Article 3 May 2023 Kale-lelujah! It’s harvest time at the Shard Farm! Earlier this year, we installed three Farm stands at the Shard to start growing our own food and earlier this week, our first crops were ready for harvest! The stands which are hydroponic (using no soil), provide a way to grow produce indoors using 95% less water than conventional growing systems. The stands themselves are made from ocean bound plastics, saving over 4kg of plastics per stand from entering the ocean and damaging this extremely vital underwater ecosystem. During the celebration on Tuesday 2 May, colleagues working in the Shard, with the help of Square Mile Farms – who own the Farm Stand innovation- got to harvest the produce and take home kale, basil and oregano! Our Landscaping experts, Tim Howell and Don Holmes talked about our recent refocus to Biodiversity while the team from Square Mile Farms introduced who they are and more about what they do. Growing produce locally reduces emissions by reducing the need for items to travel miles to reach your door – instead, just come to the office and take a bag of greens home with you! This produce is the first of what we hope will be a lot more produce to be grown in the Shard. The pesto’s yet to come!
