US: Retired chefs start careers in hydroponics, local food

“It is only in the past five to seven years that people are becoming more aware of the benefits of hydroponics and heirloom tomatoes,” Said grower Bradley Worde from Noble House Farms in Vanderbilt, Michigan. In an interview with local newspaper petoskeynews.com, Worde said, that he and his partner Richard Hamilton began farming after they retired from careers as chefs. Their farm specializes in all different types of tomatoes to fit a wide range of restaurants and palates, including black plumbs from the Ukraine, zebra tomatoes, Hawaiian pineapple tomatoes, white snowball tomatoes, Cherokee purples and many more. The tomato plants grow to be more than 20 feet long, producing tomatoes that can grow up to 6 inches in diameter.

Bradley Worde holding a box of heirlooms in his Michigan greenhouse

“We produce tomatoes for five months of the year,” Worde said. “You just don’t do that in Northern Michigan. Hydroponics is healthy, energy efficient and the way of the future.”

Click here to read the interview with Worde.