vertical farms

The Fields team chats with domestic farming entrepreneur and nutritionist Mary Wetherill about her company, Green Food Solutions. They set up farms in urban buildings using Tower Gardens (hydroponic growing towers) and conduct farmer trainings. Mary’s urban-agriculture business grew out of the Square Roots vertical farming accelerator in Brooklyn, but then quickly led to a new farm on a rooftop in the Bronx. From there, Mary’s team explored a whole new business model: to be a “vertical farming training company” that also provides equipment (turn-key solutions) to new growers. She always wanted to focus on connecting folks with food, and she was suspicious of many claims made by new commercial vertical farms.

Today, Green Food Solutions runs “farms as amenities”—hydroponic farms within and atop residential buildings—from New Jersey to Tо̄kyо̄. Through training programs and consulting on new urban farms, especially with new professional growers, Mary hopes to empower a whole new local food system. This is a passion-driven, breathless, sometimes controversial conversation about the present and future of vertical farming.

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The demand for organically grown food has increased over the past few decades, with environmentally savvy consumers concerned about how the food they eat affects both their health and the planet. However, organic farming  usually produces a lower yield when compared to ‘conventional’ methods, and rely on the same CO2 emitting machinery.

Professor Sean Clark of Berea College, Kentucky, examined the carbon footprint of organic strawberries grown in high tunnels, otherwise known as polytunnels, and how they compare to traditional farming methods or to controlled 'vertical' farms.

Read more about the research: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031778

Today on Grow Sessions, Mike Trzpit, National Account Manager for Abel Womack joins Tony Pavlakis for an informative discussion on vertical tier growing vs. single tier growing in an episode entitled, “The Benefits of Growing Cannabis Vertically.”

Vertical growing can significantly increase a cannabis facility’s output by helping improve on older single-level and static canopy layouts. Vertically growing helps growers utilize space in a facility while helping to increase production capabilities. In this episode, some of the topics discussed will include: the pros and cons of vertical farming, why some growers prefer single tier farms to multi-level farms, the different types of vertical benches available, the space needed to benefit from vertical farming, how to plan for growing vertically and much, much more.

If you are a cultivator, facility owner or anyone interested in growing, you won’t want to miss this exciting episode.

About Mike Trzpit

As the National Account Manager in the Cannabis Industry, Mike Trzpit is focused on helping companies increase productivity and operational efficiencies by finding solutions to their cultivation facility and dispensary challenges.

If you have questions for Mike, you can reach him at mtrzpit@abelwomack.com

About Abel Womack

Whether you’re designing a new commercial indoor vertical farming facility or ready to scale up to a larger operation, our team of automation and space-saving specialists can help.
 
Contact Abel Womack today and a member of our team will reach out to you to see how we can offer cost-effective solutions for your commercial indoor growing needs.

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