News About Farming in Shipping Containers & Limited Indoor Spaces

VIDEO: Rooftop Gardens Program Offers At-Risk Youth a Path to a Brighter Future

Inside the freight farms are grow walls and nursery stations that used to grow only romaine lettuce, but have now expanded to radishes, carrots, and even strawberries. Each shipping container is equivalent to around three acres of farm land.

The freight farms give cohort participants a job as they help with the maintenance and harvest of produce each week. They get paid $15 per hour for up to 20 hours per week for each hour spent helping at the farm and in the classroom.

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Vertical Farming Operation Approved in Red Deer County, Alberta, Canada

A small vertical farming facility has been approved for a Red Deer County business park.

The county’s municipal planning commission approved on Tuesday an application by Salad Oasis to set up a hydroponic farming operation in two sea cans in a pair of storage units in Energy Business Park just south of Red Deer.

The primary focus of the new facility will be the year-round cultivation of leafy greens, including lettuce, kale, arigula, spinach and Swiss chard, along with broccoli, radishes and mushrooms. Food grown will go to stores, restaurants and farmers markets and will not be sold at the site.

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TV Chef Converts Double-Decker Bus Into Farm on Wheels

An old double-decker bus has been converted into a mobile farm to help educate people where their food comes from.

The Pony Farm Bus, a joint project by The Pony restaurant in Chew Magna and food distributor Arthur David, will take the vehicle out to community groups and schools to run workshops on food and cooking.

The vehicle, donated by First Bus, includes a greenhouse, a hydroponics system, kitchen and dining areas and a demonstration space.

Owner of The Pony, Josh Eggleton, said: "We want to create learning opportunities - but the main thing is to incite a sense of fun and purpose."

"We've got loads of schools and grassroots organisations coming here, but it wasn't lost on me that not everybody can get here.

"We wanted to take the growing and cooking on tour into Bristol and Somerset.

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Harvest Today Scales Up Hydroponic Grow Wall to Support Global Food Sustainability

Founder of Harvest Today Rick Langille, working with his UK & European team Harvest Today EU entrepreneurs Mark and Michelle Emmott, have announced the expansion of their revolutionary hydroponic vertical grow wall, redesigned to meet the needs of both household growers and large-scale commercial producers.

Harvest Today's updated Indoor Grow Wall is durable, scalable, and highly efficient, making it ideal for anyone seeking sustainable solutions for high-volume yields and healthy, organic produce.

Harvest Today EU began when friend Rick Langille showed Mark his initial designs for the "Harvest Wall", a vertical hydroponic system.

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Growcer Snaps Up Assets of Bankrupt US Rival Freight Farms

Ottawa-based modular farming startup now has over 600 new customers from 30 different countries on its plate.

Container-based vertical farming company Freight Farms declared bankruptcy in April after 13 years of operation. Three months later, Ottawa-based Growcer CEO Corey Ellis won a bidding battle in a Boston courthouse to acquire the assets of Freight, his company’s American competitor. 

The $2.6-million USD (about $3.6 million CAD) purchase suddenly adds a lot more than container-grown leafy greens to Growcer’s plate. The startup now has about 600 new customers (including municipalities, food banks, and other community food organizations) and farm containers across 30 different countries, as well as use of Freight’s proprietary software.

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Babylon Unveils Galleri Lite, A Game-Changer in High-Nutrition

The Galleri Lite builds on Babylon’s mission to engage and inspire individuals across industries, including senior living, corporate dining, hospitality, and education while fostering a deeper connection to nutritious food. Designed with accessibility in mind, this system offers a more affordable entry point compared to the flagship Galleri system, ensuring fresh, nutrient-rich produce is within reach for more communities. The Galleri Lite offers exceptional ROI potential, particularly for microgreens, as the system’s yield can offset its initial capital expense.

This unique capability positions the Galleri Lite as not only an accessible and affordable entry point but also a self-sustaining investment, making it an attractive solution for organizations seeking both economic and environmental benefits.

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CANADA: From Seed to Table, Manitoba Business Brings Hydroponics Home

Living in Canada’s centre has its challenges. We can all attest that temperatures of 30 below can put a damper on many facets of living, including producing and consuming clean, locally grown foods.

What if actively gardening in mid-January was a possibility? What if local households, communities, retailers, and restaurants could grow their own fresh, quality produce, year-round, with affordable hydroponic gardens? Les Verts Living, a Manitoba-owned, innovative agricultural business, in partnership with T&T Seeds, has developed indoor hydroponic systems that do just so.

Owners Rachel Green and her father Kerry have dedicated their lives to agriculture and making nutritious, leafy greens accessible to tables throughout the province.

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CANADA: Growing Food For Those in Need From a Downtown Office? Cheap and Easy, Says London Charity

An urban farming project is sprouting hope in downtown London, with trays of microgreens grown in a simple office space providing fresh, nutritious food to those facing food insecurity, while offering valuable job skills to adults with disabilities.

The PATCH does this all through an unusual setup that demonstrates how easily urban spaces can be transformed into productive farms in a cost-effective way, and how such transformations can stave off hunger in the community.

"It's really funny. We're in an office space, right in the core of downtown London, and we're growing veggies in trays on shelves that we bought from Costco," said Joe Gansevles, the coordinator of urban agriculture with the PATCH program, a Hutton House initiative.

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USA: Maine - VIDEO: 'Local and Highly Nutritious' - Castine Farm Providing Fresh Produce To Local Food Pantry

Because of the enclosed environment that Nitzkowski grows the vegetables and greens in, Pantry Manager Dan Schnebeck said they're able to provide fresh produce to people year-round, making it feel even more like a traditional store.

"In the past, we pretty much had iceberg lettuce that we purchase, now this is an alternative and it's healthier," Schnebeck said.

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US - WASHINGTON STATE - Suspicious Fire Devastates South Whidbey Nonprofit Farm

A suspicious fire at the BlackSeed Agroecology Farm & Village on South Whidbey destroyed an estimated $250,000 worth of hydroponic equipment Friday afternoon.

Island County Sheriff Rick Felici said investigators gathered evidence from the scene and sent it to the Washington State Crime Lab to help identify whether any accelerant may have been used to start the fire.

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CORE Electric And FarmBox Foods Partner To Grow Trees For Reforestation

CORE Electric Cooperative (CORE) and FarmBox Foods, a manufacturer of controlled-climate farms, on Wednesday will unveil the first tree seedlings for a first-of-its-kind program focused on reforestation of wildfire-affected areas of the Front Range.

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