theunconventionalgardener.com

Why bioregenerative life support systems are still science fiction

In this podcast, Emma the Space Gardener explores why bioregenerative life support systems are still science fiction, and how far NASA has come in building a space salad machine. Listen to the podcast here.

"Our approach is to actually provide the highest quality young plant they can get"

A company founded in partnership with North Carolina State University is improving how we do agriculture. PHLORA Controlled Environment Solutions uses an indoor growing system that can control the environment a young plant is in, and it is taking off. Grafted Growers uses plant technology for their…

US vertical grower's GardenBox grows lettuce right at the store

Natural Grocers has joined the hydroponic farming trend, but with a twist: the produce grown inside is certified organic. Right now, the chain of 162 stores in 20 states has just one GardenBox, as it calls the shipping container that houses the hydroponic farm where it grows several varieties of lettuce.…

Fertilizer management and plant nutrition guide

Fertilizer management and plant nutrition are key aspects that need to be learned when working with hydroponic systems. In order to get the benefits from nutrient management, we need to understand plant nutrition and at least basic chemistry to be able to adjust nutrient recipes. Hort Americas comes with…

"This secret rock creates ideal circumstances for plants to grow"

Lyndal Hugo has a background in agroscience, a Sydney Uni Ph.D. in environmental chemistry, and a post-doctoral fellowship on pesticide residues in South-East Asian food chains. It made her, she says, “a nerdy scientist – way over-educated and practically useless.” Except for three things – an idea,…

Quebec industrial winter farm is now harvesting its first strawberries

After launching its concept a year and a half ago, Quebec company Winter Farm is inaugurating its first industrial unit in Vaudreuil. Every year, between October and June, over 180,000 kilograms of strawberries will be grown, which is the equivalent of production yielded by more than two hectares of…

Inside the world’s first indoor saltwater farm growing sea beans

What began as a College of Charleston graduate research project, researching and cultivating an edible, salty succulent that thrives in saltwater has grown into a start-up that nationally distributes sea beans. Now nearly two years later, these salty stalks have exploded in popularity; they are featured…

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Kelowna schools collaborate to grow produce for local charities and families

To assist with the local food supply chain strained by the aftermath of the BC storm, students at Kelowna’s Central School have teamed up with École KLO Middle School to help grow fresh produce for local charities and families. Students at Central Programs and Services connected with KLO teacher Karla…

Fast food: Iowa farm provides produce minutes after it was picked

“We want Nebullam Farms to be available in every city throughout the US, so we can fulfill our mission of creating access to reliable and local food for everyone, year-round,” says Clayton Mooney, founder of Nebullam. Over half of the Nebullam team is comprised of Iowa State University Alumni. Watch here…

SME Futures

India’s foray into hydroponics: will it usher in a new green revolution?

Big drug companies such as Himalaya, Dabur, and Patanjali are already using hydroponically cultivated herbs in their concoctions. Simultaneously, there has been a dramatic increase in new-age hydroponic farms and start-ups that are leveraging this technique and taking the agriculture industry to the next…

Aquaponics used for companion planting with students

Samantha Johnson, the Director of Aquaponic Programs at AgWorks at CCA in Harrisburg, PA, visits the 2nd Annual Virtual Children's Grief Awareness Day to talk to us about their aquaponic programs and how they are using companion planting with their own students.

Buck Ennis

High-tech mushroom farmers in Brooklyn raise $25M with vision for ‘the future of food'

The royal trumpet mushroom can grow in just two weeks to weigh more than a pound. Chop one up in a food processor and fry it with the right spice mix and the fungi can pack as much umami flavor as chorizo sausage. That is according to a new mushroom-focused cookbook curated by the founders of Smallhold,…

Photo by Kelsey Penrose

Nevada grower produces rare edible plant in his driveway

Sea Ice, Sea Stix, and Akulikuli are just a handful of edible plants you have probably never heard of, but that is exactly why local agriculture enthusiast Brian Harasha and his family chose to produce them. Brian is producing more than a dozen pounds of produce per week, which he grows in either a…

Fast food: Iowa farm provides produce minutes after it was picked

An Ames indoor farm is changing the way we think of farm-to-table: hundreds of subscribers in the Des Moines-Ames area get bright green bags delivered to their doorsteps each week. They are full of broccoli sprouts, tomatoes, and Nebullam's flagship product, red butterhead lettuce. Two Iowans launched…

US (OH): A sneak peek at 80 Acres Farms

If you were to make a visit to 80 Acres Farms, directions would lead you through an industrial part of southwest Ohio to a new farm located inside a huge controlled-environment facility. The newest farm, located in Hamilton, Ohio, is a culmination of ideas that 80 Acres Farms has worked through since its…

A childhood dream grows into an agricultural innovation

Danielle Rose is CEO of Ceragen, from Kitchener, Ontario. This company is helping farmers sustainably increase the amount of food they can produce from the same amount of…

The unconventional gardener

Podcast: growing crops with nitrogen in space

In this podcast, Luke Fountain joins Emma the Space Gardener to talk about the different ways plants use nitrogen. Luke is investigating two different processes in the nitrogen cycle, and his work could help us to grow crops more sustainably on Earth, and have applications in space. Luke is also part of…

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The buzz behind the artificial pollinators of tomorrow

A technology solutions provider is aiming to boost urban farming and enhance food security by building technologies that improve productivity in agriculture Siddharth Jadhav loves to read. The 28-year-old founder of technology solutions provider Polybee shares, “It’s very likely that at any point in…

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"Vertical farms needed for urban food security"

Food security is a balance of four dimensions: physical availability of food, economic access, nutritional utilization, and the stability of the first three dimensions over time. Like a table, cut a leg short, and food security will tumble to the ground. Understanding the role of vertical farms in urban…

The thirst for an agricultural revolution

Nature has a brilliant system for reusing water, called the water cycle. A similar system, called the Water Recovery System, is in charge of recycling water on the International Space Station. Sending one gallon of water to space costs more than US $80,000, which is why every drop of wastewater is captured, filtered,…

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China: New 35.000m2 vertical farm has opened

There is a new 'plant factory' in the North of China. This vertical farm grows without daylight, using artificial lighting instead, and uses nutrient solutions instead of soil to raise the plants. The climate conditions in the 'factory' are adjusted automatically based on what the plants need. The farm…

Photo by AIM4C

Canada and U.S. to invest heavily in ‘climate-smart’ agriculture

Canada backed a controversial initiative aimed at boosting countries' support for high-tech farming methods designed to reduce emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change on farms and food on Tuesday. The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C) initiative developed by the United…

Terrestrial fungus may be key to farming in space

Mold is something that most people try to avoid, but NASA may soon welcome a certain type of mold aboard its spacecraft. On long-distance space voyages of the future, astronauts will have to grow some of their own food. That could be problematic, as there is notoriously little unused space aboard ships…

German restaurants are growing their own produce

At De Kas in Amsterdam, you can dine out among greenhouses. In around 2000, it was considered to be one of the very first farm-to-fork restaurants in the Netherlands, and now, a few years later, even restaurant formulas such as Vapiano, La Place, and Subway started cultivating their own herbs. They do so…

Harold Dupuis/CBC

"Indoor farming could improve B.C. food security amid climate change"

It is a chilly, wet October day in Langley, B.C., and Colin Chapdelaine, president of B.C. Hothouse Foods, is standing in a warm field of cucumbers. He is surrounded by the plants, and a complex system of LED lights, irrigation, walls, and a roof.  According to Chapdelaine, the cucumbers are ready to pick…

Pakistan: Vertical farming to be introduced in cooperation with Chinese project

Provincial Minister for Agriculture of Pakistan Syed Hussain Jehanian Gardezi said that vertical farming will be introduced in the country with the cooperation of China under…

India: Vertical farming project to start in Jammu

The founding stone of a high-tech vertical farming polyhouse project for turmeric cultivation was laid at Mishriwala Jammu, India. The project is the first of its kind in the Union Territory of J&K, and will eventually encourage the farmers of the area to take on modern innovative farming techniques for…

“In the U.S. we see a real explosive opportunity for hydroponics”

Alex Fisher is the founder of Saturn Bioponics, a creator of soilless crop production technology. “It’s about bringing the crop out of the soil in order to increase the density,” he says. Fisher started Saturn Bioponics back in 2011, describing it as “a long and painful journey.” He had been involved in…

Paolo Rosselli/Stefano Boeri Architetti

Vertical forests missing the point of green design?

Milan's Bosco Verticale - "vertical forest" in Italian - opened in 2014 to wide acclaim from the design world. Hundreds of trees and thousands of shrubs ascend on ladder-like balconies, 26 stories into the sky. However, critics say these buildings typically share some not-so-green traits: their…

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Would you eat a salad grown with toilet water?

Israel is a leader in the use of reclaimed water for agriculture. With investments of more than $700 million over the past 20 years, wastewater reclamation has provided Israel with an avenue to stimulate economic growth while strengthening the country’s resilience to extreme drought conditions caused by…

"I produced TV shows, so why not vegetables"

Like most people who got into organic foods, Michael Christian Simon, founder of Homegrown Productions, just wants his family and himself to eat healthier. “You just want the best for your family, so I put my head down, and thought: ‘hey, you produce TV shows. What’s so different from producing…

Harvesting the first peppers in space

NASA offers a weekly update on what is happening aboard the International Space Station. Watch them talk about their pepper plants growing in space here:  

Heidi Levine /The National

Palestinians transform Bethlehem rooftop with innovative hydroponic farming

On a rooftop in Bethlehem, Palestinians are using innovative farming techniques to grow cucumbers. Under an opaque white tent, cucumbers are concealed behind large green leaves stretching to the ceiling. The crop stands beside tall tomato plants, while pots of mint line a low pool and lettuce leaves…

Vertical farms to take shape across Scotland under plans to stage hundreds of harvest festivals

Hundreds of harvest festivals and “vertical farms” are to be created across Scotland as part of the UK’s biggest ever culture celebration next year. More than 250 food-growing “cubes of perpetual light,” from which specially-commissioned music will emanate, will be distributed to island communities,…

Israel: Taking away the hurdles for growers to start indoor vanilla orchid cultivation

“Growing vanilla is more complex than growing ornamental orchids, yet the demand for vanilla is increasing and it is a profitable crop for growers,” explain Motti Sharon from Argos and Shay Lhermann from Top Greenhouses. That is why the two have been working together closely to develop a greenhouse…

A visit to a microgreens farm in the middle of London

The 'social experimentalist' a YouTuber, is taking a visit to Sprigs Farm. The farm is located in Camden Town, London and grows a fair amount of microgreens that are used for businesses near them.  Have a look at the video below.  For more information: www.sprigs.farm

Roots in the sky: an astronaut’s guide to farming on Mars

Beyond M&Ms, space espresso, and astronaut ice cream, a lot of work remains when it comes to securing nutrition in space. Knowing how to cultivate, culture and cycle consumable nutrients will be necessary for humans to successfully settle deep space. And it might be helpful for feeding hungry mouths on…

Samsung

Samsung opens urban-farm-to-table pizzeria

Samsung has opened an urban-farm-to-table pizzeria that highlights how its technology can help people grow plants in small spaces. Powered by Samsung-connected technology and supported by sustainable pizza partners, Purezza, and social enterprise GreenLab, "Project Plant" promotes Samsung's roots in…

Alabama State University plants on space station

Mustard greens are widely grown and consumed in the Deep South, but a grant from NASA will soon have Alabama State University's (ASU) greens growing and eaten on the U.S.…

UK grower trials aeroponic propagation system

Commercial greenhouse growers La Serra and indoor farming technology provider LettUs Grow have partnered to conduct tomato propagation trials. The first aeroponic trials were conducted in LettUs Grow’s aeroponic research center in Bristol and the first round of transplants are now being monitored in La…

Irish supermarket to sell hydroponic microgreens

SuperValu has announced the launch of two new hydroponically grown products grown in Ireland. SuperValu is the first retailer to bring vertically farmed hydroponic microgreens to market and the new products, available now on shelves around Ireland, are Signature Tastes Italian Style Microgreen Mix and…

Nate Hamel, Limbach Company

US: Vacant industrial sites proven to be attractive for indoor ag

Buildings and properties that have long been vacant are finding new life as cannabis cultivation, processing, or retail facilities. Many municipalities that have struggled to maintain traditional industries are embracing this new market and the jobs and tax revenue that come with it. Vacant industrial…

Canberra Weekly

AUS: Ainsly urban farms supplies Canberra microgreens on a daily basis

Fiona, Michael, and their family have been living at their heritage Ainslie property, also known as Ainslie Urban Farm in Canberra, since 2007. When they moved in, the 1000 m2 block had a 69 m2 house with some red-hot pokers and two fruit trees. The house has since been extended to a modest and…

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Malaysia: Shah Alam to have its first rooftop urban farming facility

Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation (PKPS) has appointed Pitch@Selangor 2019 alumni Havva Agrotech Sdn Bhd to build the first rooftop urban farming facility in Shah Alam, Malaysia. The hydroponic and urban farming startup is set to construct the 3,000sq ft facility at Wisma PKPS immediately.…

Improving flavor of produce without starving its resources

A Dutchman in an Italian vertical farm - it sounds like the title of a song, but it actually describes Roel Janssen, Chief Business Officer (CBO) with Planet Farms. The company built their first vertical farm in Italy, but Roel will stay in the Netherlands for a while because, according to Roel, the…

“Probiotics can lower the negative impacts of plant stress responses”

“In hydroponics, there are fewer microbes. With fewer beneficial microbes, the plants are on their own to cope with different stresses. At Ceragen, we want to restore the ecosystem,” says Danielle Rose, CEO at Ceragen. Ceragen is a Canadian biotechnology company that develops probiotics, or microbial…

China: Why the growth cycle of rice can be split in half

Can rice grow normally in a closed environment without sunlight and soil? The Institute of Urban Agriculture of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and a team led by Qian Qian, an academic from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and deputy director of the China National Rice Research Institute,…

US (NY): Securing $9.6 million in funds to start food hub

Citing food inequity among the borough’s minority population, a local nonprofit has opened an urban farm in Ocean Hill to provide healthy food to the local community, which suffers from high rates of diseases resulting from poor diet. The 5,000-square-foot harvesting lot at 1420 Eastern Parkway, dubbed…

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FLOCponics: The integration of biofloc technology with plant production

FLOCponics is an alternative type of aquaponics that integrates biofloc technology (BFT) with soilless plant production. The aims of this paper are to present a detailed overview of the FLOCponics system's designs and performance, discuss their sustainability, highlight the current challenges, and give…

Feasibility study shows grass sod grows well in growth unit

Indoor cultivation of turf offers opportunities for specific markets. This is the conclusion of a feasibility study carried out by a consortium of four companies with the Green Chemistry Campus. The study was made possible by a contribution from the Zeeland in Stroomversnelling fund. Organicz, a supplier…

US (AK): Candidate mayor wants to reuse parts of downtown hotel for vertical farm

Sustainable energy. Food security. Upcycling. These are some of the issues that Robert Shields talks about. He is running for Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor for the third…

Boston Microgreens

“Everything you see here has a destination already"

Oliver Homberg, the cofounder of Boston Microgreens, recalls eating the redcurrant in his grandmother’s garden as the memory that sparked his connection with growing food. Now, as the owner of Boston Microgreens, Homberg gets his hands dirty daily — but he’s not working outside. The urban farm sits in a…

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Turning CO2 to stone and growing carbon-negative food in Iceland

Author and futurist Tom Goodwin goes to Iceland to discover how the country’s unique natural environment and cutting-edge technologies like LEDs, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) are inspiring eco-innovations that tackle climate change and the global food crisis. Tom discovers Vaxa…