Our roots

Chad and Ted started Urban Greens in the Spring of 2017. They began farming from their urban backyard and selling produce to the local Iowa City Farmer's Market and to restaurants just a few blocks away.

Early Days

We wanted to grow food year round for our community.

To achieve that goal, we needed to devise growing systems and equipment that allowed us to grow more in the limited space we had available.

Mighty Micro greens

The small, fast growing, and super healthy product was the perfect candidate for us to begin selling year round to our local customers.

Grow more and work less

Scaling our production was a real challenge. We were running out of time and space to grow more. Our soil trays were heavy, messy and hand watering everyday became overwhelming. Not to mention the expense of sourcing quality soil mixes that needed exchanging after every harvest.

Controlled environment agriculture

The transition to hydroponic growing was difficult, we risked ruining our reputation for quality and consistent deliveries! But gaining automation, managing resource inputs, and leveraging ideal growing conditions 24hours a day increased our efficiency and productivity -- all from the basement of our 100+ year old house!

Our grow racks utilize a modified NFT system to grow greens, herbs and lettuce.

We build our racks from readily available materials with the goal of maximizing dependable production while minimizing costs so growers can see a much quicker return on investment.

Features

  • Lighting

    LED lighting provides plenty of intensity for robust plant growth for a fraction of the energy usage of other grow lights. Much less heat and bulbs that last 20+ years!

  • Recycled Irrigation

    Nutrient water is collected, filtered and reused beyond the lifespan of multiple growing cycles. Reducing the immense fresh water demand of traditional agriculture.

  • Growing Vertically

    By growing on multiple stacked rows of channels, each square foot of floor space is exponentially more productive.

Our commercial farm

By implementing what we learned from the early years growing in the basement, to a new commercial space, we were able to grow our business by providing ready to eat salad greens mixes to grocery stores in our area.

Today, we apply all we've learned to our shippable Grow Rack Kits

Automation of daily growing tasks. Entire growing cycle contained on the same rack footprint. Reusable grow mats reduce operating expenses. The advantage of harvesting vertically, and more!

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