GROWING PROPERTY INVESTMENTS WITH PRODUCE LARA HERMANSON
Urban Produce Beds Are Booming
workers they’d usually
not interact with. The
The team at Farmscape has been creating edible bonus being that they
gardens within residential homes, offices, sporting take home the carrots,
attractions and industrial parks for near towards a radishes and pears for
decade. They’re either contracted out from the dinner
start to design and plant vegetable gardens during racing to the crowded
construction or hired to install the produce beds supermarket to pay
once a third party designer has approved the overinflated prices for
landscape plans. the same produce.
instead
of
The seasons change
From working on Giant’s Stadium, Oracle, North and so do the beds during quarterly crop rotations,
Face’s headquarters and over 700 more properties giving approximately 2.5lbs per sq. ft. annually.
on the west coast, Farmscape now maintain 300+ Equate this to a 100 sq. ft. garden and you’ll expect
of these beds. Space permitting, they also create to see 250lbs a year (around 5 lbs per week) of
orchards and vineyards alongside native plants, so produce. Account that nearly every Farmscape
the surroundings are now as visually appealing as garden usually expands based on pure attraction
the building and come with unique bells and over time, property owners could easily double or
whistles. triple the beds and produce within 12 months. For
example, Levi’s Stadium allocated 3,000 sq ft for
Multiple Health & Cost Benefits
beds but within a year, it’s now 6,000 sq ft and
growing.
The company is the largest
urban farming venture in the Using environmentally friendly and cost efficient drip
country and no space is too irrigation systems, water costs are reduced. Mature
small for them to work with. Set trees are planted to keep properties cool in the
up costs run from $25k per summer and act as wind breakers in harsher
development. they’ve weathers, again yanking down those utility bills.
planted the vegetable beds, Then there’s the benefit of planting money making
local farmers maintain these trees, such as a large oak which can add $150 to a
regularly. The farmers encourage residents or property value (National Tree Benefit calculator)
employees to dig and weed with them, an while silver maples bounce the building value up by
attraction that a standard farmer wouldn’t usually $2500 (HouseLogic). And by installing native plants,
propose. The locals are now destressing from a these pretty much self sustain so require little or no
long day’s work, chatting to neighbors or co true maintenance.
Once