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Published: March 04, 2009 07:41 am
H2GROW: Tomatoes thrive on planet-saving system in Youngstown
The Niagara region enjoyed a burst of winter sun Tuesday, but inside the H2Grow Greenhouses in Youngstown, it felt like a beautiful summer day.
The tomatoes were ripe on the sky-high vines in the half-mile long greenhouses, and the bees were humming as they flitted about pollinating flowers at the top of the giant plants.
The pair of Pletcher Road greenhouses are so environmentally cutting-edge that a crew from the Discovery Channel was there recently to shoot a June segment for the show “Planet Earth.”
One of the reasons for the TV producer’s interest is that the H2Gro Greenhouses are heated with an unusual process created by its two parent companies.
“It’s all certified green energy,” said Eric Toye, general manager of the greenhouses.
The complicated heating process involves several forms of energy reuse.
A parent company, Innovative Energy Systems, converts gas emissions from a nearby landfill into electrical power, which it sells to the community. The landfill is owned by the second parent company, Modern Disposal, and its process of turning waste gases into energy reduces unfriendly emissions equivalent to planting 130,000 acres of forest, Toye said.
Then, water used to cool the engines at the energy plant is channeled over to the greenhouses to create a balmy year-round growing season.
As a result, the thousands of plants strung from the ceilings appear vibrant and lush, their roots imbedded in a slender row of coconut husk mulch imported from Sri Lanka.
Visitors might feel as if they’ve stepped into a jungle garden, but the 30 or so workers who pick the plants behave as if it were a normal 12-acres of farmland, only without the misery-causing elements of ice, snow and rain.
There will be 6.5 million tomatoes grown in the facility and shipped to many local and national companies — including the meticulously environmentally conscious Whole Foods Market, which sent representatives to tour the facility before signing a contract, Toye said.
Clearly a man who enjoys working in summer climes regardless of the weather outside, he adds: “It’s quite amazing.”
Contact reporter Michele DeLuca at
282-2311, ext. 2263.
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