Merissa Bale composts the soil after plants have been harvested for weekly customers.
If you are expecting a large field with a tractor, some hogs and a few chickens when you visit Area 2 Farms in Arlington, you are in for a surprise. Area 2 Farms is located in a large warehouse building in South Arlington. The space is filled with several growing structures, each consisting of eight rows of stacked trays that rotate slowly like a snake to simulate a 24-hour day. This system was patented by Oren and Tyler when they set up the farm in 2021.
The bottom two rows of plants are dark. Level 3 represents early morning, still cool where the plants are exposed to their first light and where they get watered with a mixture of municipal water and pre-emergent fertilizer which is mostly molasses. The rows rotate through the tiers every three hours.
Merissa Bale, Farmer and Community Outreach, says, “The plants are weighed before they go under the irrigation for 30-60 seconds, and the sensors tell us when the plants have had enough.” Levels 4 and 5 are normal light and as the rows move up, the light intensity remains the same but the temperature rises 10-15
Area 2 Farms is a local Arlington farm located in a warehouse on S. Oxford Street.
As the rows rotate you can watch Buzz Lightyear hanging onto the edge of the row as he travels “to infinity and beyond.”
“It’s fun to watch him fly up. Once we discovered this, we labeled all the others with Toy Story characters. It’s fun; we just say ‘it’s time to harvest Buzz.’”
Bale points to the 2s sticker labels on the bottom row of lettuce containers. “This means they will be ready the second week of summer. We are now in the 13th week of spring.”
Area 2 Farms is a CSA which means that customers pay in advance for a subscription box of produce. Area 2 Farms offers four packages at different prices: 4-week, 10-week or year-long. Each week’s delivery will contain an herb, a lettuce, a micro green and a root vegetable.
Bale says one of the customer favorites, and hers as well, is the purple shamrock. She picks it up. “You can eat the while thing including the stem which has most of the flavor. You could never buy this in the grocery store. Most of the fresh produce people buy comes from a long way and isn’t very tasty once it arrives in the store.” She says, “I like to crush the purple shamrock and put it on ice cream.” But her very favorite of everything they grow at the farm is the wasabi arugula or maybe the rainbow chard. “Hard to choose.”
In any one week the CSA is growing 180 different varieties of plants at one time. This week’s harvest included rainbow chard mix, pea shoots, chives, cucumbers and garlic scapes along with recipes for pea shoots including potato salad.
Along with the familiar varieties there are a number of unusual plants that are fun to try, and in the front of the warehouse is a research area. “This plant is the buzz button which originated in Brazil. It is crazy; they call it the toothache plant because it numbs your mouth.” Sure enough-chew it, swirl it around your mouth. You begin to salivate, and your mouth goes numb.
Connor Stevenson is snipping a tray of dill plants. Stevenson says he is a college student spending his third year as a summer intern. “I am a horticulture major, and I’ve learned more here than in some of my classes.” He says it takes him 5-10 minutes to cut an entire tray of plants. “These are pretty easy.”
After the plants have been harvested, the soil is sifted and the large particles come out. Then it is composted into large bags and used again.
Renee is a local customer who says “to have a farm close to my urban home aligns with my personal mission of eating what’s in season and eating from food that’s grown closer to me.” But she adds they are good neighbors because they think of our community. “As lead of the Highlands Urban Garden at Virginia Highlands Park, we have a farm to farm relationship with Area2. Last year we spoke with Area2 about improving the soil health in our raised beds. In November we started using Area2 soil, a byproduct of their farm. All the produce grown in our demonstration garden is given to our local food pantries. In May, we have delivered over 60 pounds of fresh locally grown produce to our neighbors in need thanks to our volunteers and the great soil from Area 2.”
Jackie Stanton, also a Farmer at Area 2 Farms, says she also likes the purple shamrock which she muddles to make lemonade with lemon juice and a little honey. “But I grew up eating turnips and my all time favorite is the special hakirei turnip we grow; it’s sweet, crunchy and has a little kick. It's wonderful.”
She said, ”We just grow food here by neighbors for neighbors. It is because food is normally so far away from you which is a disadvantage for healthy food, flavor and variety available. We are currently so disconnected from our food. Here food is just hours away.” She says the current customer base for Area 2 Farms is 225 customers who subscribe to one of the three packages.
Stanton says they are nearing capacity, and a second farm is planned to start up in Fairfax by the end of summer. Area 2 Farms offers public tours for school groups, community organizations or interested individuals on specified Sundays from 1-2 pm. The schedule and sign up are available on the website. https://www.area2farms.com/farm