Family hydroponic farm in Wykoff looks ahead at the future of farming, regardless of season
WYKOFF, Minn. -- It's winter in Minnesota, but a Fillmore County family is growing acres of crops in a 40-by-10 shipping container.
It's the time of year when fertile fields are buried under snow and ice. In a sense, it's winter break for farmers. But not in the town of Wykoff.
"We've got a summer crisp and a romaine and then I've got some basil," said Tony Rahe, Rae of Sunshine Farms.
A few months ago, Tony and his wife Kelly came to the realization that farming doesn't have to end in the fall. So they bought a shipping container, installed a hydroponic system, and went to work growing vegetables.
"Just found it and did some research on it and just kind of fell in love with the whole idea of it. I can grow four acres right here," said Tony.
And they do it without any soil and no chemicals, plus no competition from wildlife. It only takes five gallons of recycled water to grow all these crops. Gravity is the main force, pulling the water from the ceiling to the floor as vegetables grow sideways on walls.
"There's no other soil other than the peat moss pods we start the seeds in," said Tony.
It's important to know that this type of farming is unique because it isn't a greenhouse. Which means photosynthesis happens in other ways.
LED lights are on from 14 to 18 hours a day. The red lights act as sunlight and the blue lights stimulate root growth.
"And it's actually really exciting when people come in to look at it, they are just like in awe. They can't believe we can do this vertically on a wall," said Kelly.
"I've got my radishes on the end so I can eat while I'm working," said Tony.
Radishes, kohlrabi, arugula and a variety of other lettuces can go from the wall, to a kitchen table, in a matter of hours. There's a harvest nearly every winter day. Which is exactly how Rahe of Sunshine Farms wants it.
"I can take that to a restaurant and they will have fresh lettuce within 3 hours," said Tony. 'That's pretty much my goal, is to let people enjoy what nature can give us."
The Rahe's sell to a number of families and can be found on the Minnesota Grown website. They hope to build a second container for flowers. A hydroponic system like this is not cheap to build, depending on the size, it can cost more than $20,000 to get started. But the Rahe's say there are a number of grant programs that help.