Urban gardening has been around for decades, if not longer, but Mid-Ohio Food Collective is taking it a step further with its Hilltop operation, which grows urban produce without soil. Masu.
Hilltop Farm, located on Wheatland Avenue, grows crops in a variety of ways, with and without soil.
Hilltop's Verti-Grow planter features 200 planters stacked in five Styrofoam pots, each capable of producing up to 25 plants per square foot.
“We may be able to grow five to 10 times more in this location than we could grow conventionally in-ground,” said Mike Hochron, the food group's senior vice president of communications.
Food groups need to ensure the freshness of their food because so many people depend on their services. Their Hilltop Farm site reached substantial construction completion approximately two months ago and they are fully committed to realizing this goal.
Next to the Verti-Grow planter site is Garden Socks, a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to growing in-ground, created by Cleveland native Rod Tyler. This planting technique uses 70% less water than traditional in-ground cultivation.
A further feature of Hilltop Farm is the hydroponic growing space in the greenhouse, where farm director Trevor Horn said he hopes to foster workforce development.
There are 36 gutters inside this greenhouse, each with a water channel. The channel is fed by a 120-gallon pool and refilled weekly. The BlueLab panel controls features such as acid washes, fertilizer barrels, and calcium nitrate, which are used to grow plants without soil.
The plants produced are nutritionally identical to those grown in soil and pack an aesthetic punch.
“Isn't this the most beautiful lettuce you've ever seen? It doesn't even look real,” said Hilliard resident Harry McDonald, 41, owner of Fresh Greens Houseplant Design and MOFC volunteer. ) said.
As access to healthy soil decreases, hydroponic farms are becoming a viable alternative.
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“It's all based on soil science,” Horn says. “You're looking at soil that has been tested and trying to recreate it in some way.”
As soon as the plants are harvested, they are transported to the food market and are immediately available.
“It's a shop-through pantry. It's essentially a grocery store,” said Jessica Wheeler, 30, of Grove City, the farm's training manager. “It's an opportunity for families to put their name in, walk in when it's their turn, and shop as if they were in a grocery store.”
MOFC's website lists eight market locations in Columbus, Reynoldsburg, Grove City and Bladensburg.
The team at Hilltop Farms is committed to sharing this knowledge and has hosted workshops to educate community members about space-saving growing techniques.
“It doesn't matter how much you produce, if you can't teach others how to do it, it's not worth much,” Horn says. “Our goal is precision farming and ensuring as sustainable growth as possible.”
Now that it is substantially complete, the Hilltop team hopes to begin offering tours and educating the community this fall.
nfishman@gannett.com