Ramaz prides itself as having the city as its backyard. Students can take advantage of the many museums and other cultural activities. Ms. Benel, the faculty advisor of the Environmental Club, accompanied club members on an excursion to visit Farm.One. Farm.One is an enterprise that specializes in growing rare exotic herbs, using vertical, indoor farming. Vertical Farming is a method of agriculture that grows produce in vertical layers, and the club got to see this ingenious indoor farming firsthand.

Rob Laing, the CEO and founder, retold how he was visiting a farmer’s market in Santa Monica, California, and came across rare herbs he never encountered before. After returning a few weeks later to find the herbs, he noticed they were only available for a very brief season. This gave Mr. Laing the idea for “creating a space where chefs can have access to herbs that are not easily attainable, without having to worry about seasonality,” said Farm.One tour guide, Dana Facchine. Farm.One grows rare herbs and sells them to restaurants throughout the city where they can be used in cocktails, desserts, and as garnishes. The growing facility is below Michelin 2-starred restaurant Atera, one of Farm.One’s many high-end clients.  

Workers harvest the herbs early in the morning, and hand deliver herbs to chefs daily. Much of what is grown is dictated by what chefs would like to include on their menus, changing the menus frequently. Over 500 seed varieties are available at Farm.One, with around 100 of those being grown at any given time.

Much of the herbs grown are microgreens, younger plants harvested after 20 days of growth, which have a different taste than at maturity. Many plants at Farm.One use the hydroponics system, a method of plant sprouting solely using nutrient-rich water, without any soil. New York City tap water is treated for this technique and gets circulated throughout all the plants. The entire Farm.One facility does not utilize any soil whatsoever. Instead, a faux soil growth medium called Rapid Rooters is utilized for certain herbs. Because all the nutrients necessary for the plants are found in the treated water for hydroponics, the soil is not necessary to enhance the health of the plants. The Rapid Rooters, made from natural materials such as coconut husk and tree bark, “emulate the structure of soil, so the seeds have a place to root down and start to take shape,” said Facchine. In addition, the soil is susceptible to diseases and pathogens that are not wanted on the “farm.” Another growth medium used is called Rock Wool, a stone and clay fibrous mixture. No chemical pesticides are used on the farm. Instead, ladybugs can be seen all throughout the farm, used as the first line of defense against plant-eating pests that tend to wiggle their way inside the facility.

Throughout the tour, the club was able to taste exotic herbs, such as a type of Italian Mint only grown in Tuscany, and the Acmella oleracea, the “toothache” herb, found in the humid environment of the Amazon, that gives the tongue a tingling, numbing sensation upon tasting.

Ms. Benel noted, “With enough ingenuity and scientific background, food can be grown anywhere, even without soil.” She later added that “we learned that we have to think in 3-D” suggesting, that these herbs are grown in a vertical tier, as opposed to a two-dimensional plot of land.

Through this excursion, the Environmental Club realized that not only is the city Ramaz’s backyard, but also that you do not need a yard at all to help feed our planet.