In downtown Westbrook this month, passersby were treated to an unannounced light show.
Vertical Harvest, one of the city's most noticeable tenants, had sprung to life through its near-endless vaulted glass windows, as its leadership prepared to begin work at a farm the likes of which Mainers had never seen before.
In fact, most Americans have never seen anything like Vertical Harvest. Hydroponic farming has existed for thousands of years, and it is done at a large scale in Maine. Springworks Farm in Lisbon boasts the largest aquaponic greenhouse in New England, as it has built a soil-less, symbiotic system sustaining both plants and fish.
Vertical Harvest's first—and for several more weeks, its only—operation opened in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 2016. It claimed to be the first vertical hydroponic greenhouse in the northern hemisphere—a niche category but not an insignificant one. Hydroponic growing involves planting in trays or other carriers where the roots are submerged in water. Nutrients are added and, often, artificial light is used when growing indoors. In the 13,500-square-foot Jackson Hole facility, the company claims it grows 100,000 pounds of produce annually, which is equivalent to 10 acres of traditional farming. The Westbrook farm is 50,000 square feet and slated to grow 3,000,000 pounds of lettuce, pea shoots, and other mixed greens each year, which is equivalent to 250 acres of traditional farming.
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