Enjoy the work and experience of growing your own food.
First person
Katelyn Peach
Hi! I’m Katelyn Peach and I am the 2024 Valencia County Cooperative Extension Service intern.
Source: news-bulletin.com
Just before the election was called, news broke of Sue Gray’s so-called “shit list”: an inventory compiled by the Labour leader’s chief of staff of the immediate challenges an incoming Labour government would face. They include the potential collapse of Thames Water, prison overcrowding and chronic-acute issues with the NHS. One challenge was notable for its absence: the very real risk of empty supermarket shelves. The fact is British agriculture is in crisis. Its absence from the list is not entirely surprising. Historically, Labour has been an urban party. At the 2019 election it won just three of the 100 most rural seats. It has never quite grasped the importance or complexities of agriculture and the food supply chain.
That said, the Tories won 96 of those 100 seats, have many farmer MPs and have still made a bloody mess of it. The first challenge they will bequeath to Labour, should it win, involves untying the tangled knot around imports and exports. The confused introduction of hyper-bureaucratic and horrendously expensive border checks is the result of hardcore Brexit ideology. Boris Johnson could have negotiated alignment with the EU on food standards and animal welfare. Then we would simply be doing internal checks as before, and trade would flow freely.
But that would have stopped us doing terrible deals with other countries of the sort the EU would not allow. It’s why many UK products are now marked “Not for EU”. It isn’t that they don’t currently comply with EU standards; it’s that theoretically they may not. If an incoming Labour government negotiated alignment on food standards, huge costs and bureaucracy would be stripped out of food production. Imports could flow. With our self-sufficiency at just 60% and falling, that would be a very good thing. We need them.
Because there’s an even bigger issue around resilience in UK agriculture. Farming is not like other sectors. It’s both extremely risky and absolutely vital. It should be classed as a public good. Underpinning the 1957 treaty of Rome, the foundation of the whole European project, was an understanding that Europe had been ravaged by war for the previous century and that making sure everyone was properly fed would contribute massively to peace and stability. That led in turn to the common agricultural policy (CAP) and subsidy by land ownership. It’s not contradictory to believe in the EU but recognise the CAP was in dire need of reform. Subsidy by acreage ended up paying some landowners not to farm.
The Conservatives have been withdrawing that subsidy and replacing it with a system that essentially rewards only environmental good. Of course, looking after the environment is vital, but the new system means you can make more money from, say, sowing wild flowers rather than growing crops. Labour has made encouraging noises about the need to support food production, but it generally comes down to a commitment to public bodies buying British ingredients. It’s a nice gesture, but not vastly more. British agriculture needs to have the risk of the job done on our behalf properly underwritten, either by a government-backed insurance scheme or some form of more focused subsidy.
After months of terrible weather and industry challenges, farmers are talking about quitting. The unmitigated market will not keep us fed, however much the neo-liberal headbangers want to pretend otherwise. In 2017, as the challenges posed to agriculture by Brexit were becoming clear, I interviewed Ian Wright, the then director general of the Food and Drink Federation. “If you can’t feed a country,” he said solemnly, “you haven’t got a country.” Labour could do far worse than put that slogan right at the very top of Gray’s shit list.
Source: theguardian.com
It’s peak strawberry season in Massachusetts. But after mid-July, you won’t be able to find any fresh, locally-grown ones in the Bay State.
Unless you’re buying berries that were vertically farmed.
“Not just Massachusetts-specific, but in this part of the country, no matter how much money you pay, you just don’t have access to fresh [picked] produce — [except] maybe, for a month or two, during the summertime,” Hiroki Koga, co-founder and CEO of Oishii, the world’s largest vertical strawberry farm company with grow facilities in New Jersey.
Vertical farming is doing the impossible by filling tables with fresh fruits and vegetables that were grown mere miles away from consumers in places like Massachusetts, even when they’re out of season, Koga said in an interview after his presentation titled “The Future of Agriculture” at the ClimaTech 2024 conference in Boston last week.
As the climate changes and the population grows, Koga and others say that in the future vertical farming will likely become an agricultural mainstay of produce production.
Strawberries growing at Oishii, the world’s largest vertical strawberry farm company with facilities in New Jersey. (Photo courtesy Oishii)Oishii
The process is a high-tech twist on a practice dating back to the Babylonian Hanging Gardens 2,500 years ago. In an ultra-controlled indoor ecological environment, plant containers are stacked atop each other in columns reaching toward the ceiling. Fruits and vegetables cascade over each other as they ripen.
The orientation conserves space and allows for high crop production levels — up to 10 to 20 times more per acre than those planted the standard way in soil, according to James Altland, a research horticulturalist with Application Technology Research Unit in Ohio.
The plants are grown hydroponically, meaning plants sit in a nutrient-rich solution instead of soil. Heat, light humidity, water and even carbon dioxide levels are kept in balance for each plant species’ needs.
Though vertical farming is not yet tracked by the USDA, the agency is funding research into it, according to its 2018 report on vertical farming. As of last year, shipping containers were being converted into indoor landscapes by research plant pathologists in South Carolina for further studies.
Packages of Oishii strawberries at a Whole Foods Market. Photo by OishiiOishii
“Although vertical farming’s high costs can often be discouraging, shipping containers and abandoned warehouses are readily available and relatively inexpensive,” Vegetable Research Laboratory pathologist Kai-Shu Ling told the USDA in 2023.
“Converting them into vertical farming environments not only breathes life back into discarded infrastructure but also puts fresh produce in parking lots and urban centers,” Ling said.
Oishii strawberries were introduced to the greater Boston area last fall and are now available in Worcester and Hadley. They were likely grown in an abandoned warehouse.
“Our most recent facility used to be a huge plastic factory, our prior farm used to be a beer factory,” Koga said. “We typically look for a facility that’s within a few hours’ drive from any major city, so [our produce] can reach as many neighboring cities as possible.”
“We can build [vertical farms] anywhere … as long as there’s energy and just a little bit of water,” he added.
The plants come from two types of Japanese strawberry seeds called the Koyo and the Omakase, which are foreign to American agriculture.
Koga explained the berries’ flavor profile is uniquely delectable because Japanese produce has been “bred” for flavor over the years. U.S. produce, he said, was bred to have harder skin and contain less juice to prevent bruising because it is generally grown hundreds or thousands of miles from where it is sold to consumers.
Vertical farming has green benefits, Koga said. His company recycles and purifies water used and part of the process is to collect water from the atmosphere and condensation from plant leaves. Oishii farms use energy from solar panels, there are no pesticides used and the packaging is all recyclable.
Oishii isn’t quite yet ready to start franchising its technology, Koga said as it looks to expand across the East Coast and into growing other produce, such as melons and tomatoes.
But there’s a Boston-based start-up company looking to expand vertical farming in Massachusetts with its technology.
“The people who will figure out how to get people on Mars? They’re going to need to eat food, and they should be using our technology,” Connor Harbison, the CEO and founder of Atlas Urban Farms, a vertical farm tech company, said during a recent phone interview.
Vaughan Logan (left) and Connor Harbison (right) of Atlas Urban Farms. (Photo courtesy Atlas Urban Farms)Atlas Urban Farms
Atlas Urban Farms uses a new-age process in several ways, including in the form of a petite, $250 black box device called the “Mini.” It’s climate-controlled, hydroponic and can cultivate produce sitting on countertops in commercial and home kitchens.
The company is focused on growing herbs — specifically, basil — but Harbison listed other small fruit and vegetable crops such as peppers, tomatoes, strawberries and cucumbers as a possibility for its device.
“They’re boxes that connect to the internet and with a couple taps of your phone, you tell them what kind of food you want to grow and how to do it, and it will do the rest,” Harbison said. It’s designed for harvesting on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, and customers “don’t have to be a botanist or a farmer” to use the Mini.
The company was formed in 2021 to support vertical farming in restaurants and other large-scale commercial establishments. It was named “Startup of the Year” in the Mass Technology Leadership Council’s Tech Top 50 list in February, which recognizes companies, leaders and technologies that “have made a significant impact” in the state’s tech industry over the last year.
“We are in the process of building larger [devices] that will scale up to entire walls — think entire buildings,” Harbison said.
Basil plants growing Atlas Urban Farms’s Mini. (Photo Courtesy of Atlas Urban Farms)Atlas Urban Farms
While looking to further its growth in the commercial space, Harbison said the company already had a mix of “around 200 individuals and organizations” that are Mini customers.
But vertical farming is still largely considered uncharted territory by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, as it continually surveys the state’s 7,000-plus farms.
Spokesperson Phu Mai said the state is “aware that vertical farming is becoming a popular method of agriculture in states where farmland is limited,” but has “limited data” on the practice in the commonwealth.
The high cost of vertical farming is shown in the price point of the product. One 4.2-ounce, 20-count package of Oishii mini strawberries costs $9.99, for example — about double the cost of a 16 oz count of “generic” strawberries.
“Our long-term vision is to meet or exceed conventional store prices, and we are currently perfecting several ‘everyday’ berries that we can offer at a lower price point through new innovations,” Koga said.
But he also cited an uncertain future for conventional farming.
An Oishii strawberry at a facility. Photo by OishiiOishii
“The most important thing that we all need to acknowledge is that conventional farming probably cannot continue doing what it’s doing,” Koga said.
“We don’t have enough land, we don’t have enough of any of these natural resources. It’s a matter of time before the cost of conventional farming is going to skyrocket,” he said, adding consumer prices would also rise exponentially as a result.
That’s the moment when the cost of vertical farming “is going to become cheaper” and therefore more accessible, Koga said.
“What’s going ultimately to happen, is we will have a fresh and more affordable product, compared to conventional farming,” he said. He views the concept as the key to continue growing produce in a local environment as the climate and population change.
And Bay Staters are the perfect candidates to test it all out first, Harbison said.
“Massachusetts is a great place to be building these types of companies for a couple reasons. The ability to have fresh food all year round in a place like Boston is much more salient than in a place like California,” he said.
“But I think the other side of the equation is our talent. I really do think Boston is the leader in [physical] technologies here in the U.S. … real science fiction, we’re building it here today,” he said.
Source: masslive.com
Homesteading is becoming more popular in this area. Daneen Parish grows her own food on her small farm in Anderson and teaches others to do the same.
Parish
Source: mdcp.nwaonline.com
This pretty, low-growing perennial, also known as perennial geranium, has a lovely spicy-minty scent that also repels deer and rabbits. Cranesbill tolerates full sun but is more of a shade perennial. They have small white, pink, or purple flowers that bloom in late spring.
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The delicate creeping foliage of Irish moss forms dense mats in the garden. When its tiny white flowers bloom in late spring, it looks irresistibly beautiful. Give it lots of moisture and shade, though it will tolerate some morning sun.
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With such an adorable name, you have to grow this shade perennial! Toad lily, named for its spotted flowers, blooms in mid-to-late summer. It needs part-to-full shade to do best.
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Creeping Jenny has a beautiful chartreuse color with tiny yellow flowers that appear in spring. Make sure to plant it somewhere you don’t mind it spreading, as it can take over an area in a hurry (though it’s easy to pull, if you don’t want it spreading).
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Also known as periwinkle, this charming groundcover tolerates full shade or a little morning sun. The pretty blue flowers of this shade perennial appear in late spring.
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Lily of the valley has darling bell-shaped flowers with a strong floral scent. This perennial spreads rapidly, so plant it where it won’t take over, such as between a house and a sidewalk. The fragrant flowers appear in spring.
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The bletilla, or ground orchid, is a sturdy plant that loves moisture, so make sure to water deeply if you haven’t had rain in a few days. This shade perennial will tolerate morning sun, and the pretty orchid-like blooms appear in early summer.
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Hostas do well in shade, but for best leaf coloration, give them some morning sun. They’re also a favorite of Bambi, so avoid planting (or protect with chicken wire cages) if deer frequent your garden. They do get tiny spikes of flowers that hummingbirds love in mid-summer.
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The striking flowers of this shade perennial make it worth planting! A bleeding heart takes several years to show its stuff, so be patient, and you’ll be rewarded. Give it mostly shade with some morning sun for the best blooms. The flowers are pure white, red, or pink, and they appear in late spring.
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With variegated gold and green foliage, Japanese forest grass lights up shady corners of your garden. It does prefer moist soils, but the beautiful arching leaves are deer-resistant.
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Also called tiarella, the beautiful pale pink spikes of foamflower appear in late spring. When planted in masses, they resemble foam from a distance! The delicate flowers bloom for more than a month.
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Also known by the not-so-glamorous name of dead nettle, this shade perennial makes a beautiful, low-maintenance ground cover. It tolerates sun but spreads faster in shade gardens. With silvery splashes on its foliage, lamium flowers bloom in pink, white, or purple in late spring to early summer.
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The feathery flowers of astilbe appear in late spring, adding gorgeous, saturated color to the shade garden. They come in a variety of colors, including white and various shades of pink. The stunning plumes appear in summer; they’re also deer-resistant.
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The burnished fronds of autumn fern add subtle color to shady areas of your yard. They’ll tolerate a little morning sun, but they do best in full shade. They’ll spread rapidly in the right environment. They’re also deer-resistant.
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The foliage of this shade perennial grows in an interesting ladder-like form, but the striking blue flowers are the real showstoppers. Make sure Jacob’s ladder receives a few hours of sun each day for the best blooms. The flowers bloom for weeks in late spring to early summer.
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Bunchberry is a low-growing groundcover that does well in shady areas. The white flowers, which resemble dogwood blossoms (it’s in the same family), become bright red berries in the fall.
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A mat of low-growing foliage makes this shade perennial an excellent groundcover. In summer, bright blue spikes of flowers appear on bugleweed. It can be an aggressive spreader, so make sure to contain it if you don’t want it growing everywhere.
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Available in a wide range of colors from burgundy to chartreuse, coral bells make for a lovely groundcover. Tiny bell-shaped flowers, which hummingbirds love, appear early to mid-summer. Coral bells, also called heuchera, are deer- and rabbit-resistant.
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Columbines are early- to mid-spring bloomers, offering much-needed food early in the season for pollinators. The intricate flowers look delicate, but it’s a tough shade perennial that will return for several years. Many types reseed themselves.
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Source: housebeautiful.com
