Why we have been growing Green for many years.  The key is sustainability.

With Greenhouses we are able to grow plants.  Plants need CO2 so they remove it from the air as they grow, the process is called photosynthesis.  The more plants we can grow, the less CO2 we would have in our atmosphere and the more oxygen.  Plants give off oxygen as they grow.  The roots  as they grow and the organic matter from the above portion of the plant all contain carbon.  This trapping of carbon in the earth is called CO2 sequestration.

1.  A significant portion of what we sell is grown by us so no transportation needed - this leads to less less pollution of the air.

2.  When we grow we do not leach the standard 10% of the water fertilizer mixture through the pots.  We try not to leach at all.  Less need for plant inputs.  We use composted pine bark in our soil mix.  We also add significant amounts of naturally occurring beneficial fungi and bacteria to our mix so the plants grow better.  We are the only local greenhouse doing the above procedures

3.     We at times have problems with diseases and insects on our plants.  We use the least environmental harmful products and the most beneficial materials.

4.     We have had an open roof greenhouse for eleven years so we have used less energy for many years.  We are the only greenhouse in Wisconsin with an open roof greenhouse design.  Plants grow better in an open roof greenhouse - more wind and light for the plants. 

5.  We use double inflated infra red plastic on our roofs that traps light energy and heat inside.  This retains even more heat than standard poly carbonate on greenhouse roofs.  We are looking at using heat curtains and triple polycarbonate walls and insulated walls to three feet in the future.

6.    We have a flood floor system in our large greenhouse.  This collects the water.

7.  We are the only greenhouse in the area with an environmental greenhouse computer.  It really saves significant amounts of energy and provides longer life to equipment and a more sustainable world.

8.    We reuse our pots and reuse the pots our customers have purchased from us - thus less inputs needed to hold the plants.

9.  I still have my Last Whole Earth Catalog and a few of the first issues of Mother Earth News magazine which dates back to the late 60's that is about 40 years of trying to be more environmentally friendly.

10.  If you get a chance purchase the book "Cradle to Cradle" by William McDonough. Recycling is not enough.  We need to be thinking about processes that can be repeated again and again using renewable sources.  We have in the past been thinking about Cradle to Grave such as recycling but we need to be thinking about the folks that follow after us perhaps that is why the title is so great - sustainability.

11.  In the future we are even planning on heating with bio fuel made from switch grass.  We even plan on taking crop land out of corn and soybeans and putting in permanent switch grass cover.  Significant more carbon sequestration with switch grass with fewer inputs. Home>