by Albert Lin May 05, 2022

What are the challenges about growing food in space? Christina M. Johnson, PhD (of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center) was kind enough to share with us some of her current research. We’re very excited about the progress!

Why is it important to get food right for astronauts?

Feeding astronauts isn’t as straightforward as you may think! You can’t just pack some protein bars and call it a day. The vitamins in the pre-packaged food brought up into space degrade over time. NASA currently has a Veggie growing unit (see below) which helps provide some of the vitamins and minerals for the astronauts.

Is there a way to increase the nutritional density of what is being grown? What are the most efficient things to grow?

Dr. Johnson has been testing growing microgreens for spaceflight applications with the help of VegBed growing mats. So far the results have been very promising. It performs especially well when combined with a wicking mat underneath.

Why are microgreens a good choice for astronauts?

• They take up small space to grow
• They grow quickly (typical varieties in 10-14 days)
• They have high nutritional density
• They’re flavorful!

Right now, there really isn’t any way to “cook” in space, so being able to eat foods that need minimal prep/cooking is vital. No Weber grill for me!

Can we pack more nutrients into the food grown in space?

Her research also involves Agronomic Biofortifcation – the deliberate use of mineral fertilizers to increase the concentration of a target mineral in edible portions of crops.

It’s been tested on Earth, but they are trying to replicate this in a controlled environment and expand it to nutrients that are not often present in abundance in plants (Vitamin D, Potassium, etc..). Below you can see a Cherry Belle radish variety grown on the mats.

Credits: Christina M. Johnson, PhD NASA

What’s next?

It’s critical that debris and particles are kept to a minimum within a space station. You don’t want anything to get caught in sensitive electronics. They will test harvesting techniques during a parabolic flight, utilizing an enclosed glove box to help minimize floating debris.

There will also be further germination testing done with simulated microgravity – via a specialized hydroponic grow box (as seen below)

More nutritional analysis of plants will be performed as well. The recent tests showed supplemental nutrients can increase the harvestable biomass of the microgreens. This is important since you want to try and grow greens that are the most nutrient dense.

We are looking forward to seeing all the continued research from Dr. Johnson and thrilled to be a part of helping feed NASA astronauts!

If you would like to learn more about Dr. Johnson and her research, please join us on Wednesday, May 25th. The NYC Agriculture collective will be hosting their monthly networking event. You won’t want to miss this one!

If so, GoodLeaf Farms would love to hear from you!

At GoodLeaf Farms we are focused on producing local and ultra-fresh greens, without pesticides. We do this in an innovative way using efficient vertical farming. We have an R&D farm in Bible Hill, NS and Canada’s first and only commercial scale vertical farm in Guelph, ON and are rapidly growing to other regions across Canada.

GoodLeaf Farms has a strategic partnership with and investment from McCain Foods Limited, the world’s largest manufacturer of frozen potato products and a global leader in appetizers and snacks. This partnership enables the successful candidate to experience rapid innovation, entrepreneurship and be part of a new revolution in controlled environment agriculture, a new technology to grow fresh and nutritious leafy greens of the highest quality and flavour, in an environmentally sustainable way, 365 days per year!

We are recruiting for a Horticulture Specialist to join our Horticulture and Operations Team as we focus on continuous improvement. In collaboration with our Head Grower, this role will develop and maintain horticulture process quality control and verify the structure around the growing practices of GoodLeaf Farms. The Horticulture Specialist will provide guidance and assistance to operational and horticulture staff to ensure the continuous growth of a top-quality product for our customers.

We are also recruiting for a Vertical Farming Technician II- Horticulture for our Horticulture Team who will be a key support in the day to day functions of the department. This role will ensure our automated systems are maintained as required by the Head Grower. The VFT II – Horticulture will provide guidance and assistance to operating staff to ensure GoodLeaf Farms continues to offer a top-quality product to our customers.

Want to join GoodLeaf Farms? Candidates are asked to submit their resumes by email to the attention of Amelia Robertson, HR Administrator, arobertson@goodleaffarms.com

Leafy greens include commonly consumed vegetables such as lettuce, kale, and microgreens. Production challenges outdoors have led to interest in growing these specialty crops hydroponically in controlled environments, such as indoor farms. However there is little information on whether this is economically viable. Capital and operating costs can be significant for startups, especially as it relates to light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and cooling systems. Leafy greens are a good candidate for indoor farming because they can be grown rapidly and in relatively small spaces. Indoor environments are heavily controlled, so growers aren’t constrained to a small geographic area within the U.S. There are, however, other geographic concerns.

The team and its collaborators have three major goals:

• Define optimal profitability based on yield and other high-value attributes of the plants, such as nutrition content
• Optimize indoor environmental conditions, such as humidity, air movement, temperature, light and carbon dioxide concentration, to increase yield and high-value attributes
• Encourage indoor farming stakeholders to collaborate with academic and industry groups that are working in controlled-environment agriculture.

The long-term project goals are to help integrate indoor farming into the specialty-crop segment of agriculture in the U.S.; to increase the sustainability and hence profitability of this rapidly emerging sector; and to locally produce leafy greens that have higher quality attributes. To this end, our economists will better understand operating and capital expenditures (capex), and define risk and production scenarios that are most profitable. Our horticulturists and engineers will improve production efficiency, product quality, and value-added attributes of leafy greens for reliable, consistent, year-round production. In addition, the team will design and test more effective localized air-distribution methods suitable for indoor production systems, as well as develop strategies to better manage humidity around plants to reduce tip burn. While the project focuses on leafy greens, the results will also inform a wide range of controlled-environment growers through the development of growth recipes, strategies for nutritional content and anthocyanin enhancement, environmental management recommendations, and insights for economic sustainability as well as market and consumer perception of locally produced crops.

For more information, visit the project website at scri-optimia.org.

For more info, contact Chieri Kubota at the Ohio State University to be a Café member and participate.

Dan Albert, owner of Farmbox Greens, made the decision to start slow and expand his vertical farm system on his own terms rather than seeking outside investor capital.

Dan Albert’s first exposure to vertical farming came in 2008 during a design competition for the U.S. Green Building Council’s annual conference.

“The architecture firm I was working for at the time in Seattle, Wash., sponsored a team of young designers to develop a conceptual architectural design that met the newly developed Living Building Challenge,” Albert said. “The concept of the competition was to design a carbon neutral building that was self-sufficient. The building wouldn’t consume any more energy or water that was found on the site and would achieve a high level of sustainability. During the development of this design the vertical farm idea really captivated my interest and became one of the main drivers for this conceptual building.”

The design project won both regional and national awards. Albert said the design was not created specifically for a public entity or private developer.

“We ended up coming up with this concept for a vertical farm, which at the time we didn’t know was a vertical farm,” he said. “The idea of bringing food production indoors in a greenhouse façade on a building wasn’t really being done per se in 2008. I became friends with Dr. Dickson Despommier at Columbia University and got to work with him on a number of other early stage design concepts.”

Albert said there was a lot of theory behind growing food in the city, but not a lot of projects being done. He increasingly received questions from developers about how a vertical farm works, what kind of revenue it could generate, and what is the business model for a vertical farm.

“After two years of talking with people who were excited about these projects, I concluded no one was answering the hard questions about how vertical farm systems work and where are the real efficiencies,” Albert said. “Through the process of working on vertical farm projects, I decided I should try growing with a vertical farm.”

A lot of trial and error

Although Albert worked on a farm in upstate New York as a youth growing alfalfa, hay and corn, he didn’t have any experience growing edible crops.

“I made the decision to really educate myself on highly productive urban farming systems,” he said. “I attended the Greenhouse Crop Production & Engineering Design Short Course at the University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center. I also did research into different companies and different production systems.”

Albert purchased an aeroponic system in 2011 and started a prototype research farm. He trialed this production system for about eight months.

“It was a total learning curve for me,” he said. “In Seattle, warehouse space is expensive and hard to come by. I set up the aeroponic system in converted office space. The floor had carpeting so I had to put down a subfloor and waterproof everything. It was a lot of trial and error. Initially I was going to grow salad greens because they are a high value product. It is also a crop that is highly perishable.

“I quickly realized that the yield was so little out of this unit that provided 100 square feet of production. But that kind of jump started me to thinking about how to turn this into a business.”

Focused on year-round production

As Albert became more comfortable and confident producing edible crops he started to rethink how he was growing.

“I had people telling me to scale up the production,” he said. “There was a lot of interest from investors. People were saying let’s scale this up. I started to rethink how and what I was producing.

“I kind of stumbled upon growing microgreens and culinary herbs as a highly perishable, high value product that chefs wanted. Essentially I was already growing microgreens, but I was letting them continue to the baby green stage at 17-20 days. I started to harvest them after 10-14 days instead. I pitched the product to a couple of restaurants and all of a sudden people were buying our microgreens. I started selling the crops as Farmbox Greens in 2012.”

Albert said one of the challenges of having a small production space was to determine how to use it to generate the most revenue.

“Even though I had limited space, the intensity of production that I could generate with microgreens enabled me to produce 52 harvests or more a year. It comes down to producing the same thing every week and having the right process in place. I have taken a Lean approach to growing great food. It’s a different model from some large greenhouse and vertical farm operations. I don’t have venture capitalists backing my company. It’s small for local food production.”

Focus on clean, efficient production

Albert purchased a new home in Seattle in 2012. The property included a 500-square-foot detached garage, which he is now using as his production facility. He restarted Farmbox Greens in February 2013 exclusively producing microgreens and culinary herbs.

Although Albert is still using his original aeroponic system, he redesigned the components and developed a vertical farm system. Microgreens are grown in trays on a moisture pad. The plants are fertilized with a recirculating nutrient film technique system. The NFT system consists of a pump, a water reservoir and a series of manifolds that deliver the water.

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“The system has been modified so that I can grow microgreens efficiently,” Albert said. “I still use the original aeroponic system, but it is not the main focus of my production anymore. I have installed one vertical system that is three levels of production and another that has five levels. I don’t need a lot of vertical height in order to grow multi-levels of microgreens. In the same building there is a harvesting area along with refrigeration and storage space. It is a functioning revenue-generating farm.

“I have been fortunate that I haven’t needed to take on partners and I’ve been able to bootstrap it and expand. I have been able to pay with everything from cash flow. But the bad part is that it takes more time.”

Albert said when he was designing the vertical production system he chose the best equipment he could afford.

“I put in Philips LED Production Modules as the primary lighting source in a stacked arrangement,” he said. “I am using a high efficiency Energy Star Friedrich heat pump to cool and heat the facility. All of the environmental controls are within the building. I’ve also purchased a Hanna nutrient dosing system to measure the nutrients and pH as well. I have a very specific formula for growing microgreens on a small scale. There is no need to be operating a huge farm.”

Albert said one of the most important aspects of trying to run a sustainable operation is not using any chemical controls for insects and diseases.

“I manage pests and diseases by being vigilant and keeping the facility and equipment clean,” he said. “There is very little substrate for insects and diseases to come in and become established. Also, the crops don’t stay in the facility very long. I grow only what I am going to harvest so that there is no waste.”

Albert applies Lean principles to his “just-in-time” approach to crop production.

“The Lean approach is kind of here’s what you need just in time,” he said. “It is based on efficiency. I tried to develop a system where, for example, today I am planting for next week’s harvest. I’m basing the planting on what was harvested last week, what I sold and what I’m projecting to sell. What I harvest in the morning is sold out in the afternoon or the next morning.

“I don’t keep anything in the refrigerator for more than three days. I don’t want to be holding product. Once you do that it hurts the quality, hurts the flavor and the overall look of the microgreens. I also want to be sure that my customers use all the product they purchase. I don’t want them to have any waste. It’s all about harvest, package, cool and deliver and then do it again.”

Diversifying customer base

Farmbox Greens’ customer base includes about 30 restaurants that purchase product on a weekly or biweekly basis depending on time of year.

“The restaurants vary from very high end to everything in between,” Albert said. “The food is very high quality, but it is not all at a premium price point. Some people hear microgreens and they just assume it’s going to be expensive. These are restaurants that care about local, high quality food.”

Albert produces 15-20 different varieties of microgreens and herbs on a weekly basis.

“When it comes to microgreens, there are certain flavor profiles that chefs are interested in,” he said. “I try to have a wide variety available, including peppery, crunchy and something lemony like sorrel or baby kale. I could grow a wider variety of crops, but on the herb side it comes down to just a few basics, including basil, cilantro and sorrel.”

Farmbox Greens also participates in four year-round and five seasonal farmers markets.

“I have been really focused on building our customer base at the farmers markets,” Albert said. “These markets are really well attended in Seattle. I am looking to build up our retail at these markets for the first half of this year.”

Another company that Albert is working with is Marx Foods.

“This company is a local food distributor, but it also has retail space, so I sell some of my product through its store,” he said. “Marx Foods also distributes to AmazonFresh, which is grocery delivery service. Marx wants to promote local, high quality products in its store and online. It is very committed to supporting local businesses and selling a variety of products including artisanal foods.”

Albert said his company has done well in terms of being able to meet demand.

“I have been able to balance what I’m growing with what I’m selling,” he said. “The next step is to identify the scale of production that I need and the customer and crop mix. My company can get bigger, but microgreens aren’t this unlimited market. It’s about cash on hand to build out the production facility. It’s about costs. It’s about efficiency. It’s about customers.”

For more: Farmbox Greens, info@farmboxgreens.com; http://www.farmboxgreens.com.

To learn more about Farmbox Greens:

https://www.facebook.com/farmbox;

http://www.marxfoods.com/products/Farmbox-Greens.

David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas; dkuack@gmail.com.

(MicroGREENS) is a project funded by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for the provision of funds to finance projects in the field of agriculture, food, forestry, fishing and aquaculture related to the goals of Expo Milano 2015.

The project was born from the cooperation between the Association ‘ORTINNOVA’ and some researchers of the
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science of the University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’.

The project MicroGREENS aims to broadcast and increase the public awareness on the importance and value of the great heritage of biodiversity of the Italian and Apulian vegetables, revealing how such richness can be exploited to develop novel, fresh, functional and high value food products such as microgreens.

“MicroGREENS: novel fresh and functional food to explore all the value of biodiversity”  is a great on-line publication with beautiful photography and at 118 pages provides an in depth look at the subject of microgreens.  It is written in Italian, English and Spanish.

Read or download the book at
http://www.gustailbiodiverso.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Microgreens.pdf

Horticulture and hospitality students at Peterborough Regional College have embarked on a collaborative initiative with Local Roots Limited which will reduce the food miles associated with some of the ingredients used in the College’s own Parcs Restaurant to zero.

Led by sustainability experts Dr. Ian Tennant and Gloria McNeil, Local Roots Limited provides expertise and a fully serviced solution to allow caterers and organizations to grow their own food on site.

Local Roots Limited has set up a small version of a new vertical farming system, VydroFarm, recently launched by hydroponics innovator HydroGarden, based in Coventry. Installed in the College’s on-site restaurant, the horticultural department will participate in a two to three month trial to grow fresh ingredients that can be used in the College’s Parcs Restaurant, before the system is relocated to other local establishments.

VydroFarm is a versatile and fully-controllable environmental system and features vertical racks on tracks that can be moved together to save space and maximise production density as well as enable easier harvesting, whether automated or by hand.  The VydroFarm system can be monitored and controlled remotely via smart phone, tablet or PC, and optimum lighting conditions for crop growth are achieved with Valoya LED lights.  VydroFarm units are full scalable, making them equally suitable for small scale production for a single restaurant, or for commercial growers requiring a large scale solution for growing crops in adverse climates or where space is limited such as urban areas.

The VydroFarm at the College will hold up to 132 plants and the College’s horticultural students will be growing leafy greens, salads and herbs. The time it will take for a crop to grow will be up to 20% less than growing via traditional farming methods while also using less water. In addition, the amount of time between harvesting and serving can be minimised to ensure that fresh ingredients are available all year round.

“Utilising VydroFarm in a catering environment is just one of the applications through which it could make a significant contribution to providing sustainable solutions for future food production,” says Stephen Fry, commercial sales manager for HydroGarden. “Not only will it save on ingredient costs and delivery, it can become an exciting talking point, setting restaurants apart in a highly competitive market. Its scalability is perfect for restaurant designers as it can be adapted to fit almost any area.

The controlled environment makes is perfect for herbs, microgreens, edible flowers and even strawberries, and the consistency of the growth and quality achieved across the crop will be higher resulting in less wastage. The ingredients will also be much fresher than those bought in as they can be harvested on-site as required.”

Parcs Restaurant is run solely by staff and students and gives aspiring chefs and hospitality students true to life experience of catering for the discerning general public. It is open during midweek lunchtimes (Mon-Fri – 12- 1.15pm last orders) and two evenings every week during term time. On Wednesdays there’s an evening a la carte menu with Chef specials (5.30 – 7pm last orders) and evenings of fine dining and themed events on Thursdays (6-7pm last orders). Parking is available in the main car park. To reserve a table please call 01733 762189.

For more information about VydroFarm and HydroGarden’s full range of hydroponic solutions, visit www.hydrogarden.co.uk, or for more information about Local Roots’ initiative call Dr Ian Tennant on 07812 901685.

Click here to download the issue.

Taking a Lean approach to vertical farming

Dan Albert’s first exposure to vertical farming came in 2008 during a design competition for the U.S Green Building Council’s annual conference. “The architecture firm I was working for at the time in Seattle, Wash., sponsored a team of young designers to develop a conceptual architectural design that met the newly developed Living Building Challenge,” Albert said. “The concept of the competition was to design a carbon neutral building that was self-sufficient. The building wouldn’t consume any more energy or water that was found on the site and would achieve a high level of sustainability. During the development of this design the vertical farm idea really captivated my interest and became one of the main drivers for this conceptual building.”

Prevent tipburn on greenhouse lettuce

Tipburn is a physiological disorder of greenhouse-grown lettuce that can be a problem for growers who are trying to produce their crops in a short period of time. Tipburn can have a significant impact on the salability of a lettuce crop. The same disorder can manifest itself in tomato crops as blossom end rot.

Strawberries can be adapted to greenhouse production systems

Greenhouse growers looking to diversify their product mix with a fall to spring edible crop might want to consider strawberries. “There is still a pretty big hole in the strawberry supply chain for November, December and January,” said University of Arizona research specialist Mark Kroggel. “In Arizona, we can produce good quality strawberries in greenhouses from October through April. The best greenhouse strawberry yields occur during March and April.

Gotham Greens from Dark Rye on Vimeo.

Learn more at www.gothamgreens.com

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