Tuesday, August 10, 2010

3 Boys Farm makes the nightly news!



Sheena Parveen of Tampa Bay Fox interviews Robert Tornello at 3 Boys Farm:

RUSKIN - Robert Tornello is a laid-back environmentalist who's passionate about all things organic. He's a farmer at heart.

"This farm, to me, is kind of an expression of myself -- ha…not to get philosophical," he said.

3 Boys Farm is named after his three sons. Everything on his 10-acre farm was picked to lessen the impact on the environment. Insect nets line the greenhouses, eliminating the need for pesticides. The large fans save energy.

"So this way we cool the buildings and on the exhaust side we then capture that energy again and turn it back to power," Robert explained.

He captures, purifies, and stores 60,000 gallons of rainwater.

"We already know that we're going to withdrawal 10 million gallons less per year just from this one site," he said.

Solar and wind power will soon pump the stored water through the farm. Robert says the heat makes it hard for growing, but with cool, filtered water, it's a different story.

"This is changing that," he said. "I mean, it's basically like growing in an air-conditioned space."

Certainly something you feel the second you walk in.

Robert believes the results could be overwhelming -- growing in a smaller space with renewable energy, recycled water, and no pesticides.

"Where you would have 10 acres of tomatoes growing, as a quick example, you could do that in one acre of hydroponic greenhouses," Robert explained.

In the end, Robert hopes to feed the Bay Area healthy, affordable food, grown just as nature intended.

1 comment:

  1. Looks like Mr. Tornello is leading by example. Great job Robert. We need to see more stories like this one and less negative news.

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