OGDEN, Utah (ABC4) — When you think of winter, fresh fruit might not be the first thing that comes to mind. However, one Utah farmer wants to change that.
Using compost to naturally heat greenhouses, Chad Midgley grows citrus in the winter. He hopes that doing so will improve food security.
Surrounded by homes in the middle of Ogden is an orchard about one acre in size. From 13th Street, passersby can see dozens of peach trees. While they are currently sitting dormant, the orchard holds a lively surprise.
“This is just an experiment,” Midgley said. “I’m a mad scientist.”
Midgley, owner of Chad’s Produce, has been farming for decades. About 10 years ago, he started experimenting with his farming.
“I thought, how about trying to grow fruit along the Wasatch Front in the middle of winter,” Midgley told ABC4.
Fast forward 10 years and his hypothesis is now looking more like fact.
“We have fruit here,” Midgley said, while standing outside the hand-built greenhouse in his Ogden orchard. “In Syracuse we do the same thing. We have bushels, bushels of fruit.”
Even in the dead of winter, Midgley has about 10 varieties of citrus, including grapefruit, that can be picked. He also uses methods that let him harvest ground vegetables, like carrots and beets, throughout the season.
The rest here…
Article doesn’t go into detail but here’s a link to this guy’s Facebook if you want to take a look there.
www.facebook.com/chads.produce/
h/t molson