SitemapThere is a popular proverb that goes “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
Several years ago, a couple said they took this phrase to heart, creating a business out of a solution they used to compensate for an impossible outdoor growing season.
Tom and Katie Phibbs moved into their Kinsman, Ohio farm toward the end of 2010.
“I was recovering from a kidney transplant at the time,” said Tom. “My wife had wanted to start a farm, which was something I never thought I would do, however she had just given me her kidney so I was not going to say ‘no.’”
What they didn’t count on, he said, was all the rain that was to follow in the spring of 2011, a dilemma that ultimately led to the creation of The Lettuce People.
“It was one of the wettest springs on record,” said Katie. “The field was so wet that it was impossible to grow anything. Tom had the idea of growing lettuce inside instead. We had the space available in the basement so I began to research and experiment with hydroponic growing.”
Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in a water and nutrient solution without using soil. The Lettuce People employs hydroponics indoors, relying on LED lights to replace the sun.
“When I first started my research I documented everything I was doing on YouTube so that people could follow along,” said Katie. “I received suggestions from people around the world and then I was contacted by a Philips Lighting supplier, that gave me free LED lighting which I compared against other options.”
Today she has 1,500 YouTube subscribers and several different working hydroponic systems, which she uses to grow lettuce and basil.
“Our goal is to address some of the challenges facing communities across the world by putting solutions in the hands of the people,” said Katie. “That’s the reason we developed and shared our vertical indoor hydroponic growing unit that allows families, businesses or educational facilities to grow their own vegetables 365 days a year.”
Katie said hydroponics uses 90 percent less water than field-grown lettuce and can be done using rainwater collected from city rooftops.
“Vertical hydroponics allows over 10 times the number of plants to be grown in the same space as conventional agriculture,” she said.
“Using less space makes this ideal for urban environments and a growing population. Keeping our plants indoors allows us to produce a premium product without the use of pesticides or other sprays that can have negative consequences for our health and the environment.”
In addition to being able to grow all year long, Katie said being underground gives them the “benefits of thermal mass,” which reduces heating and cooling costs.
The two have known one another since 1989.
“Katie’s brother and I were in the same third grade class and quickly became best friends,” said Tom. “As the years progressed we lost touch but we serendipitously reconnected again in 2004 and began attending college together at Youngstown State University. We’ve been together ever since.”
Their company is making progress. In 2014, The Lettuce People moved into the Common Wealth Kitchen Incubator in Youngstown, which Tom Phibbs manages.
The kitchen incubator supports businesses designed to help rebuild and improve Youngstown’s local food economy.
The Lettuce People also receives assistance from the Youngstown Business Incubator.
“We are one of their portfolio companies,” said Tom, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Youngstown State University. “They are helping us tremendously by providing access to capital and legal counsel.
“After I graduated from college, I worked for Turning Technologies, which was a YBI portfolio company. I was able to initiate help for our business from YBI while I was working for Turning Technologies. YBI focuses on software companies, but the CEO, Jim Cossler, agreed to help us out even though we were not initially software focused.”
Tom and Katie, who have two children, are on a mission to reduce the increasing problem of childhood obesity, one city at a time.
In addition to selling greens to local restaurants and the Lake-To-River Food Cooperative, the company has created its “Seed to STEM” (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education program for kindergarten through 12th grade students along with its online “Teach a (Wo)Man to Farm” adult education program, designed to help residents start their own hydroponic businesses.
“The problem with a lot of school gardens is that because they are outdoors the children don’t get to participate in the actual harvest during the summer,” said Katie. “By teaching hydroponics they will get the full experience, planting, harvesting and eating what they have grown.
“Our hope is that we will significantly increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables.”
Their programs are already being used at the Mill Creek MetroParks Farm in Canfield and by the Trumbull County Educational Service Center’s (TCESC) Alternative Placement Program (APP).
APP is made up of special education students in grades nine to 12 who suffer from emotional disturbance.
“Hydroponics is part of the science curriculum,” said Frank Bindas, intervention specialist for the Alternative Placement Program at TCESC.
“Our students learn best by using their hands so we thought it would be a good idea to teach our students how to grow hydroponically on a first-hand basis,” said Bindas.
“For most of our students college is not an option, so we focus on vocational skills. Hopefully The Lettuce People’s program will provide them with knowledge that they can use in the workforce.”
“Kate has donated some materials and has come in with a PowerPoint presentation and growing mediums,” said Charity Washington, classroom assistant for the Alternative Placement Program.
“I think our students have enjoyed the experience. I think it has also helped them become more self-sustaining by making them comfortable with the idea of growing food for themselves and their families.”
“Last summer I taught a class at the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, a community development organization that offers classes on urban farming, cooking and homeownership,” said Katie.
To read the full story from Akron Legal News, click here.