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Growing With The Flow!

3/29/2018

3 Comments

 
Author: Emil J. Bustamante, Vice Project Manager, Hydroponics Group

Welcome back to the Springstone Farms environmental consulting blog! My name is Emil and I am the Vice Project Manager for this exciting project. My job is not only to assist Tiago, our project manager, in overseeing the project as a whole but I’m also a member of the Hydroponics group and assisting the rain irrigation group as well. You can say I’m like a steady quarterback. My job today is to deliver an update on the progress of the Hydroponics group.
Since Springstone Farm is an hour away from Kean University Union, NJ campus we found it wise to first experiment with hydroponics locally on a small scale. With that said, we are currently conducting trials at a greenhouse in Elizabeth, NJ, only five minutes away from the campus, owned by Groundwork Elizabeth. Our hopes are to replicate our learned strategy on a broader scale at Springstone Farm. We acquired this arrangement from former internships at Groundwork, a non-profit organization whose goal is to build a more sustainable community while promoting the environment, economic, and social well-being.

Our allotted space is approximately 100 sq. ft. and we’re in communication with Joe with plans to implement a 400-600 sq. ft. quonset style “hoop house” greenhouse on the farm property. This allows us to patiently search for a greenhouse that most likely will be purchased secondhand. Our focus is on growing microgreens, which are the tiny or young forms of edible greens most commonly used for garnishes as well as flavor components in fine dining and organic juice bars. So far, we’ve been able to test and record various growing mediums, trays, seeds, and germination rates.

In the last couple of weeks we have given tours to over 30 people at the greenhouse, educating them on hydroponic systems and microgreens. We were also invited to the annual Groundwork Gala, attended a vendor’s event at a local farmers market, performed a hands-on demonstration at an elementary school and have started to connect local restaurants to our products. We hope that our small-scale operation will be a hit and that Springstone Farm will meet the capacity that we’ll soon need.Since Springstone Farm is an hour away from Kean University Union, NJ campus we found it wise to first experiment with hydroponics locally on a small scale. With that said, we are currently conducting trials at a greenhouse in Elizabeth, NJ, only five minutes away from the campus, owned by Groundwork Elizabeth. Our hopes are to replicate our learned strategy on a broader scale at Springstone Farm. We acquired this arrangement from former internships at Groundwork, a non-profit organization whose goal is to build a more sustainable community while promoting the environment, economic, and social well-being.
3 Comments
joe link
4/9/2018 04:42:04 am

Emil, You are doing excellent work on all fronts. I'm amazed at how successful you and your partners are in launching the hydroponics project. (A former colleague of mine and international first responder, Matt Altman from Cisco Systems is very interested in this project from the perspective of food security for refugees and other people at risk. We will plan a call with Matt in the next few weeks to discuss a "how to" guide for selective application.) I want to thank you Tiago and the team for the great work you are doing.

Joe

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Emil J. Bustamante
4/15/2018 06:29:45 pm

Pleasure is ours Joe!
Looking forward to our conference call with Matt. We're eager to deliver a guide that displays a hydroponic set-up in a Quonset "hoop house" greenhouse and possible solutions for an off-grid system as well. We admire all the sustainable projects happening at Springstone Farm and glad we can make a contribution!

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joe simmons link
4/28/2018 03:41:52 am

Although many know about hydroponics, there are still some key organizations that could be investing more in bringing it to scale. Here's a good project example....https://wfpusa.org/articles/how-innovation-has-transformed-lives-for-sahrawi-refugees/

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    Sarah is a senior Kean University student graduating this may with a B.S. in Environmental Biology. She is the technical editor of her senior capstone project, which revolves around helping Springstone Farm become more sustainable.

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