I began working at Tight 5 Farm, an indoor hydroponic operation, in January 2020. Tight 5 Farm is a vertical, hydroponic farm that grows crops in a highly regulated system completely devoid of soil. Instead, crops grow with a very particular combination of light, nutrients, temperature, and water, all contained within a 10 foot by 10-foot grow tent. Tight 5’s vertical model and location allow for continuous crop production without the typical seasonality of an outdoor system, water conservation and recycling, and increased accessibility to a broad customer base due to the centrality of the farm compared to its primary markets.
Tight 5’s entire growing space is contained within a Gorilla Grow tent with a 10-foot by 10-foot footprint, or 100-square-feet. However, given Tight 5’s vertical model, the amount of available growing space is far more than the two-dimensional footprint of the tent, unlike the case for outdoor row-cropping. The approximate amount of growing space at Tight 5’s current growing capacity, given the number of 10-inch x 20-inch trays used on the peak production day, is approximately 254 square feet. That number means that the ratio of growing space to physical footprint is more than two to one in favor of the microgreens growing space, a number that could be exponentially increased depending on how tall the racks were built. Production at Tight 5 is stunning when compared to a row-crop operation; Tight 5 produces about 60 pounds of microgreens on 254-square-feet of growing space per week.
This farm can be utilized as a model for building more sustainable farms and a more resilient food system through three guiding principles. The first is a commitment to minimizing reliance on fossil fuels, be that in the form of transportation, synthetic fertilizer, or disposable plastics. The second is a continuous dialogue about where resources come from and whether those resources represent the values of the farm and the community it serves. And the third, and perhaps least intuitive, is a profound willingness to critique oneself and admit the faults inherent to the system. By admitting error and accepting criticism, both farms continue to strive to become better, never believing that they have reached the end goal of complete sustainability. In order to build a sustainable food system, we must always believe that we have not.