It Starts
With the
Promise
We start with the finest seed varieties in the tomato world. Expert breeders use non-gmo varieties to craft the perfect balance of vigor and flavor selected by our team for Kentucky’s unique climate. These seeds may not look all that special, but the hold the promise
of A bright Future.
Once seeds have germinated, we take them to their new home in the Nursery. Here, each plant is given the care and attention of a newborn so they can grow up
When our plants reach the right maturity, they’re ready to move on the larger production greenhouses. Our team carefully escorts each plant to its new home in a bed of sustainably sourced coconut coir. The ‘recipe’ we use is a proprietary blend developed by our horticultural team intended to maximize water retention and disease resistance. Once they’re settled, our plants can finally begin
Growing Up
(literally)
In just a few week’s time, our little plants have tripled in size. The varieties we select are indeterminate - meaning they will continue to grow indefinitely, given the right conditions. Because of this natural penchant for ‘upward mobility’, at this point our team provides some support in the form of trellising. In this way we can guide the plants as they continue their journey
To the top.
As plants mature and flower clusters begin to form, natural pollinators are released in the greenhouse. These aren’t your average bumble bee, though.
These busy bees, known as bombus impatiens, are especially well-suited for work in the greenhouse. With a docile temperament and large saddlebags, bombus impatiens “works well with others” and can carry more pollen with greater efficiency. While they don’t produce honey, they have evolved extremely acute vision that allows them to perceive light, discern shapes, and find that tasty nectar even in the relatively low ultraviolet light conditions inside our greenhouses.
If you’ve grown your own garden at home, you know that pests are a part of life. With so much on the line, we take the threat these critters pose for our plants very seriously.
At KFH, we take a holistic and long-term approach to mitigating this threat known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Physical controls, such as fine mesh screen on every vent and specialized “air knives” at every entrance, help to keep the bugs at bay. Strict hand washing protocols, foot-baths, and training - known as cultural controls - are also crucial in battling the barrage of hungry bugs that may hitch a ride on our clothes.
When those measures are not enough, we also employ biological controls. This strategy involves deliberately releasing natural enemies of the pests we can’t stand into the greenhouse. These good bugs won’t harm our crop, but they are ruthless in the pursuit of pests that would. In this way, we’re able to create a healthy balance in our indoor ecosystem and deliver high quality tomatoes grown
Empowered by technology
From thermal screens to advanced lighting, we’ve brought some of the most advanced agricultural technologies to Kentucky for the first time to empower our community, reduce our impact on the environment, and give our plants
exactly what they need.
Over the past century, agriculture has become one of the leading contributors to the degradation of our soil, our air, and our waters. However, with the technology available to us today, we have the opportunity to feed the world without sacrificing our environment.
Protected agriculture, also known as controlled environment agriculture, is the practice of producing a crop in a controlled space. In our greenhouses we utilize these environmental controls to create and maintain a balanced climate and atmosphere despite the conditions outside.
Controlling the environment, even in the darkest and coldest months of the year, allows us to keep the plants happy. Happy plants grow tasty tomatoes and help us to bring you the fresh taste of
As every grower knows: when working with plants, the devil is in the details. We’re a data-driven company in a competitive market where even the slightest change in variables could spell disaster for our crop. So, when we sought out a system to help us manage our processes and improve efficiencies, we turned our focus inward and let the folks on the ground tell us what they need.
The result: a set of tools integrated to make life on the farm a little less complicated.
Our development team worked closely with each and every department at KFH to build a custom software platform that had the ability to log and manage data every step of the way from seed to harvest, and throughout our product’s journey to the consumer.
Our greenhouse management system (GMS) eliminates blind spots and allows us to make faster and more accurate business decisions. This tailor-made system establishes KFH as an innovative leader in the greenhouse industry and, ultimately, allows us to deliver
If you’ve got 3 or 4 plants at home, you know that feeding and watering is a chore that requires time and attention to detail. You might use a pitcher or two with some fancy plant food, but it’s not enough to see a big water bill each month and - if you miss a day - the stakes aren’t all that high.
Now, imagine instead of 3 or 4 plants you’ve got over 13,000 across several acres - that’s a lot of water and a TON of plant food! At this scale, these inputs really add up. That’s why we’ve built a closed loop drip irrigation system that allows us to recapture, clean and recycle nearly all of the water the plants don’t use.
Emitters at the root zone of each and every plant drip water enriched with the nutrients they need to thrive at specific intervals throughout the day. The water they can’t take in drains through the substrate, down a complex system of gutters and drain lines, and into collection tanks where it’s cleaned and recycled into the system. Not only does this help us save on water and fertilizer, it also makes us a zero runoff facility which helps
In Kentucky, we’re pretty crazy about tomatoes. Each year, we drool with anticipation as we wait for late July when the first tomatoes are ready for harvest. In fact, it’s not uncommon for the eldest child - or the newlywed couple - in the family to receive the honor of enjoying the first, juicy tomato each year as a gift.
Traditionally, we’d have to wait all year for the plants to soak up enough light to bear fruit, but not anymore. At KFH, we use a combination of LED and HID lighting to facilitate growth at each stage of the plant’s development and extend crop cycles from a few short months to an entire year.
These lights, selected by our horticultural team, rain down photons in specific wavelengths and intervals which allow the plants to grow as if it were a summer’s day all year long. On the darkest days, we even inject CO2 captured from our heating system into the space to boost photosynthesis and increase natural production of sugars in the plant! It’s just another way we’re working to move farming
a truly fresh harvest
In just a few more weeks clusters of colorful fruit begin to form. Ripening on the vine allows them to reach peak flavor, and - when the timing’s right - our team expertly selects the best of the bunch for harvest.
Each gem, bursting with Brilliant flavor, is harvested by hand using specialized lifts that can reach even the highest over-achievers in the crop. Once packaged, the product is off to our retail, wholesale, and foodservice customers and - in just a few days - on the plate of a happy customer. It really is
As fresh as it gets.
