Vertical farm can make 44,000 pounds of tomatoes on the side of a parking lot
Project lets Wyoming town keep growing food all year long
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- The Wyoming town of Jackson gets long and bitter winters. One mile
above sea level in a landlocked state, months of heavy snow leave the
town unable to grow much of its own produce, forcing it to import fresh
fruit and vegetables from other states or other countries. But the
creators of a new initiative called Vertical Harvest
— a multi-story greenhouse built on the side of a parking lot — hope
that one of the world's few vertical farms can help feed the town with
tomatoes, herbs, and microgreens.
Vertical Harvest places plants on carousels that keep them moving the length of the greenhouse, giving them equal time in natural light, and also allowing workers to pick and transfer the crops. Using hydroponics, Vertical Harvest will be capable of producing over 37,000 pounds of greens, 4,400 pounds of herbs, and 44,000 pounds of tomatoes. Its founders say that Vertical Harvest's 30 foot by 150 foot plot of land offers the same growing areas as 23 acres of traditional farmland, and has a fraction of the environmental impact, using 90 percent less water and 100 percent fewer pesticides than traditional farming.
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