Jackson Hole building 3-story tall vertical harvest greenhouse
Will supply fresh vegetables to local community
by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online!
December 21, 2014
We’ve been intrigued by the concept of the space-saving, indoor vertical gardening techniques as a way for Wyomingites to have gardens in our high-elevation, short-growing season climate.
It recently came to our attention that a company in Jackson Hole, north of Pinedale, is taking the vertical gardening concept to a whole new level. A company called Vertical Harvest has teamed up with the Town of Jackson in a public/private partnership and are in the process of building a three-story tall vertical hydroponic greenhouse. They have acquired a 30 foot wide x 150 foot long, 1/10th of an acre empty lot belonging to the Town of Jackson adjacent to the Town’s downtown municipal parking garage on the corner of Millward and Simpson Streets.
They plan to grow tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, herbs, specialty and microgreens, and more which will be purchased by local area restaurants, local grocery stores and businesses, and directly to consumers. Approximately 95% of their anticipated harvest is already contracted for local delivery.
The 13,500 square foot greenhouse will have three floors and grow produce year-round. By going vertical (up), they can maximize space and create basically three horizontal greenhouses stacked on top of each other and have about the equivalent of 5 acres of conventional agriculture growing space. The growing trays will be on avrevolving carousel and on a timer that fully maximizes each plant’s exposure to available natural south-facing sunlight (kind of like a dry cleaning moving rack) – a rotating living wall. Plants are suspended in an organic base in a system of circulating water rather than soil. The company expects to grow 100,000 pounds of vegetables a year in the greenhouse. Click here to view a video explaining more about the project.
The women who own the company have been working on this project for the past five years. They plan to provide jobs for people in the community who have development disabilities. Workers will be trained on seeding, caring for the plants, and harvesting, as well as work in the retail store and assisting with deliveries.
The company has received approval for a $1.5 million loan from the State of Wyoming for the project, in addition to a $300,000 grant from the Town of Jackson, funding from 1% for the Tetons, as well as numerous private donations from supporters.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held on Friday, December 19, 2014. The greenhouse is planned to open in the fall of 2015.
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Contact info:
Vertical Harvest
Penny McBride – Project Administrator, 307-413-6797
penny@verticalharvestjackson.com
PO Box 7290
Jackson, WY 83002
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