy, traffic-jammed Brooklyn, squeezed between a pizza shop and a banner promising "Fast & Professional!!" tax preparation services. But on this plot of land in Bushwick, Yemi Amu has transformed an abandoned concrete lot into New York City’s largest outdoor aquaponic farm.
Yemi utilizes the space on her farm to grow many of the vegetables she ate growing up in the coastal city of Lagos, Nigeria. Alongside onions and kale, she also grows gburé (water leaf), clove basil, several varieties of rice, sorghum, and other hard-to-find vegetables and herbs for Nigerian chef friends to incorporate into their cooking.
[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]
Aquaponic farming is a sustainable method of growing plants and raising fish simultaneously, perfect for areas like this one, where a fire hydrant is the most accessible source of water. In aquaponics, water from a large freshwater fish tank is filtered to remove solid waste, then it's pumped through pipes into plant beds, providing the plants with nutrient-dense fertilizer. The plants filter out any toxic waste from the water, so that it’s clean when it returns to the fish tank, and the cycle repeats. This method of farming uses just a fraction of the water that conventional methods use.
Other farmers turned the Bushwick lot down, since without a water source it wasn’t farmable land. But Yemi saw the empty lot’s potential for aquaponic farming, and got to work.
Oko Farms before and during the building process. [Photographs: Courtesy of Yemi Amu.]
The 2,500-square-foot farm she has created acts as a community space of sorts. Students regularly visit Oko Farms to learn about aquaponic farming, and Yemi welcomes anyone in the community to wander through and learn more about what she’s doing. When she's not tending to her own farm, Yemi helps build aquaponic farms throughout New York.
Early one morning, I headed to Oko with the Serious Eats camera crew to meet Yemi, learn about aquaponic farming and the incredible work she’s doing in her community, and to cook lunch on the beautiful farm.
This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Serious Eats. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.
ELAZAR SONTAG ASSISTANT EDITOR
Elazar Sontag is a writer from Oakland, California, living in Brooklyn. He’s the author of Flavors of Oakland: A Cookbook in 20 Stories, a book about home cooks and their food cultures. He's written for the Washington Post, New York Magazine, Vice, and this excellent website. Find him on Instagram: e_zar
VIDEO: Plants Ready To Go In At New Russian Indoor Farm
iFarm is a Russian vertical farming company that both operates farms and supplies the techniques to do so, as well as conducting a lot of research to get the best out of leafy greens, vegetables, berries and flowers
Plants can go in any day now at the newly installed vertical farm by the Russian company iFarm. The project, which is located in the city of Novosibirsk, is eight layers high and is the first project of this size conducted by the iFarm team.
“Our technologies for vertical farming have passed another test", co-founder Konstantin Ulyanov shares proudly. "Earlier we projected and built small farms which we tested the automation on, sampled the taste quality and contents of the lettuce and herbs. We learned to scale the technology (three times for this particular project), and increased the amount of varieties that could be grown in our farm."
iFarm is a Russian vertical farming company that both operates farms and supplies the techniques to do so, as well as conducting a lot of research to get the best out of leafy greens, vegetables, berries and flowers. Earlier this year they opened a laboratory for edible flowers. Currently they are also realizing projects near Moscow. Construction of three farms will start this month. "The next step is to launch such farms via distributors, like we already do abroad", Konstantin adds. For example, an iFarm showroom is being realized in Helsinki.
Some serious numbers
The new farm is located in the building of a former car dealer. To get this one ready for indoor growing, 20 tons of construction materials have been brought to the site, of which 90 stacks with 8 layers each have been installed. In it also 3 kilometers of wiring, 20 square meters of partitions and 1000 meters of pipeline. It took 10 people working in two shifts to assemble the racks in 30 days - working without a day off. They drilled 3333 holes and connected 60,0000 parts to assemble the 90 racks.
The first seeds will be planted at the end of August. Six types of leafy greens will be grown on 749 shelves: romaine lettuce, kale, chards, leaf lettuce, basil and bok choy. The overall growing area will comprise 1000 square meters, and planned production capacity is 42 thousand pots a month.
Pesto
The new production site will be equipped with a processing center to create pesto from the rucola and basil, as well as healthy chips, oils and fresh juices. Another part of the farm will be turned into a showroom: the visitors will be able to see the greenery growing process through glass partitions.
The vertical farm has been constructed with the help of attracted private investments. The projected payback period for a vertical farm of this size should be reached within 5 years. The farm will be producing 25 to 30 tons of greenery a year, the production margin being 27%. The first crops should be collected in October 2019.
Company Vega-Absolut acts as a strategic and technological partner of iFarm. The first vertical iFarm with a showroom of 300 square meters growing area is currently operational at the Novosibirsk science campus.
DASCOM Americas Announces Contained Environment Horticulture Systems To Be Globally Marketed And Jointly-Branded As HYVETM and EPONICTM
According to Ken Bryant, Marketing Director for DASCOM Americas: “The joint-branding effort will provide consistency and logistical advantages for our clients and prospects worldwide
August 22, 2019, Verona, Virginia – DASCOM Americas, a worldwide diversified technology leader today announced a joint branding initiative for its complete indoor hydroponic farming systems. Going forward the systems will be developed, marketed, and sold as either HYVETM (www.growhyve.com) or EPONICTM (www.eponicagriculture.com) depending on the geographic region of the globe.
HYVETM is led by Ron Acorn, President of DASCOM Americas and has its offices and grow lab facilities approximately 2 1⁄2 hours southwest of Washington, D.C.
EPONICTM is a brand of Eponic Agriculture Company, Ltd. Based in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China. Eponic Agriculture is led by Liu Guowei, a noted developer, engineer, entrepreneur, and horticulture system specialist. The company has enjoyed success throughout Asia and Europe with its innovative hydroponic growing systems and has developed a branded following with the EPONICTM name.
The respective farming systems consist of scalable product offerings including a comprehensive solution for commercial growing which includes vertical racking, irrigation, fertigation, LED grow lighting, robotics, programmable logic control, and other ancillary system components that provide industrial growers with a “complete solution” from one source.
Acorn says of the commercial vertical system: “Our complete solution is different than any system in the market because we combine all elements of contained environment horticulture into one product system offering. Our vertical racking offering is designed to provide growers with a great return on investment and consumers with a choice for the healthiest and freshest plants in the market. Indoor farming cuts down on transportation and spoilage costs, limits the exposure to diseased plants, and is safer largely because of no need for herbicides or pesticides.”
The brands are also offering a smaller home hydroponic unit that is a solid offering for education, residential, or small business use. The “LF-ONE” allows users to grow up to 54 mature plants per grow cycle and is programmable and automated much like the larger system. It is easy to assemble and use and provides fresh produce and the opportunity to grow 365 days a year.
Going forward HYVETM will direct its primary focus and brand in the North America and LAT regions of the globe. EPONICTM will be the brand name for systems marketed in EMEA and most of China and select other Asia-Pacific Regions. The exception in the China market will be that XiaMen New Green Ecological Technology Company LTD will utilize the HYVETM brand name as part of an exclusive distributorship agreement.
According to Ken Bryant, Marketing Director for DASCOM Americas: “The joint-branding effort will provide consistency and logistical advantages for our clients and prospects worldwide. EPONIC Agriculture is an expert company in development of products for contained horticulture systems. Our collaboration from day one has been extremely strong. Together this will allow us to capitalize on the strong EPONICTM brand in select markets while we build the HYVETM brand in our region of the world, while assuring our combined customers and prospects will experience consistency in equipment advances, customer service, and pricing.”
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Video: Learn How To Use The Bluelab Pulse Meter To Measure Moisture on A 10 x 20 Tray of Microgreens.
Pulse connects directly to your smartphone via the Pulse app for automated data collection, measurement comparison, storage and exporting
Quickly and consistently measure moisture, nutrient (measured in conductivity) and temperature directly in the root zone without the need for pour-throughs, slurries or extractions.
Pulse connects directly to your smartphone via the Pulse app for automated data collection, measurement comparison, storage and exporting
THE NICK GREENS GROW TEAM CAN HELP YOU
ANSWER THESE TOUGH QUESTIONS:
Do you have an efficient and dependable grow room and system?
Are your crops food safe?
Do you have a sustainable farm and a proven business model?
Can you determine crop yield, cost $/lb, and labor costs on a daily basis?
Is your crop mix optimized for production and profitability?
Crop One Grows Food Hydroponically With Unique Formulas For Each Plant
Crop One is a vertical farming holding company for two subsidiaries – FreshBox Farms, Millis, Mass., and a joint venture with Emirates Flight Catering, Dubai South, United Emirates
Crop One is hardware agnostic but develops its own proprietary software and data analytics platform that governs its growing process as well as it farms.
Hydroponic Technology and Data Analytics in Vertical Farming
Dave Vosberg, CFO & SVP Strategy | Crop One
07/30/19 Indoor & Vertical Farming
Tell us about Crop One and your role with the company.
Crop One is a vertical farming holding company for two subsidiaries – FreshBox Farms, Millis, Mass., and a joint venture with Emirates Flight Catering, Dubai South, United Emirates. Crop One has been in commercial production longer than any other major vertical farmer in the U.S. It produces the highest crop yield per square foot, at 25% of the capital cost, of any vertical farm, due to its unique combination of proprietary technology platform and best-in-class plant science. For more information about Crop One and vertical farming follow the link to CropOneHoldings.com. Crop One’s mission is to solve the world’s food problems one crop at a time. The first crop we are successful with is leafy greens, but soon we will be growing fruits, proteins, some cereals and many specialty crops. My role with the company is as CFO and SVP Strategy, helping to provide the vision for corporate financial success.
Please tell us what advantages and benefits Crop One provides?
Crop One Holdings is transforming the ag tech industry, using advanced hydroponic technology and proprietary data analytics to provide pure, safe and consistent produce year round. Crop One’s differentiated technology stack and growing process make it the most advanced company in the vertical farming space. The company delivers industry-leading environmental benefits with technology that is centered around lowering costs and increasing yields. Additionally, the company is also actively experimenting with growing new crop types and cultivars, and has partnered with leading seed and research companies to develop seeds specifically bred for the controlled indoor environment.
Since sustainably feeding a growing population is a paramount interest globally, what type of international interest do you have for your farms?
Crop One Holdings, the world’s leading vertical farm operator through its FreshBox Farms brand and Emirates Flight Catering (EKFC), announced a $40 million joint venture the build the world’s largest vertical farm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The 130,000 square foot controlled environment facility will produce three US tons (6,000 pounds) of high quality, herbicide and pesticide-free leafy greens, harvested daily, using 99 percent less water than outdoor fields. Its location will enable quick delivery of fresh products within hours of harvest, maintaining the food’s nutritional value and reducing carbon emissions associated with transportation.
How big of an issue is distribution?
Distribution is the key issue. Crops are now grown far from the point of consumption often times traveling weeks before reaching supermarkets and are vulnerable to disruptions related to climate, pathogens, and chemical intervention. Addressing these challenges will require a combination of plant science, AI, agtech, software analytics, environmental sustainability and operations management to address. Crop One’s differentiated technology stack and grow process makes it the most scalable company in the vertical farming space, delivering industry-leading environmental and economic benefits.
What role have Sensors and LEDs played?
Vertical farming that can control the environment in which it grows can be liberated from climate and geography enabled by the advent of cheap LED lighting and cheap sensors. Both have allowed us to improve economics of leafy greens and will continue to allow us to permanently change the infrastructure of agriculture, one crop at a time.
What are the innovative aspects or the technological advances that make Crop One unique?
Crop One grows food hydroponically with unique formulas for each plant. Crop One is hardware agnostic but develops its own proprietary software and data analytics platform that governs its growing process as well as it farms. Crop One is technology enabled and plant science forward - it has a strong plant science team led by Dr. Deane Falcone, enabling the company to manage its cost and increase yields. The company’s plants are supported by more than 250M+ data points for maximum growth and give the exact, correct amount of water, light, and nutrients, all grown without the use of soil. The final products (leafy greens) are fresher, safer and cleaner.
What are the biggest hurdles currently facing Vertical Farming and its expansion?
To date, the biggest hurdle facing Vertical Farming has been operators who can demonstrate consistent operational and financial success in order to attract debt financing. This is an asset-heavy industry, and without debt or third-party project capital, the business is un-scalable. Crop One has consistently proven its operations and financial performance being the only vertical farm that has consistently delivered product every week for the past four years, and at positive gross margins the past two and a half years. As such, Crop One is now on a growth trajectory to significantly expand production.
Where do you see Vertical Farming and Crop One 5 years down the road?
5-10 years from now, Vertical Farming will supply roughly 50% of the value of the leafy greens market. It will also have made inroads into fruits, proteins, cereals and specialty crops. Similar to data centers, we are at the beginning of this industry and vertical farms will soon become as plentiful. Crop One will be a leader in this space, but this is a multi-winner market. Crop One will be distinguished by its leadership in plant science, technology and business model innovation.
About David Vosburg, CFO & SVP Strategy
Dave has spent his life's work founding, growing and scaling technology businesses. Crop One Holdings, trading as FreshBox Farms, is his fifth successful startup he has lead at the CXO level. As CFO and SVP Strategy for Crop One, Dave leads the finance and strategy of the company.
Dave is passionate about businesses which use technology to disrupt markets while creating significant social value. Previously, Dave was CFO of Southern Africa's largest money transfer company, outside of South Africa, CEO of Zambia's leading HR consulting and outsourcing company and CCO of an Ed-Tech startup which translated the entire Zambian primary curriculum into 5,000 flash-animated lessons.
Mr. Vosburg also served as the past President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Zambia and holds a BA from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Yale University."
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AgriTechTomorrow
Korean Agritech Startup To Export Smart Farm Solution To Middle East
South Korea’s agricultural technology startup n.thing said on July 8 it has started exporting an autonomous modular indoor farming solution Planty Cube to the United Arab Emirates
South Korea’s agricultural technology startup n.thing said on July 8 it has started exporting an autonomous modular indoor farming solution Planty Cube to the United Arab Emirates.
The autopilot farm system will allow farmers to grow greens in fully insulated indoor operations in areas with high aridity, the startup said.
The company said it is working with an undisclosed information technology partner in the Middle East.
According to the current plan, the company will grow and sell Romaine lettuce in Abu Dhabi with Planty Cube. Depending on the local market response, the type of greens will be diversified while the production volume of greens will rise, n.thing said.
Source: The Korea Herald (Son Ji-hyoung)
IDEA Teaching The Future of Growing Food With Leafy Green Machine
One of the ways is through their Leafy Green Machine at the San Benito campus, which is an old refrigerated shipping container that has been converted into a hydroponic farm for growing leafy greens and lettuces
by Jolanie Martinez. CBS 4 News
August 14th 2019
To View The Video, Please Click Here
The Leafy Green Machine at IDEA Academy San Benito (Source: KGBT)<p>
With a new school year in full swing, IDEA Public Schools is working to educate students on how to eat healthy.
One of the ways is through their Leafy Green Machine at the San Benito campus, which is an old refrigerated shipping container that has been converted into a hydroponic farm for growing leafy greens and lettuces.
"It being only 300 sq. ft. yet it's able to produce annually,” said Jordan Roney, a farmer at IDEA Public Schools in San Benito. “The same amount of lettuce and greens that you could grow on two acres of land."
The hydroponic farm gives an inside look on the future of growing food at the intersection of agriculture, technology and conservation.
"All the water that is brought into the farm is used, nothing is wasted,” explained Roney.
The system also delivers nutrients directly to the plants’ roots and uses ten gallons of water a day, which is 90% less water than traditional methods.
IDEA is the only school district in Texas to have the Leafy Green Machine.
"It is also extremely productive meaning that all the seeds that we germinate in there are not exposed to a lot of the outside pressures of pest and pets that you see in traditional farming,” said Roney.
The hydroponic system is part of an after-school program.
"My favorite part of the class is putting my time and effort to help students eat very good,” said 8th Grader at IDEA, Michael Martinez.
"We are here with our friends to try to help people be healthier and do better, so they don't have problems,” said 8th Grader at IDEA, Faith Mantis.
All the items harvested from the Leafy Green Machine goes directly to the cafeteria and used in the salad bar or served in the lunch line.
VIDEO: How To Feed 10 Billion People?
The American news platform Bloomberg launched a new video ‘How to feed 10 billion people’ in the series called ‘Problem Solved’
The American news platform Bloomberg launched a new video ‘How to feed 10 billion people’ in the series called ‘Problem Solved’. These videos focus on how scientists are trying to solve some of the biggest challenges the world faces.
How to feed 10 billion people by 2050? That is one of the questions to which NPEC research can contribute. Photosynthesis is at the heart of plant production, and while we thought this cannot be improved, we now know it can. If only one can measure photosynthesis accurately and at high-throughput, which is exactly what NPEC will provide for several crops.
For more information:
NPEC
www.npec.nl
Publication date: 8/20/2019
Can Vertical Farming Feed The World And Change The Agriculture Industry?
Can Vertical Farming Feed The World And Change The Agriculture Industry?
Year after year, cities expand and pristine natural habitats are turned into farms and pastures to support the world’s growing population. But despite our encroachment into the environment, we still struggle to feed everyone. Vertical farms could offer a solution by producing higher crop yields year-round in less space than conventional agriculture.
What Is Vertical Farming?
With land for crops and pastures growing scarce — plus the threat of pesticides and herbicides taking a toll on our health and the environment — people are exploring new ways to grow food, such as urban agriculture. In general, this is the process of growing food within city limits – whether on rooftops, in backyards or on balconies. The goal is to provide families with fresh, healthy food that isn’t laced with chemicals — and when you grow your own crops, you can control these elements.
Vertical farming is a type of urban agriculture – but vertical farms are often constructed indoors in extremely controlled environments. Crops are grown on shelves that extend upward instead of outward, and the environment is carefully monitored, so crops grow year-round.
In addition to growing crops, some vertical farmers have developed ways to grow fish in a self-sustaining system. Water from the plants is recycled into fish tanks, and the waste from the fish becomes fertilizer for the plants. Then, both the plants and fish can be harvested for food.
The benefits of vertical farming
The benefits of vertical farming are numerous. Farmers can control the crops’ environment in vertical farms, so the plants aren’t subjected to nasty weather conditions or droughts. Humidity, nutrients and water are administered to growing plants to achieve optimum growing conditions. Because of the controlled environment, crops can be harvested more than once a year, resulting in higher yields than traditional farming.
Related: The GCC’s first commercial vertical farm launches in Dubai
Vertical farms are more sustainable than conventional farms because they use less water (which is often recycled through the system), they take up less space and they use less fossil fuels because they don’t rely on heavy machinery such as tractors and harvesters.
Technology helps vertical farmers get the best output from the farm. Tailored lamps help plants get more light exposure, which encourages them to grow faster than crops that rely on the sun. Vertical farms also provide greater protection from insects, thus decreasing the need for harmful chemical products.
Downsides to vertical farming
While vertical farms can help with local hunger issues and sustainability, there are some barriers that may keep them from gaining worldwide traction. The cost of setting up a vertical farm can be prohibitive. Conservative estimates put the initial start-up cost at around $110,000, but there are estimates upward of millions of dollars.
Finding an abandoned warehouse or building in an urban setting for a reasonable price might be difficult. Since vertical farms rely on electricity for growing lamps and strict environmental controls, the location has to have reliable power — not just any old abandoned building will do. Vertical farms also depend heavily on technology, which can be costly. Keeping the lights on and the environmental controls running will impact energy use — and your budget.
Not every crop that is grown traditionally can be raised successfully in a vertical farm. Leafy greens and herbs do the best in an indoor environment, while staple crops like wheat and potatoes are difficult to grow indoors, as are some fruits and vegetables. The crops that can be harvested from a vertical garden are limited.
Growing food to feed the hungry is a noble gesture, but it also has to be profitable, especially when the initial cost to set up a vertical farm is so high. If there isn’t a market in your area, it’s a waste of time to grow large amounts of food that you won’t be able to sell.
The Verdict
Despite the downsides, the positives are plentiful. In addition to embracing sustainability and helping combat hunger, vertical farms can also encourage support for local economies. These farms can create jobs, turn a profit and provide a healthy source of food for locals.
As technology continues to advance, new approaches will improve the efficiency and productivity of vertical farms. If nothing else, the idea sparks the conversation about changing the agricultural industry and gives us a place to start for finding better, more sustainable ways to grow food.
Images via Depositphotos, Aqua Mechanical and Mike Chino for Inhabitat
under Agriculture, Features, Innovation, Sustainable Food, Urban Farming
Podcast / Video: The Microgreens Show - Episode 6
This podcast is a basic introduction to microgreens
The Microgreens Show - Episode 6
August 24, 2019
The Grow Team was asked to be on Rock 107 WIRX Podcast #19 last week. This podcast is a basic introduction to microgreens.
Nick Greens
VIDEO: Head To Our Website To Check Out Kate's Chat With Food Safety Certifier Juli Ogden
In this video, Aquaponics Association Senior Adviser Kate Wildrick and Food Safety Trainer Juli Ogden discuss food safety on the farm, and Juli’s upcoming pre-conference seminar “GLOBAL G.A.P. Made Simple”
In this video, Aquaponics Association Senior Adviser Kate Wildrick and Food Safety Trainer Juli Ogden discuss food safety on the farm, and Juli’s upcoming pre-conference seminar “GLOBAL G.A.P. Made Simple”.
GLOBAL G.A.P. is a food safety certification that applies to all farming and works great for aquaponics. Farms that sell produce to retailers need food safety certification.
Please Click Here to: Watch Food Safety Chat
It’s great to hear Juli’s inspirational message about aquaponic farmers overcoming their food safety hurdles without the headaches! Check out the video, above. And if you plan on coming to the Putting Out Fruits Conference, consider the food safety certification seminar:
Grow Your Farm: Global G.A.P. Pre Conference Event Kate and Juli discuss food safety on the farm and Juli's upcoming pre-conference seminar “GLOBAL G.A.P. Made Simple”. GLOBAL G.A.P. is a food safety certification that applies to all farming and works great for aquaponics. Farms that sell produce to retailers need food safety certification.
It’s great to hear Juli’s inspirational message about aquaponic farmers overcoming their food safety hurdles without the headaches!
Seeya soon!
Brian Filipowich, Chairman
US: Bronx, New York - Video - Green Bronx Machine Presents The Blooming Bloomberg Salad
Green Bronx Machine builds healthy, equitable, and resilient communities through inspired education, local food systems, and 21st Century workforce development
Green Bronx Machine
July 31, 2019
Visit https://greenbronxmachine.org
WE GROW VEGETABLES... AND STUDENTS! One student at a time, one classroom at a time, one school at a time.
DONATE: https://greenbronxmachine.org/donate
Green Bronx Machine builds healthy, equitable, and resilient communities through inspired education, local food systems, and 21st Century workforce development. Dedicated to cultivating minds and harvesting hope, our school-based model using urban agriculture aligned to key school performance indicators grows healthy students and healthy schools to transform communities that are fragmented and marginalized into neighborhoods that are inclusive and thriving.
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Category Education
VIDEO: Can Vertical Farming Solve Asia’s Food Crisis?
The video takes an in-depth look at Sustenir agriculture, a vertical farm located in Singapore
Vice Asia released a new video on the vertical farming industry in Singapore. The video takes an in-depth look at Sustenir agriculture, a vertical farm located in Singapore. Only 1% of the land in Singapore is available for farming and as such growers need to look towards different solutions, like vertical farming, for food production.
You can watch the full video below.
Publication date: 8/12/2019
VIDEO: Investing 20 Minutes Per Week To Grow 200 Plants
In this video the founders of Caulys explain how the fully automated, modular greenhouses only need up to 20 minutes of maintenance per week to grow up to 200 plants, ranging from aromatics, microgreens, edible flowers to small fruits and vegetables
Students at the EPFL University of Lausanne can reap the harvest of the start-up of - amongst others - Tom and Grégoire.
At the campus, they were able to install the prototypes of their smart indoor greenhouses Caulys. In this video the founders of Caulys explain how the fully automated, modular greenhouses only need up to 20 minutes of maintenance per week to grow up to 200 plants, ranging from aromatics, microgreens, edible flowers to small fruits and vegetables.
In your living room, your cafeteria, next to the coffee machine or in your restaurant: the Caulys Farm is your urban greenhouse. It enables you to access quality products, wherever you are, without GMO, pesticides, from seeds selected for their flavor and nutritional value. Grow fruits, vegetables, greens or edible flowers right in front of your eyes.
The Caulys Farm is modular, and answers to your needs.
It also respects the planet and reduces the ecological footprint of your food, requiring less packaging, transportation, using up to 95% less water compared with traditional agriculture. It allows you to eat fresh and local products, all year long.
Your greenhouse is autonomous and optimally manages its light, irrigation and nutrients delivery. Temperature, humidity and air quality are adjusted in real time to provide the best growing conditions for your production.
Blue Sky Science: How Do Plants Grow Without Dirt?
The principal purpose of soil is to provide mineral nutrition for the plant. About 20 elements make up the mineral nutrition requirements for plants, and if you can provide those, you’re providing a lot of what soil is giving to the plant
Aug 7, 2019
Q - How do plants grow without dirt?
— Ruby Taggart, Merrimac, Wis.
A - Simon Gilroy, professor in the department of botany at the University of Wisconsin-Madison:
The principal purpose of soil is to provide mineral nutrition for the plant. About 20 elements make up the mineral nutrition requirements for plants, and if you can provide those, you’re providing a lot of what soil is giving to the plant.
A long time ago, plant researchers found out that you can get plants to grow perfectly fine without soil if you provide water and the mineral nutrition. That’s the idea of hydroponics, where we can grow plants in a soil-less environment. We’re providing what they need: water and the minerals that allow them to grow.
Soil also provides structural support, so to replace soil we have to provide support in some other way. The classic way for hydroponics is to have plants growing in a plug, some inert material that provides the support. The roots grow down into a liquid. The liquid provides the minerals that the plant needs. All you need at that point is to power plant growth by photosynthesis, which is providing it with air and sunlight.
You can take that to the extreme. Some of the research being done at UW-Madison is related to figuring out how plants can be optimized to grow in space. Researchers are interested in growing plants in the space station to perhaps sustain astronauts for incredibly long journeys.
But growing in that weightless environment is not how plants evolved. Think about growing plants off the Earth where there is no soil. Think about growing them, for instance, on Mars or on the moon, where you can grow them in the dust that coats the surface of those bodies.
Providing you can balance the unique environment and added stresses, maybe add a little bit of fertilizer, you can grow plants perfectly happily under those conditions.
With minerals, water, sunlight and air, you can make a plant grow.
Blue Sky Science is a collaboration of the Wisconsin State Journal and the Morgridge Institute for Research.
Manila's Urban Greens Plans To Bring The Airbnb Model To Urban Farming
Urban Greens is the brainchild of Luxembourg-born entrepreneur Ralph Becker. The man behind the plan went to university in the UK, Paris and Singapore, before taking on a corporate job with Sony Electronics
AUGUST 5, 2019
KYLE BALDOCK
Ralph Becker’s struggle to modernise agriculture in the Philippines
Introducing Ralph Becker of Urban Greens
Urban Greens is the brainchild of Luxembourg-born entrepreneur Ralph Becker. The man behind the plan went to university in the UK, Paris and Singapore, before taking on a corporate job with Sony Electronics. During his 10-year tenure working in business and product development, he crossed the world, working everywhere from Berlin to Barcelona, from San Francisco to Tokyo.
Through all this experience, Becker always had in mind that he wanted to do something more impactful. In March, 2016, he quit Sony Mobile and moved to the Philippines, the birthplace of his mother. There was no concrete plan- he just wanted to get involved in something exciting and meaningful, and Manila’s start-up scene beckoned.
The Struggle to Modernise Agriculture in the Philippines
The Philippines, with a lush tropical climate and soil capable of growing a vast array of crops, has a rich agricultural tradition. But pressures on this tradition are growing: outdated food production methods are failing to keep pace with explosive population growth; climate change is impacting the variability of monsoon rainfall and increasing the severity of droughts; rapid industrialisation is shifting employment to the urban centres; and some within the country are worried that agriculture is being left behind.
Cursory online research alludes to a stagnant industry, struggling with such factors as an ageing workforce; lack of effective training and education; dependency on imported fertilisers and seeds that carry high prices; and poorly developed infrastructure including irrigation, transport and processing centres. The sum result is an overall agricultural system that leaves farmers unsupported, underfunded and de-incentivised.
Becker told me: ‘Other countries in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, have found success modernising their agricultural systems, but the Philippines has lagged behind.’ There is no doubt that this situation hurts society as a whole: fresh produce is more expensive in the Philippines than in the U.S. or Europe, even compared to the relative dollar or euro price.
This Isolated Island Population Imports as much as 50% of its Fresh Food.
The Philippines has an abundance of fresh fruit but most vegetables are shipped in from afar, including the U.S., Europe, New Zealand and China to reach the commercial centre of Manila. The carbon footprint from transport, warehousing and refrigeration is huge, and the associated costs are passed on to the consumer. It is clear that this island nation, like many others across the world, needs to restore a sustainable system of food production based on local needs. Becker, ever the optimist, looks at these problems and sees opportunities.
Agriculture as a Tool for Urban Transformation
While working in Japan and the U.S., Becker was exposed to hydroponics and the concepts of urban farming. This interest grew into a hobby and he began growing fresh vegetables in his apartment in central Manila, using a custom-built hydroponic system. When he posted his experiments on social media, he noticed there was a lot of interest and friends encouraged him to do it full time.
He started speaking to friends in the Food & Beverage Industry, who told him of their troubles securing high-quality produce throughout the year. He then looked around at Manila’s urban sprawl- it is one of the most densely populated cities in the world- and noticed all the idle space on rooftops and in basements; entire empty buildings seemed to be calling out for utilisation. Becker wondered: what if we could reclaim all those underutilised, un-monetised spaces and turn them into profitable urban farms- a sort of Airbnb of Urban Farming.
The Perfect Island-Based Food Production System
Thus Urban Greens was founded in October 2016 with the mission of revolutionising the Philippines’ food production mentality. They design closed-environment growing systems that are modular and scalable, adapting to the space required. All systems are run with IoT sensor technology, allowing the team to remotely monitor crop growth within each setup, providing maintenance and service only when necessary. They have so far built several growing systems in private buildings including schools and the national science museum; at the time of writing, projects with several major hotel chains in Manila are lined up. They are also in partnership with property developers working on large-scale projects that integrate AgriTech food production from the start.
Outside of Manila, the opportunities are endless. Many of the Philippines’ islands have resorts and hotels that struggle to source their food; produce usually calls in at Manila first, before being shipped to these remote destinations, adding yet another link in the transport chain. Ralph sees the Urban Greens model of modular, scalable systems as being the perfect island-based food production system. Resorts could ideally cut out the middle men by growing a proportion of their food onsite, thus commanding a higher price premium because of the quality and freshness. But before every resort in the Philippines is equipped with its own vertical farm, a systemic change is needed, starting with the way people think about the entire concept of food.
A Culture in Transition
The Filipino diet is traditionally meat-centric, with lower rates of fruit and vegetable consumption than other countries in the region. Partly due to its heritage of American influence, the Philippines have the highest number of fast food chains per square mile in the region; accordingly, it also suffers from high rates of childhood obesity and type-2 diabetes.
But young Filipinos are socially aware and active- they absorb everything on social media, including the current trend of vegan/vegetarianism and healthier lifestyles. As Ralph puts it: ‘there was no questioning before; now the younger generation is questioning everything.’ There is growing demand for fresher food from this younger demographic, but where will this fresh produce come from?
Becker believes that the answer lies in unlocking the potential of urban farming. He and his team are slowly but surely introducing the concepts of cleaner, fresher greens grown locally, with the use of hydroponics. He runs a series of workshops, seminars and programmes to introduce these concepts and get people growing on a small scale in their own homes.
What’s next for Urban Greens?
These are still early days for Urban Greens, as they look to turn their start-up vitality into the bedrock concept for a modern, Filipino agriculture. As they validate this business model, they are actively seeking partnerships and investment to realise their dream.
Read more about Urban Greens: https://www.eaturbangreens.com/
You can contact Ralph Becker by email: ralph@eaturbangreens.com
Support Urban Greens by following them on Facebook: @EatUrbanGreens
EMAIL US AT INFO@VERTICAL-FARMING.NET
TAGS: AVF MEMBERS, VF INDUSTRY
US: Las Vegas, NV - Local Hydroponic Farm Now Offering Items To The Public
Forget what you thought you knew about farming. Quality produce can now be grown anywhere, including the desert
by Gerard Ramalho
July 31st 2019
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Forget what you thought you knew about farming. Quality produce can now be grown anywhere, including the desert.
"Primarily in our systems, the leafy greens, microgreens and herbs are what we're focusing on now," said Michell Howell of Oasis Biotech on Annie Oakley Road in Las Vegas.
For the past year, the company has been perfecting their crops and growing methods, to offer the best quality produce available.
A combination of innovation meets necessity. "I'm just going to lift this up here so that you can see that the roots hang down, nutrients are added to the water so that each plant gets exactly what it needs to be able to grow and thrive," said Howell.
From lighting to climate control to, yes, specialized water, the result they say, is the most nutritious, flavorful product you can buy.
"The edible part of the plant never touches soil, the water or the nutrients. So, almost we like to say, if you wash it, you're going to be contaminating it," said Howell.
Altogether there are five large growing rooms at Oasis Biotech. Each can produce approximately ten times that of a traditional acre, partly because they grow and harvest 365 days a year.
While you won't find every vegetable imaginable here yet, offerings are expanding all the time, and just like their product, they say, business is growing.