Imagine a sustainable farm that is about the size of a city bus and is capable of producing fifty pounds of basil per day.
Not only is that possible, you could help make it a reality in your community. Garden Fresh Farms is a St. Paul, Minnesota-based sustainable agriculture company that is trying to raise funds to build more of their Orbiting Gardens. Their Kickstarter page caught our attention with the amazing yield these 750 square foot spinning farms are capable of producing.
They note that sustainable, indoor, urban farming techniques are especially helpful during the storied Minnesotan winters, as well as long, hot summer droughts — “Kind of like the ones we’re having this year,” said co-founder Brian Roeser. Urban farms like these make access to fresh herbs and greens possible year-round.
In addition to taking up less surface area than a traditional lateral farm, the cylinders are also eco-friendly. The gardens are based on an aquaponic system, which Garden Fresh Farms describes on their website:
Aquaponics is a natural method of raising fish, filtering the water so it is converted into natural fertilizer that is fed to plants in a hydroponic growing environment. The plants consume the nutrients in the water, and the water is returned back to the fish in a closed cycle.
Garden Fresh Farms was only founded two years ago, but already, as co-founder Dave Roeser notes, they’ve developed year-round indoor farming techniques, that they’re hoping to place inside abandoned warehouses across America. Not only will this increase the number of sustainable farms across the country, it will also create new farming jobs as well. We can’t actually think of a downside to this awesome project.
(via HuffPo)