For many Thanksgiving dinner tables this year the salad greens had a very short trip from farm to table. About nine miles from downtown, Juneau Greens is growing lettuce and other fresh leafy greens in a new vertical hydroponic farm.
On Nov. 8, John Krapek and his crew opened the new Juneau Greens retail storefront and indoor farm in an industrial area off Egan Drive near Temsco Helicopters' operation on Honsinger Drive.
As testimony to the quality of the product, retired Fiddlehead Restaurant (now Sandpiper) chef Kirk Stagg was filling a cloth bag with several bunches of lettuce on Friday afternoon. Amy White, Juneau Greens' front counter expert, wrapped the long strand of roots around the plants' tiny root balls before tucking the plants gently into Stagg's bag.
First conceived by Juneau-raised Trevor Kirchhoff to help a friend at Island Pub get the freshest basil, Juneau Greens, with Kirchhoff and Krapek as partners, now dedicates 20% of the hydroponic farm for basil. Another 20% of the living plants are lettuce varieties supplied to restaurants while the remaining 60% goes home with weekly "green box" subscribers in reusable totes or is sold over the counter at the new Juneau Greens storefront. In 2019, Kirchhoff moved north and started Anchorage Greens on the same model
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