Guests ‘Discover Fresh’ as they Meet Innovative Urban ‘Nerd’ Farmer
Pierre Sleiman Jr., CEO of Go Green Agriculture and self-professed “nerd farmer,” and Garden Fresh CEO John Morberg teamed up again to enlighten guests about the local farm-to-table “Discover Fresh” story at the Point Loma Souplantation last Thursday. The two first met with San Diego area guests last September for a similar “meet the farmer” event at the Del Mar Souplantation. Butter lettuce Pierre and his family grew at their organic hydroponic farm in Encinitas, CA, was used in the “Make-Your-Own Lettuce Wrap that was a limited time offer in July in the San Diego area Souplantations.
“Each time I meet with Pierre I am impressed with his enthusiasm and commitment to the same values that are important to us at Garden Fresh,” John said. “He is really a computer guy who is creating a business model of developing organic hydroponic farms in urban areas to serve Garden Fresh restaurants and others driven to offer true farm-to-table freshness.” Pierre’s first farm, a six-acre state-of-the-art organic hydroponic farm in Encinitas produces as much product as 120 acres of dirt farmland, based on his analysis.
Recently, Pierre and his family purchased a 20-acre parcel in Tracy, CA, in the Bay Area, and will develop their second urban organic farm, which they expect to have operational within a year. His goal is to develop such urban farms around the nation, launching one new farm each year for several years to come. “We believe urban, organic hydroponic farming is the wave of the future,” Pierre says.
“Our greenhouse system allows us to grow produce in optimal conditions where we are able to control and monitor climate, environment and nutrients where we use 80% less water than conventional field growing since the water recirculates and gets pumped back into the system, creating zero runoff.”
It takes just six weeks to grow butter lettuce from seed to harvest in Pierre’s greenhouses. After two weeks of growth, seedlings are moved from a nursery and placed into growing channels where the plants grow, mature, and are harvested.
Each week’s harvest production yields about:
40,000 heads of Green Butter Lettuce
5,000 heads of Red Butter Lettuce
6,000 heads of Upland Cress
Go Green’s Green Butter Lettuce heads were given out to Club Veg members as part of the meet-the-farmer event. Are you a Club Veg member? If not, join to get members-only perks!
Did you meet the hydroponic farmer Pierre? “Lettuce” know!
About Go Green Agriculture
Go Green Agriculture is a family farm with big ideas and strong values for growing the healthiest and highest quality produce while using super sustainable growing methods. All of our produce is grown with utmost care and the finest nutrients, resulting in the freshest and finest produce in the world.