In the corner of Cal Poly Pomona President Soraya Coley’s office suite stands an odd-looking, futuristic contraption.

At first glance, it looks like it could be a robot or communications satellite. But instead of solar panels or antennae, it has flexible arms with bright LED lamps that fold over. Leafy greens and herbs grow in little black pots on the gleaming white plastic body.

The appliance is a sustainable aeroponic vertical garden that was donated to the president’s office by LA Urban Farms, a company that is a leader in the local food growing movement.

The company assists customers in creating their own tower farms. It has helped create urban farms at UCLA and USC, which help supply produce for campus dining operations, including dining halls, restaurants, and food pantries.

It’s a farm inside a kitchen.

Carl Lasley harvested basil plants, using scissors to carefully snip the aromatic herb, trimming some and completely harvesting others. The lush, richly green plants were grown in hydroponic trays in a corner of the food serving area at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

Lasley, food and beverage director at the Darden School for the FLIK Hospitality Group, which operates Darden Dining, harvested the basil from an idea that sprouted at the University and has now returned as a realized product. 

Not only is it possible to grow food all year long, but it's being done inside a Mount Pearl office building.

Green Farm N.L. runs a food growing operation that produces leafy greens, herbs and microgreens, no matter the season, from a home base in the Donovans industrial park. 

"We're doing this in about 2,000 square feet of retrofitted office space," said founder Scott Neary. 

Hydroponics — the method of growing plants in water rather than soil — has been Neary's solution to the lack of fresh greens in the province for most of the year.

The company serves around 250 households and dozens of restaurants in St. John's and the surrounding areas by delivery and subscription service.

Welcome back to your favorite source of pre-owned hydroponic equipment information!

This month, we’re bringing you:

1. Two exciting listings for the opportunists amongst us

2. A unique case study

3. A tip to sell more efficiently

There will be an app where people can join a rideshare group or ride the nearest available Bubblic Public. That is where you can also hail one for your delivery or smart farm purposes and the vehicle will be transformed according to your need. It is an interesting concept and one that we may actually see in the near future. Maybe eventually there will be even be a flying bubble so it will stay true to its name.

There are examples of innovations in the space. British Columbia-based QuantoTech Solutions, a vertically integrated ag-tech company, has developed a growing system that features 8 by 12 feet sheds with shelving units to allow for vertical farming, producing 4.8 between 7.2 tonnes of food per year, including leafy greens, strawberries, and cherry tomatoes.

Innovative Partnership: Land Betterment and anu™ have announced a partnership to commercialize autonomous fresh produce growing systems using up-cycled shipping containers. Technology Integration: The collaboration combines ekō Solutions’ modular construction expertise with anu™’s Rotary Aeroponics® technology.

The Urban Farming Depot is conceptualized as a radical apparatus for food production and an urban monument. Through provocatively choreographing the food system and public activities between existing skyscrapers in cities, the project attempts to address urban food insecurity in metropolises around the world, using London as a testing site.

A shipping container behind the high school looks deceptively like a storage unit — until its giant, flower-shaped solar array turns to track the sun. Inside, the container holds the equivalent of two-and-a-half acres of farmland, capable of growing up to six tons of produce every single year.

Explore our container farm in detail — at your own pace, or with the help of a video guide

Watch our new whiteboard video, which briefly illustrates the benefits of growing produce in the Vertical Hydroponic Farms we build and sell. If you're so inclined, share it with your network

IPO Edge hosted a fireside chat at the 2024 ICR Conference with Rick Vanzura, CEO of Freight Farms. The in-person interview was joined by Editor-in-Chief John Jannarone and they discussed future global trends and prospects for the agricultural technology industry

Can vertical farming revolutionize our food system? Yes, says Dr Alana Kluczkovski from the University of York's Centre for Novel Agricultural Products

The Greenery’s main growing area features 88 plant panels and 112 LED panels. The LED panels are hyper-directionally focused on the plant canopy to prevent light waste and yield fuller, heavier crops in shorter time-frames

Students in Haltom City are learning a new way to understand the world we live in and how technology is helping us take better care of it

Rick Vanzura, Chief Executive Officer of Freight Farms, and Monalisa Shroff, Chief Financial Officer of Freight Farms, will participate in the 26th Annual ICR Conference, to be held January 8-10, 2024 in Orlando, Florida

This new vertical farm is in a 40-foot-long shipping container at Buffalo Go Green’s Zenner Street urban farm. The organization said the new vertical farm will grow vegetables and herbs year-round without soil

This article highlights the key differences between hydroponic and aquaponic growing systems, their current applications and future perspectives on their role in sustainable farming

Head over to our YouTube channel for an exclusive behind-the-scenes video! We dive into our detailed Quality Assurance process, covering everything from HVAC to plumbing and electrical systems

FarmBox Foods delivers container farms worldwide and trains customers how to grow in their own farm. The company has delivered the insulated, controlled-climate farms all the way from Alaska and Canada to Jamaica and Tahiti