Container Farm planned for Nipawin

Worsley explained he plans to order the system from a Boston company called Freight Farms that makes container farms. Each “farm” he said, is about the size of a shipping container, and each unit can produce roughly 1,000 heads of lettuce per week.

His company is called Bridging River Greens, and he plans to order two units, and said they can produce a variety of greens.

“It could be kale, Swiss chard, bok choy, any type of herbs. The system also can do flowers, as well as small root vegetables like radishes, and carrots,” he said.

At a meeting on April 11, the town said it is willing to consider the application. However, a report to council said there are a number of conditions Worsley will have to meet – and the town will need to do a technical review before it gives the project a green light.

He also needs to finalize financing, and estimates the project will cost around half a million dollars.

However, Worsley says he has letters of intent to purchase his products from a number of restaurants, as well as Lake Country Co-op. That would give him retail access not only in Nipawin, but also Choiceland, Smeaton and Prince Albert.

“It opens up a huge potential market,” he said. “It’ll be a fair chunk of change to get it up and going but with the price of produce and the numbers that are out there, it’s feasible. You can produce between two and four tons of leafy greens a year.”

Worsley said each container farm requires about 15 hours of work per week to produce a crop – so initially he plans on operating the system himself.

He said if all goes well, he hopes to be producing his first batch of greens by September. His letter to council said besides selling to restaurants and in grocery stores, he also hopes to sell subscription boxes directly to the public.

—

doug.lett@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @DougLettSK

by Doug Lett

Container Farm planned for Nipawin

What's Trending