USDA-certified organic greenhouse goes online this spring

Elzinga & Hoeksema (E&H) Greenhouses, in Kalamazoo, Mich., has constructed one of the Midwest’s first USDA-certified organic commercial greenhouses. The 4-acre greenhouse will supply organic vegetable and herb potted plants to Meijer retail stores throughout the Midwest. E&H expects to grow more than 1.3 million plants in the new greenhouse this year.

The branded organic products include: Fresh Flavor Vegetable plants; Fresh Flavor Herb plants; Fresh Flavor Gallon Vegetable plants; Classic Flavor Heirloom plants; Ethnic Flavor Vegetable and Herb plants; Urban Gardener Patio Pots; Micro greens; and Herbal Home plants.

The greenhouse is equipped with two loading areas, a packaging workstation, a dedicated sowing facility, high-pressure sodium grow lights and a moveable benching system.

The organic production space was built with total physical separation from the non-organic operation. Clean-room entry/exit devices were installed in the organic area.

“In addition to the fact that we’re different from many other large-scale greenhouse growers in that we’ve constructed our organic facility from the ground up, we also made sustainability a cornerstone of the organic greenhouse,” said Mark Elzinga, president of E&H.

The greenhouse is outfitted with a closed-loop ground heat exchanger, a closed-loop pressurized hot water heating system, high-efficiency condensing boilers, solar panels and in-floor heat. Outside the greenhouse is a large heat pump and 200 4-feet-by-10-feet AES solar energy collectors.

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For more: Elzinga & Hoeksema Greenhouses, (269) 327-5144; www.elzingagreenhouses.com.

May 2008