Vertical farming

[bixaorellana]

A Farm on Every Floor

Here is a fascinating article about an exciting concept. Imagine looking up from the urban canyon of skyscrapers and seeing a glass tower full of greenery.

The writer makes the idea plausible and makes a convincing case for its many benefits.

The only sour note for me was the pitch to greed. After waxing eloquent about not having to truck fresh produce into the city, he gloats about the profits to be made from lettuce at $2.50 a head.

[Deleted]

God idea, where there isn't much room for gardens/farms. I can imagine it would make the produce extremely expensive though.

I have been in a tower like that before, (In Toronto, I think it was or was is Winnipeg or Calgary?), Can't remember, but only one floor was dedicated to growing gardens. It was interesting to see..

[bixaorellana]

I don't know about that, Deyana. The initial set-up would be expensive, but imagine what it costs to set up a regular farm and keep it going. There is also the element of doing away with most of the transportation costs.

[Deleted]

One thing that seems glossed over are the limited number of crops that can be grown that way. Hydroponic wheat, anyone?

[bixaorellana]

One of the crops shown in the illustration is corn -- that's a large crop item.

I guess the technology is there to do it on a grand scale. However, if we get to the point where we have to live under domes or on other planets, our eating habits would probably change dramatically.

In the meantime, the towers seem like they'd be a lovely addition to a city -- "Meet me by the lettuces." Can you imagine a tower working for the florist industry?

[Deleted]

Aug 25, 2009 5:03:14 GMT bixaorellana said:

Meet me by the lettuces." Can you imagine a tower working for the florist industry?

Actually, come to think about it, the tower I visited was only growing flowers and plants, it also had large fish ponds on that particular floor. I think there were two floors. I wish I could remember which city it was in, I thought Toronto...

[Jazz]

This is a very interesting article and I think it is quite feasible. The idea of cutting down on transportation costs is good. This is on a larger scale, but there is no reason why it couldn't be done in smaller individual ways, ie: rooftop of a house. There are a few good articles linked about this on your other OP Bixa, Taking it to the streets - intensive urban farming, anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=gardening&thread=1724&page=1#32216

[bazfaz]

I saw a different kind of vertical farming in an oasis in Tunisia. Date palms soared up. Next level down were citrus trees. And at ground level there were vegetables. Three crops from the same piece of land.

[bixaorellana]

I vacillated about where to put this, as it might go in "Living Walls" as well.



The picture on the right is of a project currently under construction.
The architect's site has interactive diagrams and planting charts. You can also see pictures of the project under construction.



Click on the picture for an article covering the pictured building and similar projects.

[Deleted]

When I see the huge gardens on some of the roofs of Paris, I am astounded. But balconies on the lower floors, even wide balconies, never seem to work.

One of my colleagues in Paris has a roof terrace and she brings me grapes and apples every year that grow in BOXES.