A revolution in agriculture
Where ‘Star Trek meets farming:’ Montreal cubic farmer aims to grow 500 heads of lettuce a year in a single square foot
David Sherman, Special to Financial Post
If there is a revolution to come in agriculture, it might well be from here — a non-descript block of a building in a field off Quebec’s Laurentienne autoroute, just a hike from the near-abandoned Mirabel Airport.
Inside, lettuce, basil, kale, and a variety of micro greens on rotating rotisserie-like trays are being nurtured under blue LED lights, using only drops of water. In fact, 94% less water than conventional farm methods.
The environment is sterile, the few staff wear white smocks, visitors slip on booties to prevent contamination and the plants are a mix of lustrous greens and purples. “Star Trek meets the farm,” Richard Groome, chief executive and president of Urban Barns Inc., likes to say.
Courtesy of Urban Barns
Courtesy of Urban BarnsThe produce is organic, and pesticide, herbicide and fungicide-free and if the playbook is followed, they will be picked and, within hours, be on a shelf at a nearby IGA.
Urban Barns, opened this past June, is home to the first realized cubic farm from which, it is expected, as many as 500 heads of lettuce will grow each year from a single square foot of industrial space. It takes less than 30 days to grow a head of greens here, where conditions are always optimum. The produce is organic, and pesticide, herbicide and fungicide-free and if the playbook is followed, they will be picked and, within hours, be on a shelf at a nearby IGA.
