US (MA): Hydroponic farming offers fresh produce for Danvers

Currently, the lettuce market is dominated by California and Arizona farms. Because of the area’s inclement winters, Massachusetts farmers are unable to grow lettuce, leaving it to those across the country to produce 98 percent of the nation’s leafy greens, according to Sellew. For consumers on the East Coast, this means that most lettuce has to travel 3,000 miles by truck before arriving on the shelves of local grocery stores.

“Little Leaf only distributes our greens to customers within one day’s drive of the greenhouse in Devens, Mass.,” Sellew said, adding this allows Little Leaf Farms to “provide New England communities with extremely fresh lettuce that is cleaner, lasts longer and tastes better.”

Little Leaf Farms grows all of it’s lettuce indoors in a 10-acre greenhouse. This, Sellew said, allows communities like Danvers to have access to fresh, locally grown lettuce regardless of season.

“At Little Leaf Farms, we grow our baby greens in a greenhouse using 100 percent captured and recycled rainwater from our roof mixed with water soluble nutrients, instead of soil,” Sellew told the Danvers Herald. “Despite harsh Northeastern winters, our controlled hydroponic process allows us to grow lettuce year-round, with the aid of high efficient heating systems and supplemental LED grow lights.”

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