Growcer, an Ottawa-based hydroponics start-up, is planting seeds in the city.

The Yellowknife Co-op has acquired a hydroponic unit from the company that will allow the retailer to grow local and fresh produce for their customers.

SA国际影视传媒淲e are in the process of installing our Growcer unit. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 a self-contained, hydroponic greenhouse designed for year-round plant growth in an extreme north, cold environment," said Jeff Kincaid, business development manager at Co-op.

The company has around a dozen units installed in Canada and Alaska but this is the first one in the Northwest Territories.

Having vegetables grown on site will improve the quality and freshness of produce while keeping it affordable, Kincaid said. It will also help meet consumer demands for reduced packaging and plastic, which there's been a "huge push for in the last couple months," he said.

SA国际影视传媒淭he change on that, itSA国际影视传媒檚 going to take a long time for us to actually start seeing things not produced in plastic, which is slower than weSA国际影视传媒檇 like to see it. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 slower than the environment would like to see it, but this gives us an option now to be able to produce a lot of product, get it out to customers so they can take it home and not create any plastic waste out of it,SA国际影视传媒� said Kincaid.

While one unit won't replace the store's entire demand for produce, it's an important first step, he said.

The Growcer team is planted seeds in the unit last week and customers can expect to see locally-grown produce on Co-op's shelves around the end of April, starting with herbs and leafy greens.

"The time to harvest is short so we can turn the growing stalls over again to get more product throughout the course of the year and itSA国际影视传媒檚 an item that is traditionally hard to get fresh this far away from the place it was grown," said Kincaid.

Much of the store's produce comes from California, and by the time it gets to Yellowknife, the shelf life, quality and nutritional value is reduced.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey spend a lot of time in trucks and refrigerated vehicles without proper CO2, so the plants are kind of stressed when they get here," he said. "And so by the time the consumer gets it and takes it home, itSA国际影视传媒檚 that much more stressed.SA国际影视传媒�

With this new hydroponics unit, plants will be for sale on shelves the same day they're harvested.

SA国际影视传媒淣obodySA国际影视传媒檚 ever been able to do that in Yellowknife for obvious reasons," said Kincaid, "and for us to be able to do that year-round is really great.SA国际影视传媒�

Employees from the store's produce department will be trained to work with the Growcer unit.

SA国际影视传媒淏ecause they know what plants are selling, theySA国际影视传媒檒l monitor that and they can adjust their planning and harvesting to meet what our customers want,SA国际影视传媒� Kincaid explained.

After the unit is set up, there will be ongoing communication with the Growcer team, who can monitor the greenhouse remotely and make recommendations. There are also plans to broadcast a live-stream of the unit into the store, so customers can watch their food growing in real-time.

Kincaid said the store hopes to bring in a variety of products including things they canSA国际影视传媒檛 get through traditional warehouse suppliers. 

SA国际影视传媒淲e have a pretty diverse population up here and there are lots of different demands," he said. "These techniques have been around for a long time, theySA国际影视传媒檙e very well-proven. The unit itself is designed specifically to be in our environment so thereSA国际影视传媒檚 really no limitations on what can grow in there. So weSA国际影视传媒檒l focus on trying new things and experimenting and meeting the needs of our customers.SA国际影视传媒�

The unit is attached to the Co-op's power grid, but there are options in the future for installing solar panels to eventually turn it into a net-zero project, said Kincaid

SA国际影视传媒淚f you can harvest your own fresh local products and itSA国际影视传媒檚 not a drain on the electrical grid, itSA国际影视传媒檚 no expense in terms of electrical, the skySA国际影视传媒檚 the limit on how far we can take the benefits of it,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

How it works

The hydroponic farming system is built inside a retrofitted shipping container, said Corey Ellis, co-founder and CEO at Growcer.

"We use a technique of hydroponics that is called a nutrient film technique,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

The system essentially runs water with nutrients in it over the roots of the plants while providing them with LED light and CO2, Ellis explained.

"So that allows us to grow plants about twice as fast as you can in a field,SA国际影视传媒� said Ellis.

This makes veggies very affordable but also drastically reduces the amount of water needed to grow them.

SA国际影视传媒淲hen we compare the water use in our system to the USDA average when we buy produce from California, itSA国际影视传媒檚 only about one or two percent of the water for the exact same weight of product,SA国际影视传媒� said Ellis.

Each little hole in the growing system will hold a fibrous cube and grow one plant from seed.

SA国际影视传媒淲hen youSA国际影视传媒檙e ready to harvest it, you just pull that cube out, it comes along with the entire root structure,SA国际影视传媒� he said. 

The self-contained farm is well-insulated from the elements as well as bugs and pests.

SA国际影视传媒淲hich means no herbicides, no pesticides," said Ellis. "And so itSA国际影视传媒檚 grown fully clean, fully natural. The only thing that goes in there is the seed and water.SA国际影视传媒�

While the products grown in the greenhouse are technically organic, hydroponically grown vegetables in Canada donSA国际影视传媒檛 yet have an organic certification process in place.

SA国际影视传媒淭his is a little ahead of the legislature letSA国际影视传媒檚 just say,SA国际影视传媒� said Kincaid. SA国际影视传媒淏ut everything going into it meets organic guidelines. It is clean thereSA国际影视传媒檚 no pesticides, thereSA国际影视传媒檚 no herbicides, thereSA国际影视传媒檚 no questionable growth materials in there. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 just pure organic nutrients and clean water.SA国际影视传媒�

The unit can grow just about anything, and so far they've produced about 140 different vegetables, said Ellis.

They're mainly focused on growing vegetables right now but have plans to get into fruit in the future, he said. Vegetables grow in one stage, whereas berries and fruits grow in two stages and require pollination.

SA国际影视传媒淏ecause of that extra step it becomes slightly more complicated on the growing side, so itSA国际影视传媒檚 something we want to help build capacity for,SA国际影视传媒� said Ellis.

If and when the Co-op is successful with the vegetables, it can train up staff to move onto growing fruits.

SA国际影视传媒淭hereSA国际影视传媒檚 not much from a technology perspective thatSA国际影视传媒檚 going to change. The system itself is pretty adaptable, itSA国际影视传媒檚 mostly just building upon the skillset and also providing a few more tools," Ellis said.

The idea

The idea to start  came to co-founders Corey Ellis and Alida Burke when they were in Iqaluit in 2015. A community group in the city was trying to start up a similar project and came to them for guidance.

SA国际影视传媒淲e were actually in school at that point in time, working on a few social enterprise projects in Iqaluit and so we took it on happily to try and help them out," said Ellis.

That community group ended up dissolving but Ellis and Burke carried on the idea that eventually grew into Growcer.

SA国际影视传媒淭he need was driven by Northerners telling us, weSA国际影视传媒檇 love to have local food here that we can count on. And when that need was identified to us, we went wow, thereSA国际影视传媒檚 potentially many more communities that could benefit from this.SA国际影视传媒�

The Growcer team just got back from installing one of their systems in Kugluktuk, Nunavut.

SA国际影视传媒淭heySA国际影视传媒檙e actually having a school run it,SA国际影视传媒� said Thomas Wagner, research and development at Growcer. SA国际影视传媒淪o I think the goal is to not only have community subscription boxes but also weave it into the science program for the school."

"So it means big things for the community up there.SA国际影视传媒�

You donSA国际影视传媒檛 need any special qualifications to use the system, which is exactly the point, said Wagner.

SA国际影视传媒淭he idea behind the technology was built around the system running itself, or someone from Ottawa remoting in and taking care of everything,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

All you need to do is go in, plant your seeds, pick your strains and harvest when itSA国际影视传媒檚 ready.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 very simple.SA国际影视传媒�

Justin Nelson, general manager of Yk Co-op, said he hopes to see more Northern communities growing their own food.

SA国际影视传媒淭he whole reason we went this way is because itSA国际影视传媒檚 so hard to have local in Yellowknife," said Nelson, "and thatSA国际影视传媒檚 what our customers and our members really wanted is local products.SA国际影视传媒�

Kincaid echoed that sentiment.

SA国际影视传媒淲e want to prove that food security isnSA国际影视传媒檛 an impossible standard to reach."

"There are ways that we can do it,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Click below for a quick video tour of the hydroponic farm.

[videopress WOaMMEhy]