(rooster crows)
INDY: If you've ever
dreamed of owning a farm,
come with me.
PETE: Things are living and
things are growing on a rooftop.
INDY: I'm Indy Officinalis.
I'm a farmer who loves
helping other farmers.
My passion for farming
started in my teens,
working on a homestead
in North Carolina,
and led me to
urban farming in LA.
I've worked on farms
from coast to coast,
but farming is hard work.
MAN: We planted about
ten variety of fruit trees
and they all died.
INDY: So, I'm traveling the
country to offer some hope.
Hi.
WOMAN: Indy!
WOMAN 2: Oh, my gosh, Indy.
INDY: Join me as I
transform farms on rooftops,
in backyards, warehouses
This is insane.
And even out on the ocean.
Farm rescue on a boat ♪
INDY: On the way,
we'll get tips from some of
my expert farmer friends.
WOMAN: This is so awesome!
(screams).
INDY: Today, I'm in the
Garden State, New Jersey.
Greens Do Good started in 2019
with an incredible mission.
But they're
struggling to turn a profit
and that's holding them back.
My goal is to spend time in this
3,000 square feet indoor farm,
to figure out a way to maximize
their growing potential.
Hey.
CHANTELLE: Hi, welcome to
Greens Do Good, I'm Chantelle.
INDY: Indy, so nice to meet you.
CHANTELLE: We're so
happy to have you here.
You wanna come
in and take a look?
INDY: Yes. Yes, please.
CHANTELLE: Okay, let's go.
INDY: My gosh.
This is magical.
I can't believe this.
And it smells good. Yeah.
CHANTELLE: It smells
nutritious in here, doesn't it?
INDY: It does, it
smells nutritious.
I wish I could bottle this up.
This is so beautiful.
I'll move in right now.
This is my dream home.
CHANTELLE: It's pretty special.
INDY: Yes.
Walking into Greens Do Good
is really unexpected because
you're in this warehouse
but there are just these
vertical towers of micro greens.
It kind of has
this ethereal look.
It feels like you're
on a different planet.
I've been to a number of
indoor farms but not one
quite like this one.
Chantelle gives me
the lowdown on what
Greens Do Good is all about.
CHANTELLE: This is actually
part of the REED Autism Services
family of programs.
So what we do, is we
educate and teach and employ
children and adults with autism
throughout all of
our program areas.
INDY: So, what made
you want to not only
create a hydroponic farm,
but create one that
hires folks that you might
not necessarily see
working at other places?
CHANTELLE: We know that a
million teens with autism are
aging out of their
school entitlement services,
and less than half
have ever had a paying job.
And we knew that farming had a
lot of really positive benefits.
The ambient noise
is soothing in here.
And people with autism
sometimes like repetitive work.
Greens Do Good is
really so much more than
an indoor
hydroponic vertical farm.
The thought of it not being
here and not being a space where
people of all abilities
can come to learn and to work,
it's not just
about this one farm,
it's much broader than that.
Jen, hi, I want
you to meet Indy.
This is Jen, our
Operations Director.
JEN: Indy.
INDY: Nice to meet you.
JEN: Thank you for coming.
INDY: Of course.
I'll come any time.
JEN: Awesome. We'll take you.
(laughs).
For the farm I try to find new
and innovative ways to, like,
afford our 50 teens and
young adults with autism going
through our workforce
development program each week,
and five adults with autism,
who are currently getting
paid to work here,
we're really struggling
to expand our footprint.
INDY: Oh, wow,
I'd love to see more.
JEN: Oh, absolutely.
So, let me show you around.
We opened our doors
to several districts.
And now we have a waiting list.
If we can grow to
our capacity here,
that means almost $10,000
per month more of revenue.
I feel like with
every dollar we sell,
it's another person we
can invite in and help.
We're a pretty small farm but we're
trying to do some pretty big things.
I wanna take our 50 interns
and turn it into 100.
You'll see that we've
got two rows of towers.
There's 15 altogether.
And some of the
towers have six tiers.
INDY: I'm not an indoor farmer,
but the principles of farming
are the same, no
matter where you grow.
And I feel right at
home at Greens Do Good.
Instead of the buzzing of
bees or tractors in the fields,
I can hear the whirring
of the fans and motors that
keep this farm running.
JEN: Unlike traditional farms,
we control the seasons.
So this butterhead lettuce
is gonna be ready to harvest
in just a few weeks.
So from seed to
harvest it's one month.
INDY: And you're
harvesting it just right here?
JEN: That's exactly right.
And you can take a look.
We've got kale, basil,
we've got arugula.
I've gotta show
you our micro grains.
Check out these beauties.
They are packed with flavor,
nutrition and ready
to go in seven days.
INDY: And everything
looks so green.
JEN: Hey, Matt.
INDY: Oh, there's
someone up there.
JEN: Can you come
down and help us?
INDY: Didn't even see
him hiding back there.
JEN: Matt is our farm manager.
INDY: We were just admiring
how incredible this space is.
MATT: Thank you so much.
What's going on, man?
How you doing?
JEN: This is a
very special employee.
Finn, I want you to meet Indy.
FINN: Nice to meet you, Indy.
INDY: Nice to meet you too.
JEN: Finn came with his school
program and became an intern and
learned a lot of the jobs,
visiting with his classmates.
And we were so
impressed by Finn,
he learned so fast and he
showed so much enthusiasm
that we offered him a job.
FINN: Being here, makes me feel
more fit into the community.
INDY: Ah, I love that.
JEN: Since Finn
has been working here,
it's like he's
found a new identity.
INDY: So Finn, could you walk me through
what you do here, in a day?
FINN: Okay.
INDY: Do you like
eating this butterhead?
FINN: On a burger.
INDY: On a burger.
FINN: Decisively, yeah.
INDY: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What do you do here?
MATT: You like
harvesting the basil, right?
FINN: I do.
MATT: Yeah.
FINN: Although it's not
really my favorite thing.
INDY: Well, what's
your favorite thing?
FINN: Socializing.
INDY: Oh, yeah. Oh, nice.
FINN: You know, communication
is not so easy for me to do.
I am coming out of my shell.
Back in High School,
I was, like, too scared
to come out of it.
INDY: Finn is super cool.
I feel like being able to work
with an individual like Finn
every day would brighten
up my world a little bit.
MATT: All right, Finn, can
you go pop these away for us?
FINN: Sure.
MATT: All right, cool, man.
INDY: For Greens Do Good to
succeed in their mission of
training as many individuals
on the spectrum as possible,
they need to expand.
And in order to expand,
they need to cultivate and
sell as much product as
they can, to stay afloat.
So what is going on here?
MATT: At the very bottom we
have a 300 gallon reservoir.
All that water's
constantly circulating,
it's getting pumped up, it's
reaching a certain point in
the back, then it's
ducking right down.
Here at the farm we use
about 80 to 90% less water
than a traditional farm would,
because it's all rushing,
it's all being circulated.
All the levels for
each tower are connected.
INDY: Yeah, I see this
as the future of farming.
Like, this is where
agriculture is going.
MATT: You can see
all of our plants,
they grow with their roots nice
and strong underneath, right?
So, when this is
ready to harvest,
what I'll do is I'll take this
little lettuce plug out, right.
You can see all the roots.
The roots are nice and white.
So I'll take the roots and I'll
wrap 'em right around the bottom
like that, and it'll get
placed right into a clam shell.
So this stays live.
That's the
coolest thing about this,
when it stays live, it
extends the shelf life.
To be honest, it'll probably
be good for three weeks.
INDY: So people
are getting live
Like, their food is alive
when they're getting it.
That's so cool.
MATT: Yes. Yes. Yes.
INDY: I love it here.
Traditional farms with rows
and rows of crops rely on sun,
soil and ample irrigation.
Alternatively, indoor hydroponic
farms cultivate plants in trays,
with grow lights and
nutrient rich water,
making it much more efficient
than traditional farming.
No sun, no soil, no problem.
And what's amazing is
that you can do all of this
inside your own home.
All you need are some
trays for your seedlings,
nutrient packed
water and a grow light.
And you too can have
your very own indoor farm.
How cool is that?
So, I know with a lot of
traditional methods of farming,
and you have, like,
the basic problems,
not enough sun,
too much sun,
too little water, not
enough water, pests.
What are some of the issues that you have in
this controlled environment?
MATT: So you can see tower nine.
Unlike all the other towers,
the only thing that's really
missing is our motor.
INDY: Yeah. Missing the motor.
So what happened here?
MATT: So this one overheated
three separate times and that
third time, when I tried
to plug it in again, nothing,
fried the motor.
So what that means is,
you know, money out the door.
You know, it could be
sales we're missing out on,
just by not having a
full operational setup.
INDY: They really need to find
some sort of way to reconfigure
their piping, so that
they aren't constantly running
into the same problem.
Are pests ever an issue?
MATT: So, yeah.
Pests can be an issue.
We are pesticide free,
herbicide free, all that stuff.
Vegan friendly, organic.
So we don't use
any of that stuff.
Aphids is, like,
our number one, like,
hydroponic pest
that you'll find.
INDY: Aphids are one
of the most common and
destructive pests
a farm can face.
But there is an unlikely
predator that can reduce
their presence
without damaging crops.
Ladybugs.
Ladybugs feed on an assortment
of insects, including aphids,
making them a sustainable
solution to pest control.
MATT: Basically
you release ladybugs,
they work to
mitigate our pest problem.
INDY: Wow, so, how often are
you releasing ladybugs in here?
MATT: So about twice a year.
So it's a kinda
cool process where,
you know, not only for a couple
of weeks they'll be around,
but until eventually, you
don't really see any of them.
INDY: They're throwing
away money bringing ladybugs in
that just die off.
And they've got a grow
tower with a burned out motor.
That's 20% less greens produced,
and thousands of dollars
lost in potential sales.
Not only that, but the working towers
could burn out at any moment.
If Greens Do Good intends
to carry out their mission
and expand, they'll need
to overcome these issues.
JEN: It's hard to find
the right new equipment when
we're low tech by design
because the less automation,
the more jobs we can create.
But if we can't grow anything,
we're dead in the water.
It's as simple as that.
INDY: I've seen most of
the Greens Do Good farm
and heard about the hurdles
they need to overcome.
But there's still one more
area the team wants me to see.
CHANTELLE: Hey.
INDY: How's it going?
CHANTELLE: Great.
INDY: Good to see you both.
JEN: Welcome to
our conference room,
our meeting room,
our office, our lounge.
CHANTELLE: Lunch room.
JEN: Lunch room.
CHANTELLE: Party room.
JEN: It's our multipurpose room.
INDY: Yeah.
They're using their break room
to serve a lot of purposes.
And I don't think that it has
the vibe that they're going for.
CHANTELLE: We may bring
donors, family members,
political leaders to see,
you know, what we're doing here.
And we always end
up in this space.
It just doesn't put
our best foot forward.
INDY: Yeah, that
makes so much sense.
Tell me more about why the success of this
farm is so important to you?
CHANTELLE: There are so
many teens with autism,
aging out of
their school programs.
So think about Finn and all
the things he's capable of.
And then think if
he never got a chance.
So this is critical that we
figure out how to get this up
and running well, that
we can train more people.
Because if not us, who?
INDY: In all of
my years of farming,
I've never seen a farm
quite like Greens Do Good.
So it's vital that I come up
with solutions to help them grow
and serve more
individuals on the spectrum.
I can see that they're struggling with
their irrigation system.
And their cramped,
unorganized break room
may be holding them back,
when potential investors
and donors come upstairs.
The stakes are high, so I reached out
to a few friends for advice.
And they all pointed
me to a place deep in
the heart of Newark, New Jersey.
So I'm headed there,
in the middle of winter,
to what I'm being told is
the biggest indoor farm in
the entire world.
WOMAN: Hi. Welcome to AeroFarms.
INDY: Yay, thank you.
MARC: Hey, Indy,
it's so good to meet you.
INDY: Nice to meet you too.
MARC: Yeah. So
excited to have you here.
This is the world's
largest indoor vertical farm.
We're excited to be
able to share it with you,
what we're doing.
INDY: I'd love to
see the growing space.
MARC: Yeah. Let's go on in.
INDY: Yeah, that's awesome.
I've spent years getting
my hands dirty on a farm.
I never could have imagined I
would wear a lab coat to one.
MARC: As you can see we take
food safety really seriously.
INDY: Oh, yeah.
MARC: You're all geared up.
INDY: Thanks.
I think it's pretty fashionable.
I'm gonna start
wearing this every day.
MARC: You're rocking the look.
INDY: This is where we get
to meet the Oompa Loompas?
(laughter).
MARC: All right.
Well, this is how we can
transform agriculture and
grow all year round indoors.
INDY: This is insane.
I can't believe it.
This is magical.
I feel like it's, like,
a high rise of food.
If the hydroponic farm at
Greens Do Good was intimidating,
then AeroFarms makes you
feel like you're living in
a different dimension.
MARC: This is
agriculture elevated.
This is the idea
of vertical farming,
beds upon beds stacked,
all the way up.
So we've always had very much
a science driven approach to
everything we're doing,
and how we can have
the right economies of
scale to enable production,
bring the farms right
into the communities.
And we're creating the
perfect environment for
the plants in
terms of nutrients.
We're giving the plants exactly
what it needs, when it needs it.
And so for baby
leafy greens, for example,
out in the field, it may
take 30 to 45 days to grow.
We can grow 'em
in 12 to 14 days.
So this is really a
solution to our food security,
food resiliency.
INDY: I think that every
farmer's dream is to be able to
extend your growing season and
literally control the weather.
So what's growing in this bed?
What is this?
MARC: So, we actually have beautiful
baby kale, baby arugula.
INDY: This is wild.
I can't even count
because of the lights.
How many towers up are you?
MARC: This particular
design is 12 levels of growing.
You know, we have
40 foot ceilings.
We have 80 foot long towers.
You know, these
beds are five foot wide,
very similar to what you
would see out on the field.
So it's
reimagining our agriculture.
INDY: Amazing.
If I was a kid and
you showed me this,
I would think that we're,
like, at a space station.
Like, this is so exciting.
MARC: So the
plants don't need sun,
they need spectrum of light,
so they're LED lights,
we can actually
deliver what it needs,
in terms of both spectrum,
intensity and frequency.
Instead of soil,
our growing medium,
we actually have
patents on cloth.
INDY: Oh, wow.
MARC: It's a reusable medium and it's
made out of recycled water bottles
that we take out
of the waste stream.
INDY: Oh, that's so cool.
MARC: And so here we're
growing micro greens which
has been really exciting.
And it's a very dynamic cloth,
because it allows us to grow,
we've grown over
550 different types of plant.
INDY: While Greens Do Good
uses a hydroponic system,
where plant roots grow in water,
AeroFarms utilizes a
system they call, "Aeroponic."
Seeds at AeroFarms
germinate on a unique fabric,
which allows the
roots to grow through.
And a nutrient rich mist is
sprayed directly onto the roots.
I love that it's cloth.
Is it wearable?
MARC: It is wearable.
INDY: I would love to
see this at Fashion Week, like,
someone just wearing
micro greens as a dress.
It'd be awesome.
MARC: And the whole, the
whole thing with the dress?
INDY: Yeah.
MARC: Exactly.
INDY: AeroFarms is building the
blueprint to feed the future.
By the year 2050 there will be
two billion more people to feed.
And with 175 acres of farmland
lost to urban development every
single hour of every day, we'll
need 70% more food from farms.
And farms like this may
likely play a key role in
feeding humanity in the future.
My friends at Greens Do Good,
they're doing just the classic
Ebb and Flow trays.
And so, they're having
issues with their flow rate,
which is causing
their pumps to burn out.
I would love any input that
you might have on how they can
kind of make this
work better for them.
MARC: So when we talk about some
of the issues on the burnout.
It probably has to do with the
initial sizing of their pump.
But they can be doing some
things as well in terms of,
you know, there are certain valves that
could help with the pressure.
And then from a
technology standpoint, yeah,
what you see here is massive,
but it can be
applied at the small scale.
INDY: After speaking
to Marc some more,
I realized that by changing
the diameter of the piping
within the system, I may be able
to increase the water flow rate,
putting less
strain on the motors.
Before I go, the CEO of
AeroFarms invites me upstairs to
sample some of
their futuristic greens.
Can I just
DAVID: Yeah. So
this is micro broccoli.
And this has won awards from
one of our retailers as, like,
best product of the year.
INDY: That's so cool.
Did you get a trophy?
DAVID: We did.
(laughter).
INDY: Nice.
I'd love to hear more
about the community.
Like, who is working here?
Who are you employing?
DAVID: We have engineers,
we have programmers.
And then we have
the operational side.
We have a very diverse group.
A lot of people from a
past offender program,
and it's something we're really
proud of that we're achieving,
in having a workforce
that this comes together
very purpose driven,
and having a big impact.
INDY: It's amazing.
I was at Greens Do Good, they
have a farm nearby and they're
a hydroponic farm which I know is similar
to what you guys are doing.
And I met a really
awesome guy there named Finn.
The majority of the people that
are employed by Greens Do Good
are on the autism spectrum.
Do you feel like someone like him could fit
into this work environment?
DAVID: I do.
Giving people exposure to
areas and opportunities that
they don't often
have exposure to.
And our program in Jersey City
is building farms in different
communities throughout the
city and we're really proud
to work with a
visionary mayor, Mayor Fulop.
So local communities that
don't typically have that
access to farms, get to engage.
INDY: Could I
visit those other farms?
DAVID: Happy to.
I'm happy to connect you
with the Mayor, he's fantastic.
INDY: Never in a million years
did I ever expect to see
big tech and agriculture work together
like it does at AeroFarms.
But my visit with
David left me wondering.
What kind of
initiatives they're doing with
the Mayor of Jersey City,
and why there?
Making my way to Jersey City, I
noticed something that I've seen
before in other big cities.
Pockets of neighborhoods, where
access to fresh local produce is
all but non-existent.
And now, I'm lucky
enough to be meeting with
the Mayor of Jersey City,
Steven Fulop.
Hi.
STEVEN: Good morning.
Hi, how are you?
INDY: To see how his partnership with
AeroFarms is looking to change that.
STEVEN: Welcome to Curries Woods,
here in Jersey City.
INDY: Thank you.
STEVEN: It was actually
originally built for
low income
residents around 1960.
And then it was
re-done in early 2000s.
So what we've tried to do
over the last couple of years is
really find partners who
provide more social services,
and the farm is just
another opportunity to expand
an ecosystem
around social services,
healthy living, healthy diets,
and that's what
we're trying to do here,
with our
partnership with AeroFarms.
INDY: That is so cool.
STEVEN: This is Mory.
INDY: Oh, hi.
STEVEN: And Mory
is the point person
responsible for the program.
INDY: While the Mayor
takes care of some business,
I went to spend
some time with Mory and
see how this operation works.
I'm excited to see
what you're up to here.
MORY: All right. We're gonna
start the harvesting process.
INDY: Oh, perfect.
MORY: Yeah, get comfortable.
Scissors.
INDY: So what are
we harvesting here?
MORY: This is micro broccoli.
Most of the time we're
introducing the community to
micro greens for
the very first time.
INDY: Indoor farms like the one
here at this community center
are an ideal way to grow
nutrient dense leafy greens
all year round.
MORY: It's like
giving a little haircut.
So you just kinda
pinch off a little bit.
INDY: Cool.
It's like a Chia Pet.
MORY: Yes.
INDY: And the micro greens can provide up
to 40 times more nutrients
than full mature
sized vegetables.
So how did you end up doing this
kind of community based work?
MORY: I have been doing
community work in Jersey City
for almost 15 years.
And so I got very
involved in city parks
and the food conversations,
since I'm a chef.
I love introducing
people to new foods and
getting them to, like,
change their perspective.
It's kinda, you know,
bridging that gap.
I mean, that's one of the
beautiful things about this
program is it's bringing
the food directly into
the neighborhoods
who need them the most.
INDY: I feel, like, for
most people who grow food as
a farmer, you don't really
get to see the people that
you're serving, actually try
the food that you're growing.
MORY: That's what I love most.
You know, we're using greens to
facilitate a larger conversation
about what health means.
Because what health means
to me is different from
what it means to you,
different from the next person.
INDY: Okay, this
looks really good.
So who did we just
harvest these greens for?
MORY: We have two of my
favorite members coming over,
Terri and Bernadette.
Now we're gonna roll this up,
just like you're
rolling a big spring roll.
Nice and tight.
INDY: Tight, okay.
Oh, this is satisfying.
MORY: It's like
a little hairy
INDY: I don't know if I
love it or if I hate it?
MORY: It's slightly disturbing.
INDY: It is.
(laughs).
MORY: So that's it.
INDY: That looks so ridiculous.
MORY: Hey, ladies.
You're just in time.
So here's your
greens for the week.
This is micro broccoli.
INDY: Having this right in the neighborhood
I feel like is incredible.
And even more than that,
teaching people how to grow this
for themselves is empowering.
TERRI: Well,
this is just awesome.
This is the best.
It's convenient,
it's a game changer.
BERNADETTE: I'm a vegetarian
slash vegan and I love it,
and I'm trying to get my
community to love it like me.
TERRI: And it's a good thing
for our children to learn how to
grow their own vegetables.
INDY: That's what I love,
just seeing how farming brings
communities together,
it's so important to me.
Seeing the small indoor farm serving this
community is truly amazing.
And if Greens Do Good needs more
opportunities for their trainees
to branch out
into the workforce,
then programs like this
could be a fantastic option.
My friends at Greens Do Good,
are you familiar with them?
STEVEN: I've only heard
about them from a distance.
INDY: What they could use is just more
people knowing about them,
more people knowing
about their programming.
STEVEN: We have a
program here in Jersey City,
it focuses on
the entire spectrum.
It's about having purpose
for people, an occupation,
getting a pay check,
like anybody else.
INDY: Yeah, yeah.
STEVEN: And, you know, we haven't
layered in the farms with them yet,
but getting them involved
in our farming initiative
is probably
something you can do.
INDY: Yeah.
I feel like connecting
with Greens Do Good on that
would be really awesome.
When I see places like
AeroFarms and the work that
they're doing
in local communities,
I get excited about
the future of farming.
Now, it's time for me to head
back to Greens Do Good with some
new ideas, to help them take
their farm to the next level.
Hi, guys. I'm back.
MATT: Hey, how are you, Indy?
INDY: I'm really excited to
share some of the things that
I learned with you guys.
MATT: Yeah? Awesome.
INDY: Good to see you, Finn.
PETER: I'm Peter,
I'm Finn's dad.
I just dropped him off, so I
thought I'd come in and say hi.
INDY: Awesome.
Bring your dad to work day.
I love it.
What are you guys up to?
MATT: So right now,
we're harvesting spring mix.
This is gonna be for some of
our home deliveries that we do.
So, some of this
produce will get dropped off
right to people's front doors.
So pretty cool, yeah.
We actually have another
delivery, to a restaurant.
INDY: Finn, are you
going on the delivery?
FINN: Yeah.
INDY: Can I come?
FINN: You can.
INDY: Yes. Yes. Let's do it.
FINN: It's your
duty to come with us.
INDY: I would love to. Yes.
MATT: Let's do it.
INDY: This is great.
Not only do I get to see where
these delicious greens end up,
but I get to spend some one on one time
with my new friend, Finn.
Finn, it's you and me, bud.
PETER: So, Matt, have
you been to this restaurant?
MATT: I've never eaten here but
I've been here plenty of times.
INDY: And what
kind of food is it?
MATT: It's Italian cuisine.
INDY: Mm.
I feel like everything in
New Jersey is Italian cuisine.
How does this feel, Finn,
to come to a restaurant
that's serving the
greens that you grow?
FINN: It actually feels like I
am making a change in the world.
Modern day American farmer.
It's pretty cool.
INDY: I'd be so excited if someone
delivered that tray to me.
MATT: That's what
we're looking for.
Delivery.
We got some
micro greens for you.
FRED: Perfect.
Thank you so much.
INDY: So what are you gonna
do with the micro greens?
FRED: Would you guys
like to try something?
Go out in the diner and
we'll make you something now.
INDY: Really? Really?
FRED: Yeah, absolutely.
INDY: Oh, yes.
The chefs at Sonny T are
offering a chance to taste some
of the Greens Do Good produce,
incorporated into their dishes,
Jersey style.
We can't pass it up.
FRED: Burrata cheese.
We use basil, micro greens
to bring out the basil pesto.
Salmon dish with mustard greens.
This, we have our
octopus with basil greens.
INDY: This looks awesome.
So, Finn, tell me, what did
you do before Greens Do Good?
FINN: When I was, like, 18,
I started to feel that I was
losing my inner ability
to communicate with others.
INDY: But you found farming.
How did that kind of
turn things around for you?
FINN: I felt more
fit into the community.
I was talking a lot more with
other people, than I was before.
Besides, I wasn't even talking
at all before Greens Do Good.
PETER: Socially it's
made a big difference.
So, to be able to go to a job,
be autistic but then hang out
with people who just don't care.
Like, you're just
another farmer
INDY: Right.
PETER: You're one of us.
Like, that
is invaluable, you know.
INDY: Yeah. That's special.
PETER: And as a parent,
that's all you want,
is your kids just to
be happy and feel like,
you know, they're making
a difference in the world.
INDY: I could hang
out with Finn all day,
but we've got a ton of
work to get started on
back at Greens Do Good.
And I've got a brand new product
to introduce into the farm that
restaurants like this will love.
Do you mind grabbing that bag?
With what I
learned at AeroFarms and
my knowledge of traditional
farm irrigation systems,
I've got the parts
needed and put a plan in,
that should get the
Greens Do Good hydroponic system
back on track.
So, the pump has been burning
out for a couple of reasons.
We wanna be able to increase
the flow rate of the water that
goes through this pipe.
And this pipe is
actually a little bit small.
If we increase the diameter of
the pipe by a half inch we'll
get more flow rate and we'll be
able to get the water to reach
the top of the tower.
MATT: Great, yeah,
that's our goal.
INDY: Yeah. So, I
brought some long wider pipes.
MATT: Awesome.
INDY: Finn, do you mind reaching in that
bag that you brought over?
FINN: Sure. It's a rubber sheet.
INDY: Thank you. Rubber sheet.
I know, looks like
just a boring rubber sheet.
But this is actually
gonna go on the spray bar.
So, right now the spray
bar has too many holes,
too much water is coming out.
And that's also decreasing
some of the water pressure.
So what we're gonna do is, we
have this handy dandy make a
gasket and we're gonna use that
to plug up some of the holes,
so that the water can actually
reach the top of the tower.
MATT: Yeah. Awesome.
INDY: Last but not least,
a brand new pump.
MATT: Oh, my God. Woo!
FINN: Yes! All right.
INDY: You guys wanna help
me get this up and running?
MATT: For sure. Yeah.
FINN: Oh, yeah.
INDY: I'm gonna
take my jacket off.
MATT: Yeah, get comfortable.
INDY: Now it's time to get
this broken tower back on track.
FINN: It's easy. Got it.
INDY: Isn't it?
FINN: Well, I'm pumped.
(laughter).
INDY: Finally the moment
we've all been waiting for.
MATT: Yes. Yeah.
FINN: Shall we turn it on?
MATT: Before we can turn it on,
I have to add water to it,
I have to treat the water and
then I have to make sure all
the lights are working properly.
INDY: Matt has more to do
before he can run a test,
and see if the new
system actually works.
All right, I'll
catch you guys later.
This is my moment to share with
Chantelle and Jen my other idea.
CHANTELLE: Well, hey.
Hi, how's it going?
SIOBHAN: Hi.
CHANTELLE: Indy.
INDY: I've brought my interior
designer friend, Siobhan,
to help give the
break room a face lift.
So I was visiting my friends
at AeroFarms and they had this
really awesome break room.
And one thing that I noticed,
was that they had their logo up
on the wall and it gave you
this immediate sense of place.
CHANTELLE: Oh, I love it.
JEN: I mean, I would love
for everyone to feel like
we're on the same team here.
SIOBHAN: Yeah, well, I definitely have some
solutions and, like, maybe
little improvements we can do,
and maybe just, like,
a fresh accent wall.
And then maybe the logo right at
the top of the stairs, so, like,
people know where
they're coming to.
JEN: I'm sort of
bummed I didn't think of it.
INDY: That's why
Siobhan is the professional.
Which color are we thinking
would be the good accent?
CHANTELLE: I love them all.
INDY: Ooh, that
looks super pretty.
SIOBHAN: Yeah it's
very fun and energetic.
CHANTELLE: I like that.
SIOBHAN: All right.
Looks like we might
have a winner here.
INDY: I feel like that
fits perfectly into this space.
SIOBHAN: Great. Great.
Yeah, I think we
can get started.
(overlapping chatter).
SIOBHAN: If this is a good time?
JEN: So ready to
make change happen.
SIOBHAN: Maybe if you
wanna strike gold on the wall?
INDY: Strike gold.
That's an industry term.
CHANTELLE: Very monumental.
Okay. Do I need a countdown?
JEN: Okay. Three
SIOBHAN: Where's the champagne?
JEN: Two, one.
SIOBHAN: Ta-da! It's amazing.
INDY: No, that
really does look nice.
SIOBHAN: Oh, it's pretty.
CHANTELLE: If we're serious about this,
should we start moving boxes?
INDY: Yeah.
CHANTELLE: All right,
let's do it Jen.
JEN: I'll take that.
INDY: While Chantelle and
Siobhan make room downstairs,
it's the perfect time to fill
Jen in on what I've been up to.
I visited a community
center and it was really neat.
The Mayor of
Jersey City joined me,
because this has been
his initiative to
bring healthier
foods to the people.
And they had this hydroponic
farm right in the middle of
their community center, which
was so cool because everyone
that lived there could just walk
straight to the aeroponic farm.
JEN: So, all of
the neighbors share?
INDY: Yes, exactly.
JEN: That's amazing.
INDY: And, when I was
talking to the Mayor,
I was telling him a little bit
about Finn and he was saying how
Finn would be the perfect
person to join in on some of
these smaller farm
missions that they're putting
in different parts of the city.
JEN: I think it's so
natural for him to move on.
He's done
everything he can here,
he's learned everything.
And it's time for him
to get a full time job.
INDY: Yeah.
Pursuing a link between
Greens Do Good trainees and
smaller community farms
is an exciting possibility.
It will just take
some ironing out.
MATT: Hey!
INDY: Hey!
JEN: Hi.
MATT: Hey. What's up?
So, we have water in the tower.
(gasps).
INDY: No way?
MATT: Yeah.
The lights are ready to go and all we need to
do is plug in the motor.
INDY: So let's go.
JEN: That's amazing.
INDY: Getting this tower
up and running could have
a tremendous impact on the success of
Greens Do Good's mission
of training and
hiring more people.
And the moment is finally here.
MATT: So here we are.
All right, first things first,
I'm gonna pop on
the lights, okay?
INDY: Okay, okay. Yes.
MATT: Why don't we
turn on the motor?
INDY: Yes.
MATT: All right.
INDY: I really
hope this tower works.
MATT: Here it comes.
INDY: It's the moment of truth.
MATT: Yeah.
FINN: It's rising.
MATT: So, I'm gonna let
this level start to fill up.
And then once we get to about three quarters
the way full this level,
I'll access the second
level and then we'll continue to
go all the way up.
So each of these levers
here will be able to
control our flow for level one.
And then we'll adjust on
level two and then level three,
we're pretty much just
gonna let all the water flow,
as it reaches the top.
TY: All right.
INDY: I hope the piping
and new motor holds up.
MATT: We're pumping up
to level two right now.
INDY: So cool.
MATT: So then our last step will
be to pump up to level three.
Ty, you wanna do us a
favor and pop up there and
see if we're
flowing on level three?
Got a good view?
TY: Ready.
MATT: All right. All right.
Finn, you wanna turn
this lever for me right here?
INDY: Yeah.
TY: Woo!
(cheering).
INDY: We did it, guys.
CHANTELLE: Finally.
It's so amazing.
MATT: All right, we'll start
moving some crops in here, okay.
INDY: Great. Aw,
their new homes.
Looks so good.
(cheering).
INDY: I'm so glad I got to
share this moment with you guys.
This is so cool.
FINN: Really glad to see
this whole thing back up again.
SIOBHAN: I'm gonna take off and
finish some work so, thanks for having me.
CHANTELLE: So nice, Siobhan.
Appreciate everything
you're doing.
MATT: Take care. Thank you.
SIOBHAN: See you later.
INDY: Okay, I have one
more surprise for you all.
JEN: I wonder what it is?
CHANTELLE: Wonder what that is?
INDY: All right, guys.
I brought a couple
of different presents.
MATT: Oh, wow.
FINN: Wow.
INDY: We've talked
about how important it is,
on a farm to have this
closed system environment.
And I know one issue that a
lot of hydroponic farms can
have are aphids, or
other kinds of pests.
And we talked about how
releasing ladybugs twice a year,
is a great way to prevent that.
So, I've brought you
guys your own ladybugs.
Yes, and, so it gets better.
So I know that you already
introduce ladybugs twice a year,
into this farm.
But they kind of just die off because they don't
have anything to sustain them.
So, I brought these edible
flower pots that you can throw
right into your hydroponic
system and you can actually
produce edible flowers
that you can put on
top of your salad greens.
These are pansies and they add a
lot of flavor and color to your salad.
And then, these are marigolds,
they have a great floral taste.
Introducing ladybugs that
hang around year round can help
prevent some of the pests
that they might encounter.
And the new crop could
keep their ladybugs alive and
their ladybugs could in turn
keep their other plants alive.
The edible flowers
could be a bonus crop that
they could sell
to their consumers.
I know you guys are a
huge fan of spicy things here.
These are nasturtiums,
they're a spicy flower.
They kind of
have that kick, like,
that wasabi kick.
So I was thinking you could
seed this into your beds too.
So it brings something else
to the market that a lot of
other people who are
just growing lettuce,
aren't necessarily
bringing to the restaurants.
So it'll keep,
trust me when I say that,
adding flowers to your menu
keeps restaurants coming back.
Anyone wanna
play with a ladybug?
FINN: Yeah.
INDY: Ah, they're so cute.
They're like the
puppies of the insect world.
FINN: Yeah.
MATT: Indy, thank you so much.
This is a great surprise.
INDY: Of course. Oh, look.
FINN: He's going up my arm.
INDY: He loves you.
What are you gonna name her?
FINN: You know what, I'm
gonna name it after you, Indy.
INDY: Oh, really? Thanks.
All right, Indy bug,
hope you enjoy your time
here at Greens Do Good.
With the new edible
flower pots I provided,
Greens Do Good will
hopefully be able to expand
to more restaurants, grocery
stores and country clubs.
And if they can do that, it
will mean more people like Finn
will benefit from
their amazing mission.
I am sure that the
tower is gonna do great.
And then also, Siobhan,
who helped re-design
the upstairs room.
She's gonna be in
contact with you all too,
just so that you can keep
making progress up there.
MATT: Indy, thank you
so much for everything.
INDY: Thank you, thank you.
I will be back.
MATT: Yeah. Awesome.
INDY: I wanna see
how everything unfolds.
MATT: Bye, Indy.
CHANTELLE: Bye.
INDY: The team still has a
lot of work to do but my hope
is now that they've
received a much needed boost,
Greens Do Good can carry out their
mission powerfully and profitably.
I can't wait to see how this
tiny indoor farm turns out
in the months ahead.
INDY: It's been a few months since my
last visit to Greens Do Good
so I'm excited to see how
they're doing with some of
the changes that
we put in place.
While I was gone, the
folks at AeroFarms came to tour
Greens Do Good and I'm hoping their
relationship continues to grow.
JEN: How are you?
INDY: I'm good.
JEN: Lovely to see you again.
INDY: So good to see you too.
Hi.
CHANTELLE: So good to see you,
welcome back.
INDY: Yay, thank you.
Oh, it's so nice to be back.
I can't wait to see everything
that's changed since I was here.
JEN: Okay, well, how
about starting with the doors?
INDY: Awesome. That's so pretty.
JEN: Big improvement, right?
CHANTELLE: Huge difference.
INDY: I'm totally loving what my friend
Siobhan did with this door.
It puts their
mission front and center.
JEN: You know, we spent so much time
trying to keep the doors open,
it never occurred to us
to put something on the door.
INDY: This is perfect.
JEN: Come on inside, we
have so much to show you.
INDY: Yay. Oh, I'm so excited
to see all of the changes.
(gasps).
Oh, my gosh.
CHANTELLE: We put
some storage here,
so that when our workforce
development interns come in,
they have everything they
need and then obviously they can
check their schedule, when
they walk right in the door,
so they know what's gonna
happen on the farm today.
INDY: So cool.
I bet this is so helpful for
folks to just be able to see
exactly what they're doing and then
have all of this organization.
You changed, like, the
whole opening to the farm.
CHANTELLE: It's a small change that really
made a tremendous impact.
INDY: Stepping through
the door, I can already feel
a huge difference on the farm.
If this is the first
sign of things to come,
I can't wait to see the rest.
CHANTELLE: Hey, Finn.
Look who's back.
FINN: Hey, Indy.
INDY: Hey, it's
so good to see you.
MATT: Indy, hey, how are you?
Welcome back.
JEN: So one of the
things that you gifted us,
I'm not sure if you remember,
was pretty special.
INDY: The flowers.
JEN: Edible flowers.
It's made a big
impact on the farm.
INDY: Oh, really?
JEN: Wanna see them?
INDY: I wanna see them.
Yeah, I would love to.
Oh, my gosh.
Those are awesome.
JEN: Right? Aren't they amazing?
INDY: And the customers,
they like them?
JEN: Oh, absolutely.
CHANTELLE: Of course.
You steered us in
the right direction.
We hadn't even thought
about doing edible flowers.
They're terrific.
Such a great addition.
INDY: That's so exciting
and they have such a nice
pop of color over here.
How are the ladybugs?
CHANTELLE: Fat and happy.
They've definitely
done their job.
INDY: I'm sure the extra revenue
from the flowers is going to go
a long way on the farm.
And Matt wants to
show me something else.
MATT: Yeah, so, this
is our lettuce tower that
we first set up
when you came in.
So we already went
through one growth cycle and
sold both levels of lettuce.
Now we're on
another set of lettuce,
about half way
through our growth cycle.
The next two weeks or so,
these should be sold.
JEN: It's really
increased our productivity,
it's increased
our weekly, monthly yield.
It's made a big
difference overall.
INDY: Well, this is incredible.
CHANTELLE: I know, it's amazing.
This is our busy season and we
did not know how we were gonna
meet the demands from
our country clubs and
our restaurants and with your help,
we've been able to do it.
INDY: I remember when I first
walked into Greens Do Good,
the motors on these once dark towers
were constantly burning out.
Now, the flow rate problem has
been solved and the tower is at
full production of fresh greens.
CHANTELLE: Do you wanna see
how the break room turned out?
INDY: Oh, yes, I would love to.
Wow, this is awesome.
CHANTELLE: What a difference.
INDY: It looks so good.
CHANTELLE: What a difference.
INDY: Yeah, it's so open
and this color is perfect.
The green accent wall is
so perfect for this space.
And I love the way the color
choice ties in with the logo.
It feels like a
breath of fresh air up here.
Like, I feel like I
can actually think.
CHANTELLE: I can't even
believe it's the same room.
INDY: I can't either.
And it looks bigger.
It feels so open.
CHANTELLE: Yeah.
Siobhan really listened to us.
I mean, this was a great design.
INDY: I'm so happy to hear that.
As someone who's
really hyper organized,
it gave me such a sense of
peace to see how beautifully
the break room turned out.
JEN: Feels like the start of
something really, really big.
Even the idea that we had
to close now is unthinkable.
I want to expand.
And I think that we
can definitely do that.
INDY: Seeing all the changes take
place on this farm is miraculous.
Before I head out, I want to
make sure the partnership with
AeroFarms will continue.
Hey, Finn, what's up?
FINN: Oh, hey.
INDY: Do you remember when
AeroFarms came and did a tour?
FINN: Oh, yeah.
INDY: Yeah.
They told me that they would
actually love to have you
come take a tour of their farm.
FINN: Oh, really?
INDY: Yeah. Yay, awesome.
FINN: Can't wait.
INDY: I'm just excited
to see where the folks at
Greens Do Good and Finn ends up.
I just hope that
they continue to grow and
continue to
succeed in the future.
CHANTELLE: We've always kind of
had AeroFarms in our sights as a
potential employment partner and
the fact that Indy could use
her connections to put
us in touch, game changing.
We're so excited
about that possibility.
INDY: The idea that Greens Do
Good could send their interns to
work at a large
scale indoor farm,
or a small scale
community center farm,
could create so many
more employment opportunities
for their trainees.
It's been so great to just
see the transformation that's
happened since I was last here.
You guys are doing
such good work.
I'm just really inspired
by the way you guys grow and
also how you treat one another.
I think it's incredible.
MATT: A pleasure to have you.
INDY: Thank you.
Well, I'll be back next
time I'm in the neighborhood.
CHANTELLE: Definitely.
FINN: Awesome. All right.
MATT: Sounds good.
Take care. Bye, see you.
CHANTELLE: Bye, Indy.
INDY: Bye. Take it easy.
It's incredible to see the work
that Greens Do Good is doing and
that they're really making an
impact on their community and
making indoor farming viable.
This has been such
an amazing journey,
seeing first-hand how an
unusual farming community,
in the heart of New Jersey,
can impact so many people,
coming together to do good.
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01x05 - Towers of Power
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Farming expert and influencer Indy Officinalis encounters aspiring farmers hoping to make their dreams reality.
Farming expert and influencer Indy Officinalis encounters aspiring farmers hoping to make their dreams reality.