Economic Impact
The Farmery positions the growing cycle above the retail site to reduce costs and add value to the crops by showing the ethical growing process where decisions to purchase are made.
Social Impact
Restoring Local Food Systems
The Farmery helps to restore local food systems by providing a more profitable alternative to selling wholesale, to restaurants and farmers markets.
Environmental Impact
The Farmery is an organic farming system that reduces fossil fuel and chemical use in transporting and growing the crops.
Our First Test Crops Have Been Harvested!
We harvested our first test crops this week and looks like the hydroponic system works really well. We planted lettuce and basil to see how well they would grow. There was very little phototropism, which means the plants are receiving ample light. This was a huge concern of ours because we had a couple of experts doubt that it would work because they didn't think the plants would receive enough light. That is one major hurdle out of the way. The roots look great to, there was absolutely no root rot. The plants grew fast as well, we think this is because of the high aeration the plants have because their roots are in the air. We learned a great deal as well. The burlap we used for the growing bags deteriorated way to fast so we are switching to a hdpe netting instead. We found out that the plants can be harvested and planted quicker than in the grown because they are so close to each other and the position to tend the crops is much more ergonomic. We also found hat the drippers are clogged way to easily so we are switching to 1/8" holes in the tubing. Stayed tuned because we are unveiling a revised design later this week!
Behold, the majestic greenhouse frame and radiant heating tubes. This is an exciting stage because we can finally see the hydroponic section of the Farmery start to take shape. You can also see the track at the top of the container that the planted bags hang from and the gutter at the bottom that catches the runoff from the planted bags. Next up, solar water heating panels and the water reservoir!
Rainy days...spent this week inside the container painting because of the rain. Hopefully this will give the metal another protective barrier against the moisture. I'll be insulating the container with supertherm ceramic insulating paint over the next weekend. More exciting things to come...I promise (well, maybe in a week or two).
Its official! The prototype site for the Farmery will be located in Clayton, NC, a small town located 20 minutes southeast of Raleigh. We are partnering with Taylee Organics, who will provide land and equipment for the Farmery prototype. We feel very fortunate to have such a great opportunity.
We are on our way to becoming a new provider of fresh locally grown produce for Raleigh. Our first container was delivered today to the prototype site! In three months we will be producing oyster mushrooms and hydroponic crops from this container. We will keep you updated a this container is developed into our first growing unit.
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Recent Press
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Article on Treehugger.com! We recently got a great article written on treehugger.com. Big thanks to the author Sami Grover for the attention. Here's the article below: Adam Stein over at TerraPass may have argued that vertical...