US (MD): Hydroponic farm sees payoff in wider distribution

Wednesday was a big win for Big White Barn Produce as representatives from Capital Seaboard walked through its greenhouse, pausing to sample lettuce and microgreens that Steve Goertemiller had spent weeks preparing.

In his hydroponic beds, bright green romaine lettuce and rows of unique small greens were ready for harvest, while most of the fields in Frederick County remained empty as a chilly April lingered in the air. By Thursday, the first pallet of greens was on its way out the door headed for the distributor’s warehouse, where the produce would be sent to kitchens across the region.

“The volume they can sell for you is pretty much unlimited, and the efficiency they create you just can’t do by yourself,” Goertemiller said of the wholesale distributor based in Jessup.

But getting to Wednesday took nearly a decade of hard work planting seeds by hand, picking vegetables for unpredictable farmers markets and planning long trips in the car to make produce deliveries on time — in an industry in which Steve, a former stockbroker, and his wife, Anita, a former events coordinator, had little training.

Read more at The Frederick News-Post (Samantha Hogan)