Canada: Greens grown in a warehouse? Vertical farming a growing trend in Ontario
With vertical farming, seasons don’t matter: growing takes place anytime, anywhere
By Andrew Coppolino
CBC News
Sep 26, 2020
Excerpt:
t’s a plain building in an industrial complex in Guelph, a few minutes from Highway 401. Inside is 4,000 square metres of high-tech “vertical farm” operated by GoodLeaf Farms, a Halifax-based company.
In the course of 12 months, GoodLeaf grows, harvests and packages 360,000-kilograms of pea shoots, mustard medley, Asian mix and arugula microgreens as well as baby kale and baby arugula. The growing room is a couple of storeys high with trays of microgreens settled into a peat moss-based substrate.
Vertical farming maximizes crop output in a limited space; the seasons don’t matter: growing takes place anytime, anywhere.
The facility uses no pesticides, fungicides or herbicides. A blend of red and blue LED lighting casts a pink glow on the produce, which is helped in its growth with computer-controlled hydroponics. Nutrients such as nitrogen are added through the irrigation system.
“A vertical farm is where technology and traditional agriculture come together. We grow leafy greens vertically in stacks in an indoor controlled environment,” said Jacquie Needham of GoodLeaf.