US (AL): Hydroponics business brings local produce to Kotzebue

In the middle of a gravel lot, surrounded by rusty equipment and old storage containers, one brand-new connex is making history. Inside, it’s filled with hydroponically grown, leafy green vegetables — the inaugural crop from Arctic Greens.

The company is the first organization above the Arctic Circle to get certified as Alaska Grown, and soon its produce will be available at Kotzebue’s local grocery store.

Past the control room and through the nursery, Jeff Hicks stands in the growing room of the standard 40-foot connex. While spinning exhaust fans and glowing purple lights regulate the temperature of the container, he takes inventory of its 600 seedlings.

“Mizuna, mustard, and watercress,” said Hicks, the Chief Operating Officer of Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corporation (KIC), which owns Arctic Greens. “We have spinach, kale, red lettuce, green lettuce, and butter head lettuce. We have basil, cilantro, and several other different kinds of herbs.”

Right now, Arctic Greens can grow 45 different plant varieties from hydroponic seeds. Once the operation is fully up and running, the connex will deliver 450 heads of local produce each week — even in the middle of winter.

Read more at KNOM Radio Mission