Grow fresh, locally grown produce all year round for your community
At Les Verts, we empower grassroots growers at any experience level to grow consistent, high-quality produce for their local communities, all year round.
Our team has been developing the technology and Les Verts GrowHow™ behind our Les Verts Terrace™ indoor garden systems since 2018. During that time, and still today, we have been running Rachel’s Greens, a community-supported agriculture (CSA) side business out of our Innovation Centre in Winnipeg.
Customers come by every two weeks to pick up a box of gourmet lettuce, herbs and microgreens, some driving up to 30 minutes one way (yes, the greens are that good). Rachel’s Greens is run by Les Verts co-founder Rachel Green, who operates a continuous system of five Terrace Pro 3-Tier systems in a small warehouse to service her loyal customers.
Rachel’s Greens began with a simple yet powerful motivation – to address the lack of fresh, locally-grown lettuce, herbs and leafy greens during the colder months in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
“For the vast majority of the year almost everything is shipped in from California or Arizona, so by the time it reaches us the quality and shelf life has quickly diminished,” says Rachel.
The number of varieties found on retail shelves is also limited. For example, nearly all common varieties of lettuce are selected for their shelf-life and not for flavour or nutritional profile. The goal was to develop a sustainable system that could consistently produce great-tasting, high-quality produce throughout the year.
Developing the Les Verts Terrace™ Pro professional indoor growing system to optimize production of high-quality leafy greens
With their deep agricultural backgrounds, Rachel and her co-founders, Jennifer, Kerry and Geoff, began evaluating different growing systems, from individual vertical growing racks to large container farms. They travelled around the continent looking at different systems. The smaller options were very basic and didn’t include any of the tools, equipment or ingredients to get started easily. The larger options were prohibitively expensive, overly technical to operate, not suited to a northern climate like Manitoba and required significant capital and labour to operate.
So they decided to build their own growing system. They invested in a basic system and leveraged their own expertise and consulted with horticultural experts to conduct trials and research. They partnered with the National Research Council Canada and RRC Polytech to build prototypes and conduct more research. Over 6 years and hundreds of trials, they designed and refined a complete growing system that became the Les Verts Terrace™ Pro. Exactly the type of system they were looking for when they started out – easy to use, professional-grade equipment, high-quality production, flexible, efficient and best of all, affordable.
Learn more about the technology behind the Terrace Pro here.
Curated varieties selected for taste and appearance that are sure to impress
One of the fringe benefits of all the testing and trials was an excess of produce. Rachel always had plenty to share. Before long, produce giveaways to friends and family gained traction with others – and what started as a giveaway soon became an interesting and engaging produce subscription business. Everyone who picked up the greens loved it and continued to ask when we would have more, which was all it took to develop a loyal customer base.
“Because of our growing system and the fact that we were local, we were able to consistently offer varieties that were not readily available in the local grocery stores,” says Rachel. “A range of lettuce types from Green Summer Crisp to Red Oakleaf not only grew really well in our system, but they were also the perfect combination for a family-sized salad every two to three days over the course of two weeks.”
Living plants give customers the peak of freshness, flavour and nutrition
Another advantage of our growing system was being able to provide customers with the whole, living plant (roots intact) in its soil-less grow media. Sold in reusable waterproof trays, customers were able to keep their greens fresh and growing until they were ready to consume.
Rachel’s gourmet living lettuce, herbs and microgreens ticked all the boxes for customers: the produce was always fresh and packed with nutrients, and folks could enjoy unique varieties with different flavours and textures that they couldn’t find elsewhere. And they never had to throw any of it away because the living plants would stay fresh for weeks on the counter. Customers also noted that the produce box was a beautiful display that they were proud to show off.
Rachel successfully established a local CSA, providing fresh, nutritious living greens to the community. Customer satisfaction has been high from Day 1 with very little turnover. Contact us for details on pricing, costs and ROI.
Easily grow and scale with the Les Verts Terrace™ Pro
Each Terrace Pro 3-Tier system, occupying just 8 square feet, can grow an abundance of living lettuce, herbs, leafy greens and microgreens. Unlike large, fixed container systems, any number of units can be combined to optimize any indoor space, and production can easily be scaled in line with customer demand. Contact us to learn how you can get the most out of your space.
Many other growing systems on the market are labour-intensive to operate and maintain. Roots need to be trimmed, systems get clogged and need to be cleaned frequently, and harvested produce needs to be handled and packaged cleanly in line with rigid food safety protocols.
The horticultural-grade grow media offered by Les Verts not only allows for the produce to be sold as living plants, it also contains all of the plant’s roots, so no trimming is required, which greatly minimizes labour as well as the frequency of system cleaning.
Here’s what a typical operations day looks like for Rachel. She’ll spend about two hours a week to maintain her five systems. Activities include:
- Preparing grow media, planting seeds and transplanting seedlings
- Adding water, nutrients and pH adjuster to each system’s reservoir
- Removing mature plants from the system and placing into reusable trays for pickup according to each customer’s order (once every two weeks)
For new customers, Rachel provides a Living Produce Freshness Guide and a reusable tray with their first pickup. Disposable cardboard trays or cartons can also be used, but reusable trays are ideal for regularly returning customers. She sends an email ahead of each scheduled pickup date to remind customers to bring their reusable trays and pay via e-transfer or cash upon pickup.
When Rachel wants to go on vacation for more than a week, she simply tops up the reservoirs before leaving and asks someone to check on the units once a week. The only task required is to top up the reservoirs with water and nutrients if required. She also adjusts the schedule slightly, so no planting or harvesting is required while she is away.
While any room temperature indoor environment will work, Rachel keeps her growing room temperature below 25C in the summer, and 18C or above in the winter for optimal conditions.
Rachel spends a few hours doing a thorough system cleaning every two months and avoids bringing outside plants inside to keep potential insect challenges to a minimum.
Contact us for a full list of costs required in running a system.
Skip the trial-and-error of DIY
Some may think creating their own DIY system will save money and offer a larger return. In fact, Rachel began the operation with several DIY-type systems prior to developing the Terrace Pro.
But creating a system like the Terrace Pro that yields professional results took years of research and testing on lighting, fertilizer formulation, watering schedules, planting techniques, grow media selection, seed curation and customer validation.
For aspiring DIY enthusiasts looking to transition into entrepreneurship, the journey often demands a diverse skill set encompassing engineering, construction, growing, marketing, and sales. Subpar systems can lead to inconsistent or lacklustre produce, making it more difficult to acquire customers and increase perceived value of the produce. Many DIY ventures end up failing for these reasons.
Starting out with a Les Verts Terrace™ Pro system allows you to scale up at your own pace and eliminates the need for engineering and construction expertise. And when the product quality is top tier, the demand comes more easily, reducing the time and resources required for sales and marketing efforts. This streamlined approach takes the guesswork out of growing, allowing you to focus on growing your business or achieving your community objectives.
Plus, performance is guaranteed, or you get your money back.
Let the Terrace Pro do the heavy lifting for you
The Rachel’s Greens CSA model demonstrates the feasibility and rewards of indoor farming as a profitable side business or community project. Anyone can easily grow like a pro, like Rachel, with the Les Verts Terrace™ Pro. While different people may find various aspects of the business enjoyable, Rachel says, “the most rewarding part of the experience is bringing people joy through food.”
Contact us today to learn what the Terrace Pro can do for you.