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Mighty Vine to add 7.5 more acres in 2017

Highland Park native Jim Murphy had been working in agriculture for more than a decade when he began learning more about the greenhouse systems being used in the Netherlands. “It’s where the best technology is and where they’ve been doing it the longest,” he says. “I’ve always tried to analyze how they ran the greenhouses and their energy inputs to consider how it could be done in Chicago.”

At 27-feet-tall, the greenhouse is one of, if not the, largest in the world—an accomplishment that goes far beyond looks. “The first greenhouses were maybe a few feet off the ground, but since then they’ve realized that the higher you go, the easier it is to keep a buffer between the top of the plants—the most fragile part—and the temperature outside,” explains Danny. “If you don’t have that large buffer, you could potentially damage the crop.”

The greenhouse currently holds approximately 100,000 plants, which yield 4.5 million pounds of tomatoes annually—and that number is only expected to double in 2017, when the team will be adding seven and a half more acres of greenhouse space.

The growth is following a steadily rising demand for the crop. While retail shops were slow to embrace the MightyVine methodology, the concept quickly caught on. The tomatoes can now be found in stores across the Chicagoland area, including Whole Foods, Jewel-Osco, The Grand, and Sunset Foods. They’ve also established a strong presence in the dining out community with more than 150 restaurants are stocking the bright red produce, from Prairie Grass Café to Gibson’s Steak House.

Read more at jwcdaily.com
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