We also have red leaf, green leaf and romaine.
“Our varieties are salvanova also known as frisee behind me, you see butter. Then after about a week or so, the seedlings are brought to the greenhouse where they continue to grow. Trays in the farm seed room hold about 276 seeds a piece. Workers keep the water flowing and the greens growing to produce variations of lettuce and herbs.The process starts in the seed room, anywhere from 35,00 to 5,000 seeds are planted on a regular basis. When things shut down and logistic networks shut down during the pandemic you know exactly where your food was sourced from and you still had access to it,” Fowler said. It contributes to the food system and the security of our food system. “Not only do we accept cash and card we also accept SNAP, EBT and farmers market nutrition coupons. Operations manager Danielle Fowler loves her work and says the 10,000 square foot greenhouse is a unique part of a sustainable local food chain. The farm located at 555 South Tucson Boulevard is starting to make a splash with neighbors. I can’t think of anything healthier than fresh harvested greens,” Shriver said. “The Arizona Community Food Bank Network approached us with this network called "Friends of the Farmer" to help. The COVID-19 slowdown also opened new doors, now Bill spends a few days a week selling fresh Tilapia fish and greens to the public from his drive thru and shed on the farm.
There are people who come through here and tell us their stories and some of them they say one of the only things they did during the pandemic was come through our market,” Shriver said. "Without the support of the neighbors I don’t think we would've made it. Since opening the business with his son Chaz in 2016, the urban farm only supplied local restaurants and grocery stores but, the pandemic slowed things down. Merchants Garden owner Bill Shriver is connecting with the community. (KGUN) - An urban farm in the heart of Tucson is looking to keep its perspective and produce as fresh as possible. With vertical hydroponics, a crowded Tel Aviv balcony can provide green for the entire family and an average building roof can grow agricultural produce in a significant amount.TUCSON, Ariz. The growth systems themselves are light and can be easily placed on roofs.Īnother prominent advantage of the hydroponic growth method is the ability to grow aloft and take advantage of urban space – a method known as vertical agriculture. Hydroponic growth accounts for only 20% of water and half the amount of fertilizer compared with soil agriculture. This cultivation method does not require soil and can be implemented anywhere. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants based on water enriched with nutrients (fertilizer). For these reasons and more, it is customary to use advanced growing methods, such as hydroponics, suitable for the needs of urban space.
As said above, the use of unutilized areas such as roofs is very attractive but it makes no sense, economically and technically speaking, to load them with soil. Although traditional farming is quite problematic in the city there are a number of cities in the world that have opened community gardens for the benefit of the inhabitants (very common in Cuba) where every resident receives a plot of land, in most of the world the urban land resource is extremely expensive and there is not enough space available to support private growers, not to mention commercial farms.