In the heart of the Hilltop, what appears to be an ordinary shipping container is actually the future of urban agriculture. Inside the steel walls, the Mid-Ohio Food Collective is operating a "Freight Farm," an innovative hydroponic system designed to grow fresh produce for the neighborhood regardless of the season or the unpredictable Ohio weather.
Trevor Horn, the farm director for the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, leads the operation. By utilizing a controlled climate powered by LED lights and precise monitoring of pH levels, Horn and his team of mentees have bypassed the traditional limitations of the local growing season.
"We also can add optimal nutrition, so you can look at your natural macronutrients—nitrogen, potassium, phosphate," Horn said. "We can get those numbers exactly where we want to get them, depending on the type of crops we're trying to grow."
The efficiency of the vertical system is staggering. The single container can house up to 8,000 plants at once, producing a yield equivalent to an entire acre of traditional farmland.
Read more at ABC 6
