A farm experiment yields a harvest through the winter, and it is in the middle of Lawndale. An empty lot in North Lawndale is host to a micro farm, more specifically, an agricultural pod inside a metal container. The produce grows vertically and hydroponically where light and temperature are controlled year-round.
"It grows a lot faster," said Keondre Owens with Young Men's Educational Network. "Sometimes, we have kale leaves that are just 3 pounds itself, and I'm like, what's going on here?"
This indoor farming project is courtesy of several partnerships with ComEd, Electric Power Research Institute, Young Men's Educational Network and Garden 2 Table Pipeline. On Monday, they celebrated the end of a yearlong pilot program that was so successful the indoor farm will continue.
Dr. Shemuel Israel with the North Lawndale Greening Committee was a chiropractor who volunteered at the outdoor gardens then was asked to operate the hydro pod. Israel says they give away 60 pounds of fresh kale and collard greens each week, but initially, it was just kale.
Read more at ABC 7 Chicago