Ang has one bed for large crops like cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and watermelon; a second bed for leafy greens, and a third bed filled with his custom potting mix to test new plants. “It’s a matter of growing the plants, seeing how they do, identifying the problems, and then tweaking the way that we grow them,” Ang explained. Ang hopes to produce enough to satisfy a small market, not enough for a supermarket but enough for 30-50 people per week.

The benefits of an urban farm near the city center

Orders are made online with pick-ups at the greenhouse. “We’re not in the middle of nowhere, we’re quite close to the city center,” Ang said. “It’s like a street vegetable market, but put into a building structure with more sanitary conditions. I believe that because of the virtue that we’re so close to the consumer, the quality is vastly superior to even some high-end places.”

🎧 For more intel on sustainable farming, listen to the Quartz Obsession podcast episode on kudzu. Or subscribe via: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Stitcher.

Produce from Natsuki’s Garden can be sold at a cheaper price than grocery stores, with more profit for Ang. “Some of these supermarkets, they would take your produce and sell it at $20 a kilo, but they would take about 50% of the profit. That just didn’t really make sense because I know I can get higher quality produce to the consumer, for a lower price, and I would still get a higher margin.”

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