Posted on 08/23/2019 7:53:28 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A car park opposite the infamous New York City housing estate where rapper Jay-Z grew up seems an unlikely place for an agricultural revolution.
Ten shipping containers dominate a corner of the Brooklyn parking area, each full of climate control tech, growing herbs that are distributed to local stores on bicycles. This is urban farming at its most literal.
The containers are owned by Square Roots, part of America's fast-expanding vertical farming industry, a sector run by many tech entrepreneurs who believe food production is ripe for disruption.
The world's best basil reputedly comes from Genoa, Italy. Square Roots grows Genovese seeds in a container that recreates the city's daylight hours, humidity, Co2 levels - and all fed hydroponically in nutrient-rich water.
"Rather than ship food across the world, we ship the climate data and feed it into our operating system," says co-founder Tobias Peggs.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
This is actually a great idea as we can actually use this tech to colonize greenland!!!
What will be the energy expenditure to accomplish this versus outdoor farming?
Ping
Help me remember! I’ll add this to this week’s Garden Thread in the AM. Thanks!
Herbs and hipsters aside, the other 99.999% of farming will be not be done indoors.
They SAY it’s about 90% less water used.
Also much less fuel for transporting crops.
Also no stealthy Mexican poop.
That’s what they say, anyway.
About 10 different companies in Calif around Salinas and Santa Cruz are making robots for swapping out the crop trays, etc.
Also de-weeding robots for the regular sun fields, etc.
Growing “herbs”, delivered by bicycle. Riiight.
Perfecting this would definitely benefit the northern climates. It’s a really good idea, I think.
I’ve seen “The Plant” in Chicago’s back-of-the-yards neighborhood. Big old warehouse full of fun stuff, hydroponics, brewery, fish tanks. It’s very cool, seriously. And there will be more such, but my point was disagreement with the generalization that “moving indoors” implies. These are going to still represent a tiny fraction of ag production. Although in San Francisco if they could find a way to make use of human fertilizer they might be able to solve two problems. “Close the Poop Loop”.
I wonder what that smells like.
A ordinary 2-D pig farm is horrendous, a 3-D one has got to be off the charts.
It may work for spices but think about corn fields inside of containers... or wheat fields... or commercial quantity tomatoes for canning and other tomato products...
not...
You might want to re-visit that statement if the Sun doesn't make any sunspots soon
If another ice age kicks in...99.999% of farming will be done indoors.
Never say never.
How about bananas, apples, grapes, walnuts, and other plants that are large/tall and/or have complicated shapes?
If you like eating cardboard this is the way to go. Our market has only indoor grown tomatoes (even in summer), they’re inedible. I grow my own or I have to go to a separate store to by a real tomato.
This is a rapidly growing area. Tomatoes, lettuce, herbs and other succulent vegetables do very well with this method.
Probably smells a bit like the streets of DC during the Womens March or any other Liberal gathering
I bet a hog farm doesn’t smell as bad as San Francisco does.
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