Touch the Soil News #1442 (Feature photo – Indoor Farming – CCA SA 3.0 Unported – Bryght Knyght) A newer company in Pittsburg called Fifth Season (https://www.fifthseasonfresh.com/#our-story) made news recently as it just got $35 million in funding to build a 60,000 square foot vertical farm. Being solar powered, the new facility will produce over…
Category: Urban Agriculture
Ground Zero for Urban Farming
Touch the Soil News #1436 (Feature photo – Manhattan – CCA Sa 3.0 Unported) Agritecture news portal interviews Jonathan Sumner – a traditional farmer turned urban farmer. Sumner’s farm – Riverpark Farm in Manhattan is just steps away from one of his largest customers. You can read the full story here (click on the story…
Modest but Steady Reversal of Land Use
Positive Future #567 (Feature photo – Rooftop Farming – CCA SA 4.0 International, Oatafi US) It is no secret that civilization began in the most fertile valleys of the world. From there, cities emerged and from there the cities moved outwards, paving the world’s best farmlands. While they have a long way to go, the…
Two Urban Farms Move into Hardware Store
Touch the Soil News #1429 (Feature photo – Micro-Greens – USDA Public Domain) The oldest hardware story in Washington, DC just took in two new enterprises in addition to its hardware business. One is a rooftop farm and the other is a micro-green indoor farm in a re-purposed storage space. You can read the full…
Backyard Fresh Farms – Making Indoor Vertical Profitable
Touch the Soil News #1410 (Feature photo – Arugula – By Retama – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1803040) Chicago Tribune journalist Alexia Ruiz brings us the story of Jake Counne and the building of Backyard Fresh Farms. http://www.backyardfreshfarms.com/about-us/ Counne is convinced that his technology approach will allow him to grow food at an affordable…
Downtown Denver Gets Its Own Urban Farm
Touch the Soil News #1404 (Feature photo – Altius Growing Towers – courtesy of Altius Farms) The Denver Post journalist Joe Rubino reports on the Altius Farms’ new operating greenhouse in Downtown Denver. The 7,000 square foot greenhouse uses vertical towers to increase production slated for downtown establishments. You can read the full story here:…
Greenhouse Farming in a Mega-City
Touch the Soil News #1396 (Feature photo – Flag of Montreal, Canada – Public Domain) Global News brings an interesting story of a greenhouse urban farm in Montreal, Canada. Unlike many greenhouse farms that focus on greens, this one has eggplants, watermelons and more. Montreal is a large city at the center of a metro…
Pennsylvania – Picking Up Where the USDA Leaves Off
Touch the Soil News #1388 (Feature photo – Seal of the State of Pennsylvania – By Henrik – Own workBoat and plow from File:Flag of Pennsylvania.svg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7002778) For most of our lives, the larger arena of food and farming has been overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The State of Pennsylvania…
Turning Unused Car Parking Lots into Urban Farms
Touch the Soil News #1362 (Feature photo – Biofilta Urban Farm – photo courtesy of Biofilta) Australian company Biofilta (https://www.biofilta.com.au/#/) is helping cities re-invent food in concrete jungles. Recently the company built an urban farm on top of a large parking garage in Melbourne, Australia. The South China Morning Post brings the story here: https://amp.scmp.com/lifestyle/interiors-living/article/3012990/how-urban-farms-could-solve-our-future-food-problems-and
New York City Seeks to Use Vacant Lots for Urban Farming
Touch the Soil News #1358 (Feature photo – Urban Agriculture – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license – Arnoud Joris Maaswinkel) Curbed journalist Caroline Spivack brings us the story of New York’s city council seeking to develop every possible vacant lot owned by the city into some productive food garden. Part of the effort…