“At long last, hydroponic organic produce suppliers can breathe easier.
By a vote of 8 to 7, the National Organic Standards Board on Nov. 1 rejected proposals to make hydroponic and aquaponic production methods prohibited under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program.
The prelude to the NOSB meeting generated intense lobbying efforts by the National Organic Coalition, the Cornucopia Institute and others promoting the necessity of soil-based organic production systems. However, their efforts to prohibit hydroponic systems for organic production were turned back by the NOSB, delivering a win to organic producers such as Wholesum Harvest and the greenhouse lobbying group, the Coalition for Sustainable Organics.”
“A crucial battle in a long-brewing conflict over organic farming came to a head Wednesday when an influential government panel met to discuss whether soil is an essential element of organic farming.
On one side: “Dirt first” traditionalists who say that fruits and vegetables must, by definition, be grown in soil to qualify as organic.
On the other: Agri-technophiles who say “controlled environment” methods like hydroponics and aeroponics are just as deserving, dirt or no dirt.”
“Troy Albright, a Phoenix based pharmacist and farming entrepreneur spoke to students at ASU’s Polytechnic campus on Oct. 25 about the potential of aeroponics.
Aeroponics is a process of growing plants without the use of soil by suspending plants and nourishing them using mist.
Albright was invited as part of the Science and Mathematics Colloquium Series, a series designed to expose students to the work of researchers and practitioners in various fields.”
Grow food ALL-YEAR-ROUND with us! Now is the perfect time to start stockpiling seeds for your fall, winter and even early spring gardens!All of our seed club members will be receiving varieties that are perfect for growing during the cooler months. Let us hand-select 5 varieties of heirloom, GMO-free seeds to ship to you EVERY MONTH!
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“Ikea is known for its low-cost furniture that comes packed in cardboard boxes, but now it’s experimenting with something entirely different: Cutting-edge indoor farming.
At the London Design Festival in September, Space10 — Ikea’s “future-living” design lab — debuted its concept for a salad bar prototype whose ingredients are grown using an indoor hydroponic farming system.”
**IF you wish to receive a shipment for this month, you MUST JOIN before 11:59 pm PST Monday, September 4th!**
Now is the time to start collecting seeds for your fall/winter gardens. Let our Garden Guru’s hand select popular heirloom, GMO-FREE varieties for you to start each month, customized to your location and grow zone! (Think frost hardy crops or varieties that can be grown indoors such as sprouts, lettuces, leafy greens and MORE!)
During sign-up, just let us know whether you prefer to grow indoors, outdoors, in partial shade or in the sun. Do you grow hydroponically? Not a problem, we’ve got that figured out too!
Each month you’ll receive a 5 varieties, and everything you need to start growing more food! Happy Gardening to you, in 2017!
Shawn Cooney swings open the door of a 320-square-foot industrial shipping container to reveal a futuristic setting: hundreds of edible plants growing in vertical columns, fed by the energy from strings of neon red and blue LED lights. Nutrient-infused water cascades from ceiling spigots down through artificial root systems in the growing towers. The temperature inside feels like a comfortable spring day – about 70 degrees F., with a touch of humidity. There isn’t a speck of dirt anywhere.
Welcome to the new urban farm.
This shipping container is one of four that comprise Corner Stalk Farm run by Mr. Cooney and his wife in the heart of Boston. Once the cargo holds for exhaust-spewing 18-wheelers, these discarded freight vessels have been transformed into units known as Leafy Green Machines outfitted with state-of-the-art growing technology by a company called Freight Farms. Now they help farmers turn out crops of lettuce and herbs at a rapid pace.
Read the FULL Article CSMonitor.comat: “CSMonitor.com”
This retrofitted ex-shipping container in a parking lot in Broadway East is hardly your grandfather’s farm. And in his skinny jeans, black sneakers and recycled-materials T-shirt, J.J. Reidy will remind no one of the guy with the pitchfork and overalls in Grant Wood’s “American Gothic.”
Reidy, 29, is the founder and CEO of Urban Pastoral Collective, a two-year-old business with a dual mission: to produce and sell fresh, whole foods in an urban setting and to help leverage the value of such foods into a movement that transforms the way Americans live and interact in cities.
🍉 Get Seeds & Garden Supplies Delivered Every Month – Fully Customized Around You! We are now preparing our members for Fall planting season! 👏 Visit: www.UrbanOrganicGardener.club
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“The Noocity Growbed is an unique and efficient self-watering gardening system. It’s easy to assemble and only needs low maintenance. The Noocity growbed allows you to plant a wide variety of vegetables, fruits and herbs anywhere without worrying about time.”
Check out these great inspirational photos we found over at SeedsNow.com! From grow stations built inside of closets, bedrooms and even kitchens…people are starting seeds in every free corner of their home they can find. Happy planting everyone!
“Living with the Land (originally Listen to the Land) is a log flume tour ride located within The Land pavilion which is part of Epcot theme park in Walt Disney World Resort at Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It is a slow-moving boat ride, which is part dark ride and part greenhouse tour. The focus of the ride is on agriculture, especially new technology to make agriculture more efficient and environmentally friendly.” –Behind The Seeds
String Greenhouse (formerly the Production Greenhouse) – This greenhouse focuses on innovative high-density techniques, such as Nutrient film technique. It also shows off “vertical growing techniques”, in which plants are grown on specialized trellises which cause the herbaceous plants to approximate the shape and structure of trees.
One of the most famous examples of these trees is The Land’s “tomato tree”, which produced over 32,000 tomatoes in a 16-month period. It was recognized by Guinness World Records as both the largest and most productive tomato plant in the world. Other crops include eggplant, peppers, winged bean, lettuce and snake gourd. Furthermore, cucumbers and pumpkins are grown in the shape of Mickey Mouse through the use of special molds. Much of the produce grown in the String Greenhouse is used in The Garden Grill and Sunshine Seasons, both restaurants in The Land pavilion. In total, over 30 tons of produce are harvested from The Land each year.
Creative Greenhouse – The final greenhouse in the attraction shows some unusual ideas about the future of agriculture. Most of the plants in Creative House are grown via Aeroponics, in which a fine mist of water and nutrients is sprayed directly onto the roots of the plants. The roots dangle freely in the air, and are not hindered by any growing medium. Some of the plants’ roots in Creative House are enclosed within rotating columns and A-frame structures, while others are completely exposed to the open air, at least temporarily, so the entire plant may be viewed by the Guests on the boat ride. Creative House also features a small exhibit of NASA hydroponic growing units, which were developed for use on extended-length space journeys. Crops on display include tomato, squash, lettuce, basil, rosemary, cabbage, super-dwarf wheat, swiss chard, marigold and snapdragon.
Biotechnology Lab – Attached to the Creative Greenhouse, the Biotechnology Lab is a sterile research environment. Several USDA scientists are on-site at The Land, performing research on crop improvement. The Land also produces a product called “Mickey’s Mini Gardens” in the Biotechnology Lab, which are available for purchase in several locations in Epcot.” –Excerpt from Wiki
Orange County is aiming for going more GREEN with a new local food sourcing program called the “Center-to-Table Gardens in the West Concourse”. The program which began in May, gives convention goers a chance to see where their food comes from, on-site.
“The farm, operated by Urban Smart Farms, includes 81 towers for growing lettuce, microgreens, herbs and the occasional tomato or pepper plant, all on full view along the concourse from the main parking lot. An opening reception for the gardens is set for this afternoon. There are about seven types of lettuce grown on-site and a variety of greens including chards, choi, mustard, celery and kale.”
Last Chance! Must join before November 4th if you’d like to receive a shipment this Month. Shipments go out November 5th. Get seeds & garden supplies delivered to you at just the right time of the year.
🌱Fully customized based on your grow zone – garden specs – sunlight – and more. Get your fall and winter garden off to a great start with a hand-selected, customized selection of seeds for your area and garden type.
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“They knew they had to maximize greenhouse space so they decided to grow vertical and to grow differently. They experimented with hydroponics and finally settled on aeroponics. “So aeroponics is similar to hydroponics using water rather than soil, but it’s mist,” explains Benjamin. “It’s a mist that comes on inside the growing chamber, and it comes on every 3 minutes for 10 seconds, it’s a really high oxygen water that’s hitting that root. The method was actually developed and is being used by NASA because it uses so much less water and the speed of growth is much faster.”
Farming once required a lot of space, but that’s not the case anymore. Homegrown produce is becoming more and more available to city dwellers across the world.
“A company called Click & Grow wants to make farming at home as easy as pressing a button. After successfully launching the personal Smart Herb Garden last year, it has now announced a new line of fully-automated, NASA-inspired “Wall Farms,” which the firm says can grow fresh produce in a matter of weeks with minimal effort.
Their first goal was to make the indoor farms as low maintenance as possible. No sunlight? Not a problem! Each shelf in the system has grow lights installed and an irrigation line conserves up to 95% more water than traditional farming methods.
