The Maine Democrat reports on Backyard Beauties‘ new greenhouses in Madison. The company has already found success, and is planning on expanding. It is a great example of the State working to bring sustainable business here.
The greenhouses will grow tomatoes in an environmentally friendly and atmospherically conditioned medium, pumping nutrients to the plants through plastic tubing. That enables the plants to reach up to 20 feet, to the roof, where workers will use hydraulic platforms to harvest year round. The roots will be set on heating pads, and the plants will have grow lights to aid the sun. The tomatoes will be grown without use of chemical pesticides.
It’s the first greenhouse complex of this scale in New England, as well as being the only one that can grow year round.
Last June, on the River Road site of the U.S. Functional Foods LLC (USFF) tomato greenhouse complex, Governor John E. Baldacci designated 200 acres as a Pine Tree Development Zone (PTZ), making the facility eligible for the tax incentive program.
