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Commercial Aeroponics: The Grow Anywhere Story
Optometrist Larry Forrest was an early investor with a pioneering
aeroponic researcher named Rick Stoner and his company Agrihouse
- www.agrihouse.com. Seeing plants grow in thin air on a very small
scale led Dr. Forrest to want to see if he could grow plants via
the aeroponic method on a large, commercial scale. (The best information
on growing plants via aeroponics is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroponics.
Most of this site was populated by Mr. Stoner mentioned above.)
This desire, coupled with the knowledge that microgreens were a
sought after item for chefs, made garnishment plants the perfect
candidate for an entrepreneurial venture. (See attached pictures
and picture description below of the aeroponic growing method.)
With that as his goal, he started Grow Anywhere in mid-2005. The
first year was filled with "growing pains" - literally.
"We killed a lot of plants in that first year," recalls
Dr. Forrest. Without soil, plants need moisture about every 20 minutes
or they die. So, the eye doctor had to become a hydro engineer to
make sure the irrigation system would not only work but work consistently.
Another of the unforeseen tribulations was the negatives of a water
intensive business in a warehouse. "A couple of times we had
floods that crept under our party walls and into the neighbors units.
Needless to say, they were not happy," recounts Forrest. The
high humidity produced by the requisite misting also displeased
fellow tenants as their windows quickly fogged in the winter months.
Refining the system of providing correctly balanced water pH also
required a lot of persistence and ingenuity.
The rewards of all this innovative struggle became apparent when
Grow Anywhere began dropping off microgreen samples to local chefs.
"Often chefs would become customers with their first sample,"
says Forrest. The key with microgreens is taste, and the aeroponic
growing method produces superior tasting greens. "Chefs also
tell us our greens stand up to heat better than any microgreens
they've seen before. They don't wilt on a hot dish or entrée,"
Forrest comments. The shelf life tends to exceed that of soil grown
garnishments. Another important quality of microgreens for chefs
is the look and texture of the plant. "Our plants get high
marks in the physical characteristic category," said Forrest.
"It makes sense because our greens are simply cut and placed
in the plastic container for distribution. If we were growing these
in soil, we'd have to handle and clean the greens, which just ups
the chances we'd damage the plants."
Grow Anywhere has received a full food safety audit. Next up is
to get organic certification. Having already met all the criteria
to become organically certified, Forrest said it was just a matter
of filling out the paperwork and paying the fee.
For Dr. Forrest, the first goal was growing a great product aeroponically
on a commercial scale. With that objective met, the focus now turns
to marketing and distribution.
Surprisingly, Dr. Forrest is more than willing to help other chefs
or entrepreneurs set up their own "farms" in major cities
around the US or internationally. This might bode very well for
chefs as a real trend in restaurants is to control supply by growing
and raising the ingredients that go into their menu items.
To interview Dr. Larry Forrest you may contact him at the following:
Email: larryforrest@comcast.net
Phone: (303) 434-7157
Rows of different microgreens being grown aeroponically
Owner and founder Larry Forrest checking on his crops
Larry Forrest displaying the roots of the plants that are growing
in the air.
Beautiful lush crop right before harvest
Submitted by: damon@grow-anywhere.com
Sylvia Mitchell and her team are doing their best to develop the
medicinal plant industry in Jamaica. Her students are researching
the topics shown below and have presented posters and oral presentations
at professional conferences and these posters are being used in
Dr. Mitchell's outreach programs. For further information on any
of these, please contact Sylvia at
sylvia.mitchell@uwimona.edu.jm.
This was an abstract presented as a poster of an undergrad project:
Delahaye C.M., Mitchell S.A. and M.H. Ahmad (2008) Efficacy
of various garlic (Allium sativum) products against a bacterium
(Bacillus megaterium) and a fungi (Aspergillus niger).
Proceedings of the Eighth Conference of the Faculty of Pure and
Applied Sciences, Mona, Jamaica, February 26-28, P35, pg 47-8.
These are graduate student abstracts that were presented as posters:
Delahaye C., Mitchell S.A. and M.H. Ahmad (2008) Water
and alcoholic extracts of 18 plants used in Jamaica's folkloric
medicine exhibit antimicrobial properties against Bacillus
megaterum and Aspergillus niger. Proceedings of the
Eighth Conference of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences,
Mona, Jamaica, February 26-28, P31, pg 44
Francis T.K., Mitchell S.A. and M.H. Ahmad (2008) Multiplication
of sarsaparilla (Smilax regelii) under micropropagation
conditions using various benzylaminopurine (BAP) and indole butyric
acid (IBA) concentrations. Proceedings of the Eighth Conference
of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Mona, Jamaica, February
26-28, P32, pg 45
Jagnarine R., Mitchell S.A. and M.H. Ahmad (2008) Initiation
of aloe (Aloe vera) into tissue culture via the method
of micropropagation using various explants types and benzylaminopurine
(BAP) concentrations. Proceedings of the Eighth Conference of
the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Mona, Jamaica, February
26-28, P34, pg 47
Green C.E., Mitchell S.A. and M.H. Ahmad (2008) The development
of an HPTLC method to chemically fingerprint the polyphenolic
compound, curcumin ((E,E)-1,7-bis-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione
in Jamaican turmeric (Curcuma longa). Proceedings of the
Eighth Conference of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences,
Mona, Jamaica, February 26-28, P38, pg 50-51
Denton E., Mitchell S.A. and M.H. Ahmad (2008) Challenges
encountered while initiating medicinal plants into tissue culture
conditions: Case study of cerasee (Momordica charantia)
and spirit weed (Eryngium foetidum). Proceedings of the
Eighth Conference of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences,
Mona, Jamaica, February 26-28, P39, pg 51-52
Simmonds R.., Mitchell S.A. and M.H. Ahmad (2008) The
effects of storage and pre-storage conditions on the sprouting
time and weight loss of turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizomes
stored under different conditions of light and temperature. Proceedings
of the Eighth Conference of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences,
Mona, Jamaica, February 26-28, P42, pg 54
Mitchell S., R. Jagnarine, C.M. Delahaye, C.E. Green, T.K.
Francis, E. Denton, R.N. Simmonds, S.M. Mohansingh and M.H. Ahmad.
Using biotechnology in the tech transfer process: the mineral,
microbial, and biochemical analysis of field-grown micropropagated
medicinal plants for the production of unique monographs. Proceedings
of the Eighth Conference of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences,
Mona, Jamaica, February 26-28, P40, pg 52-53
This was an oral presentation by a graduate student:
Simmonds R..N., Mitchell S.A. and M.H. Ahmad (2008) Sterilization
and micropropagation of Jamaican turmeric using rhizome sprouts.
Proceedings of the Eighth Conference of the Faculty of Pure and
Applied Sciences, Mona, Jamaica, February 26-28, O17.
Dr. Mitchell and her team also have a paper coming out in our own
In Vitro Plant:
Webster S.A., Mitchell S.A., Gallimore W., Williams L.A.D. and
Ahmad M.H. (2007) Biosynthesis of Dibenzyl Trisulphide (DTS) from
somatic embryos and rhizogenous/embryogenic callus derived from
Guinea Hen Weed (Petiveria alliacea L.) leaf explants.
In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol. (due to be in March-April edition).
Submitted by Sylvia A. Mitchell
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