Comments on: The Vertical Farm: Making a Pledge Towards the Future http://blog.thepoint.com/2008/07/24/263/ Just another WordPress weblog Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:28:54 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: Sarah Hannity http://blog.thepoint.com/2008/07/24/263/comment-page-1/#comment-794 Sarah Hannity Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:49:13 +0000 http://blog.thepoint.com/?p=263#comment-794 <p>Alex,</p> <p>I talked to Abbie the other day and she told me that you and I are living in the same neighborhood. You're by Andrew Sq? She also told me you're writing a lot, but this is the only link she had on hand.</p> <p>I like the site, and I especially like this whole vertical farm idea. I have been keeping up with it online for the past few weeks since I saw the thing in the Times. We should get Abbie in on drinks and talk about this more.</p> <p>Maybe I'll see you at the Tedeschi</p> <p>-SH</p> Alex,

I talked to Abbie the other day and she told me that you and I are living in the same neighborhood. You’re by Andrew Sq? She also told me you’re writing a lot, but this is the only link she had on hand.

I like the site, and I especially like this whole vertical farm idea. I have been keeping up with it online for the past few weeks since I saw the thing in the Times. We should get Abbie in on drinks and talk about this more.

Maybe I’ll see you at the Tedeschi

-SH

]]> By: Roxanne Christensen http://blog.thepoint.com/2008/07/24/263/comment-page-1/#comment-755 Roxanne Christensen Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:48:01 +0000 http://blog.thepoint.com/?p=263#comment-755 <p>Commercial urban agriculture is already happening throughout the U.S. and Canada, as more and more people are starting to practice SPIN-Farming. SPIN makes it possible to earn $50,000+ from a half acre by growing vegetables on land bases under an acre in size. SPIN farmers utilize relay cropping to increase yield and achieve good economic returns by growing only the most profitable food crops tailored to local markets. SPIN's growing techniques are not, in themselves, breakthrough. What is novel is the way a SPIN farm business is run. SPIN provides everything you'd expect from a good franchise: a business plan, marketing advice, and a detailed day-to-day workflow. In standardizing the system and creating a reproducible process it really isn't any different from McDonalds. So by offering a non-technical, easy-to-understand and inexpensive-to-implement farming system, it allows many more people to farm, wherever they live, as long as there are nearby markets to support them, and it removes the two big barriers to entry – sizeable acreage and significant start-up capital. By utilizing backyards and front lawns and neighborhood lots, SPIN farmers are recasting farming as a small business in cities and towns and "right sizing" agriculture for an urbanized century. While vertical farming will still take some time to get off the ground, sub-are farming is already showing how agriculture can be integrated into the built environment in an economically viable manner. You can see some SPIN farmers in action at www.spinfarming.com</p> Commercial urban agriculture is already happening throughout the U.S. and Canada, as more and more people are starting to practice SPIN-Farming. SPIN makes it possible to earn $50,000+ from a half acre by growing vegetables on land bases under an acre in size. SPIN farmers utilize relay cropping to increase yield and achieve good economic returns by growing only the most profitable food crops tailored to local markets. SPIN’s growing techniques are not, in themselves, breakthrough. What is novel is the way a SPIN farm business is run. SPIN provides everything you’d expect from a good franchise: a business plan, marketing advice, and a detailed day-to-day workflow. In standardizing the system and creating a reproducible process it really isn’t any different from McDonalds. So by offering a non-technical, easy-to-understand and inexpensive-to-implement farming system, it allows many more people to farm, wherever they live, as long as there are nearby markets to support them, and it removes the two big barriers to entry – sizeable acreage and significant start-up capital. By utilizing backyards and front lawns and neighborhood lots, SPIN farmers are recasting farming as a small business in cities and towns and “right sizing” agriculture for an urbanized century. While vertical farming will still take some time to get off the ground, sub-are farming is already showing how agriculture can be integrated into the built environment in an economically viable manner. You can see some SPIN farmers in action at http://www.spinfarming.com

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