Put an Urban Farm in your backyard with our help!

Our systems can be Aquaponic of Hydroponic

Contact us at: droeser@GardenFreshFarms.com

We are busy farming everyday, Please do not stop by without an appointment.

Phone # 612-886-6631 (we are often in the “field” so please leave a message if you get voice mail)

We do hold scheduled public tours during winter months, so watch our website for the next announced tour. We are a working farm and cannot accommodate drop in requests.

Selected as Ramsey County Family Farm of the Year 2012

 

Our new award winning Greenhouse approach is all about environmental conservationism. The entire cycle will be recycle, reuse and reduce.

• Fish are commercially grown for food. Feeding customers within a fifty miles. The fish are raised in tanks indoors and all the waste is used as fertilizer. Farm raised fish that protect the environment. Outdoor farm raised fish can pollute the ground water and our rivers and lakes. This is true sustainable fish farming.
•  Water is pumped from the fish tanks through large indoor produce fields using our patent pending hydroponic design, increasing the harvests per sq ft.
• We designed special lighting to conserve energy and is more efficient than traditional greenhouse lighting.
• The plants obtain their nutrients from the fish waste in the water and consume CO2 in the process. Fresh air is a by product.Our indoor air has more oxygen content than outdoor air.
• Oxygenated water is returned to the fish and the cycle repeats.
• A 10k solar panel system is used to provide some of the electrical energy needs.
• Water is not wasted, but is consumed by the plants. We fortify our water naturally with calcium and iron by allowing it to flow through mineral deposits and rocks, just like a stream. The plants take up these essential minerals resulting with a healthier food for you.
• Waste plant materials are used to feed the tilapia.
• Filtered solid materials in the water are filtered and used/sold as organic fertilizer. Root mass is composted and sold as organic fertilizer. Worms will be used to speed the process and provide food for the fish.
• Products will be grown within a few miles of where they are consumed, thus saving the energy needed to transport products to market.
• We capture the process heat to reduce or eliminate the need for additional heating of the building.
• We have landscaped the front hill of our building into terraces forraspberries, cheery trees and mint.

Address: CSA pick up is our back entry 1064 E. Gervais Ave., Maplewood, MN 55109

Office Address: 1065 E. Hwy 36, Maplewood, MN 55109 (the front of the building)

We were at the Mn Grown booth in the Horticulture Bldg. at the Mn State Fair Sunday Aug. 26th.

Chosen Ramsey County Family Farm of the Year 2012 click here to view Proclamation2012

Garden Fresh Farms was started in 2010 by Dave & DJ Roeser and son Bryan in a 20,000 sq ft warehouse just outside St. Paul, MN. We have developed several systems to grow herbs and produce using sustainable methods indoors for consistent year round growth. We have an on site lab to test everything from food born pathogens to animal health and well-being.

In 2011 we added sprout manufacturing and converted outdoor spaces into seasonal crop permaculture.

2012 we are adding our CSA subscriptions (Community Support Agriculture) as well as RSA for local restaurants. These are year round subscriptions to purchase the freshest produce and will include specialty products from other local producers.

Our sustainable methods conserve water usage, require no artificial fertilizers, and produce fresh great tasting products within a few miles of the consumer. With gas prices approaching $4/gallon, we can no longer sustain the practice of harvesting unripe produce and shipping it 2,000 miles to your dinner plate. Local sustainable agriculture is the future, now.

Aquaponics

Aquaponics has been around for centuries, but only now has technology made this a commercially sustainable method to raise healthy, natural products without chemicals or pesticides within a few miles of where the food will be consumed.

Aquaponics is a natural method of raising fish, filtering the water so it is converted into natural fertilizer that is feed to plants in a hydroponic growing environment. The plants consume the nutrients in the water, and the water is returned back to the fish in a closed cycle. Environmentally sustainable. We consume less land, water and fossil fuels than conventional farming.

Environment

Our solar panels have been installed and were commissioned the first week of 2011. Based on the calculations of the manufacturer, this system will offset 270 tons of carbon dioxide over the life of the system. It would be equivalent to adding 1,254 trees. Here is what it will look like;

We recycle everything internally. You could say we created a small ecosystem in a box!

As business owners we are involved in other areas concerning our environment. See recent articles involving recycling and Chestnut trees.

Businesses encouraged to recycle

Lino councilman Dave Roeser: ‘Recycling can help pay for park

Businesses encouraged to recycle

Lino Lakes Councilman Dave Roeser said can collection donations from area churches, businesses and schools could help fund park development: “We’ve turned our backs on the biggest producers of recyclable goods.”  — Submitted Photo

Posted: Tuesday, March 6, 2012 11:17 am

by Nick Backus/Staff Writer

LINO LAKES – Can a city get help to build a park from pop cans? One Lino Lakes council member thinks so.

Councilman Dave Roeser said can collections at schools, churches and businesses around the area could be hauled to local recycling plants to raise funds for park development. The city is considering budgeting $200,000 to $300,000 in “seed money” this year to kickstart a recreational complex at Birch Street and Centerville Road. During talks concerning park funding, Roeser has continually suggested alternative funding sources for the project.

Roeser said the city could capture the money through a city resolution that would contract with a hauler and designate part of the recycling proceeds to park funding.

Roeser believes there are ways for businesses to recycle without taking on burden.

“It could reduce garbage container size and frequency of pickups,” he said. “Recycling is a capitalist value. We need to show businesses they can reduce costs and make their employees feel good about recycling.”

Roeser, a business owner, encourages his own employees to recycle cans in a separate bin for him to take home at the end of each week. He said other businesses could do the same to help suport Lino Lakes.“We can make the program fun with goals and recognitions,” he said. “Businesses could display window stickers stating they’ve ‘gone green and recycle to benefit Lino Lakes.’”

Roeser gave examples of current successful programs including White Bear Lake High School’s north campus can collection bin as well as Hugo Fire Hall’s bin. In 2009, 133 schools raised $53,000 by recycling 48,000 pounds of aluminum cans during a 12-week national recycling competition.

“We’ve turned our backs on the biggest producers of recyclable goods,” Roeser said. “Hopefully we can get this viral in the community.”

According to Lino Lakes Environmental Director Marty Asleson, Anoka County officials are discussing how to increase recycling tonnages, especially from commercial and industrial areas. County grant funding is currently calculated solely through residential recycling.

“Employees who are already trained to recycle at home are often looking for ways to recycle at work,” Roeser said. “(We need) model programs that involve businesses recycling bottles and cans. We can do this and lead the way for other communities.”

Asleson said he’s been in contact with local garbage haulers concerning commercial and industrial recycling, and that they are “thinking about” Roeser’s ideas.

For now, Roeser believes businesses can start recycling simply with some volunteer gusto.

“(We) have to find the person in each organization with a passion for the environment,” he said. “There’s always someone.”

For more stories on local city initiatives, visit www.quadcommunitypress.com.

Link to article http://www.presspubs.com/quad/news/article_3fbbd1ec-67b0-11e1-a5f5-0019bb2963f4.html

Collecting seeds of a different color

How will cities replace declining ash tree populations? Experts look to a classic

Posted: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 11:17 am | Updated: 4:25 pm, Sat Nov 26, 2011.

by Nicholas Backus/Staff Writer |

LINO LAKES — If ash trees are on the way out, why not bring back the majestic chestnut?

It’s a question Lino Lakes city officials are not only asking, but taking an active role to answer. After years of careful monitoring and safeguarding against deer, Councilman Dave Roeser is proud of his backyard chestnut tree, which now stands about 15 feet tall. He’s donating its seeds to  city hall in hopes a city-sponsored grove can grow and flourish.

On top of that, homegrown seeds are also part of University of Minnesota experiments to make certain chestnuts more hardy. University forestry professor Gary Johnson is heading the study.

“One of the problems of nut-producing trees is a high death rate when they’re dug up,” Johnson explained.

Chestnuts were once one of the most numerous and useful hardwood trees in the eastern United States before  blight decimated the population in the early 20th century. Now resistant strains exist, and can survive, but the species’ unique and fragile tap root system doesn’t make it popular at local nurseries. Johnson hopes university experiments and research started late last month can change that perception.

“If this pays off it could be a benefit for not only the nursery industry, but for people who want to plant a chestnut tree.”

Last month, City Environmental Coordinator Marty Asleson and a team of volunteers visited Peltier island at Peltier Lake to shake loose some of the tennis ball-sized chestnut seeds off trees. Asleson is old friends with Johnson, making it easy for the two to collaborate. Seeds donated to the U went into plots of hydrated peat stone devoid of nutrients or soil. Johnson said similar experiments have shown success in germinating more comprehensive root systems in trees, making them more easily transportable.

“The hope is they will germinate into a fibrous root system and not go into the typical tap root,” Johnson said.The experiment is testing a variety of nut-producing trees, including chestnuts, red oak, burr oak and butternut hickory. The seeds will sit under controlled beds over the winter with protection from critters. The nuts tend to be a popular food source for squirrels. Johnson said he’ll know if the trees succeeded by next summer.

Asleson hopes chestnuts can become more widely available so people can choose to diversify the type of trees they plant. So far, chestnut seeds are hard to come by, and not always cheap. Roeser bought his from the American Chestnut Foundation, which requires buyers of its blight-resistant seeds to become sponsors for at least $300.

“If we can get a grove going (in Lino Lakes) maybe it could be successful and be something that people come and look at,” Roeser said. “It’s not like coming to see a football game but this is (important) horticulture.”

With ash trees already coming down on city streets and boulevards due to impending arrival of the emerald ash borer, Roeser hopes the research on chestnuts can point the way to more tree biodiversity for the future.

“Maybe we’ll find a tree that works out well and that other cities want to follow,” he said. “We’re planting the trees for future generations. Someone planted the trees that we’re enjoying so the least we can do is the same to feel good about our existence here.”

For more stories on chestnut trees and emerald ash borer, visit www.presspubs.com.

http://www.presspubs.com/quad/news/article_76cd5d10-152e-11e1-8716-001cc4c03286.html

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