Category: Agriculture

  • Moving The Farm to The City

    Gotham Greens just raised $310 million to expand greenhouses that grow food closer to several major cities. The new sites will be located outside of Dallas, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia, and Denver, Colorado. They will be operating 13 greenhouse farms by next year, growing fresh produce close to urban areas. The savings are enormous, and the quality is high. They even built a greenhouse on a Whole Foods Market roof in Brooklyn.

    Does This Save Water

    They grow their produce hydroponically. Circulated water containing nutrients constantly streams through the root systems. The water has oxygen and nutrients the plants absorb through their roots. Any water not used by the plants is recycled. This helps Gotham Greens use 95% less water than traditional agriculture.

    The Growing Season

    The greenhouses are temperature controlled using sun and wind power, providing a 365-day growing season. This offers local customers fresh produce year-round grown with fewer resources and less waste.

    What About Terroir

    I can taste the soil in the wine is a term muttered in many tasting rooms. It also is used for many other edible plants. So how does the perfect environment impact the taste of the produce? For many people, the produce from the greenhouses is the best they’ve had. Indeed, eating veggies from a field or fruit directly from a tree is the best tasting. This gets to your table pretty fast, and as a result, many think the quality and taste are exceptional. In addition to great taste, there is less fuel waste and longer life on the shelf, reducing food waste.

    Is This The Future Of Farming

    By the year 2050, the world population will exceed 9 billion people. We will have to increase worldwide food production dramatically to keep up with the growth. In the U.S. alone, we expect an increase of 117 million people. This is a real challenge; The world will have to grow more food with less water. It’s estimated by the Environmental Defense Fund between 15% – 20% of irrigated land will be taken out of production. This means growing more food with less water, and it also means higher food prices for everyone.

    Growing food locally in greenhouses will not solve the water issues we face today, but it helps. The solution will not be one, a magic bullet by itself. It’s going to take others trying new ways of growing. Technology like Jain Logic and soil moisture sensors play a big part. As well as changing our eating habits. There will be changes in the amount of meat consumed and significant changes in the dairy industry. It is an exciting time to be involved with food and agriculture, and some of the brightest minds in the business are moving to the industry because of the importance of the challenges. Undoubtedly, we will win the water battle and produce better-tasting food with less water. At Jain, we like to call it more crop per drop.

  • What’s The Difference Between a Frost Date And Freeze Date

    It’s hard to believe we are 11 weeks away from Thanksgiving Day, which means for most, the first freeze date might be right around the corner.  It may be hot and dry now, but cooler weather is on the way, and fall and winter gardening becomes more challenging with cooler temperatures. Awareness of frost and freeze dates will make your gardening less demanding as the days shorten and temperatures drop. Frost-free days are the gardening window you have to produce food and a beautiful landscape.

    A frost date is defined as the day when the chance of the ground being frost free is 50%. They are determined using data from the past 30 years supplied by the Department of Agriculture. This frost date is defined as any day the temperature reaches 36 degrees F or below. Frost can kill plants even when the ground remains warm, but about the ground, it’s colder. As a result, you will see the tops of your plants die while the bottom looks great.

    A freeze date is any day when the temperature falls below 32 degrees F. Freeze dates cause much more damage to our plants the frost dates. Below is the damage you can expect from various freeze-date temperatures.

    1. Temperatures between 29 – 32 degrees F kill tender plants, but other plants will not show damage.
    2. Temperatures between 25 – 28 degrees F are widely destructive and heavily damage tender and semi-hardy plants.
    3. A temperature of 24 degrees F and below will heavily damage almost all plants.

    How To Use This Information

    The key to frost and freeze dates is knowing when you can start planting and when you need to complete your harvest. Of course, these are not perfect numbers. But, they are a guide to help you plan; timing is usually everything. Plant too early, and your plants could be weakened by cold temperatures making them more prone to pests and diseases. Plant too late, and plants might not reach maturity before the first frost.

    Below is a graphic for big-picture planning purposes.

    Here you can find a first freeze guide based on your zip code:

    Dave’s Garden
    The Old Farmer’s Almanac
    National Garden Association

    We must overcome many challenges to be successful growers and water managers. It is sometimes overwhelming to see how the odds are stacked against us. However, with tools like this one and the other technology tools we discuss in our blogs and webinars, we can shift the odds in our favor.