About the Project
We are currently working on an indoor grow space designed to cultivate hemp at different stages of growth in order to maintain year-round crops and a stable supply of plants, seeds, juice and products for our customers. Our plans also include several greenhouses, complete with light deprivation systems, providing warmth, protection and efficiency for early and late season crops. We are confident that this infrastructure improvement will substantially increase our productivity. It will also allow access to a wider range of clientele via a shorter and more regular turn over as well as the ability to test genetics at a faster rate.
The indoor building currently underway (see our short work-in-progress video) is designed to closely follow sustainability principles in a true effort to minimize the ecological footprint inherent with indoor grows. The shell of the structure is four repurposed 40ft. long, high cube containers arranged in a horseshoe shape with one “double wide” segment and a timber framed clean room in the center, adjacent to all the containers. The exterior will be insulated using a creative installation of Reflectix, then wrapped in repurposed billboard vinyl for ideal weatherproofing and stability. As you can see in the diagram (see documents tab) this layout maximizes the usable space available while also minimizes the risks of cross contamination. This layout also will greatly improve our flow of operations, enabling all stages of plant life and types of finished product to be cultivated simultaneously within the same facility as opposed to several costly installations cutting into usable farmable space. Upon its completion, we’ll be looking at around 1,400 sq. ft. of cultivation space with an additional 500 sq. ft. of valuable shaded processing space, vital for happy and efficient workers during the dramatically shifting seasons of the Pacific Northwest. As a part of our pledge towards regenerative sustainability practices, we plan to utilize only energy efficient LED lighting and H-Vac systems in our grow spaces which has the potential to cut energy needs by more then half the standard indoor grow space requirements. Our phase 2 plan is to install solar panels on the roof of the structure to take this building off the grid entirely, as well as support most all of the farm's electrical infrastructure. However, we plan to create a separate project for the development of energy independence when all of the farm's infrastructure is in place and our total, actual energy requirements are clearer.
The plan for our light deprivation greenhouses is simple. We hope to build several 50ft. to 100ft. greenhouses that are truly versatile in their ability to be full or short season grow structures. By building them with light deprivation capabilities, we will then be able to harvest a mature crop several months before the market is flooded with competitively priced hemp, while also giving us the capabilities to install LED supplemental lighting for late season extension.
We are sure these improvements will allow us to “hit the ground running” in the spring while ensuring there is never an income lull to navigate between harvests or seasons for the foreseeable future. To read more about our farm and what we have accomplished so far, check out our farm profile page and feel free to connect on social media.
We are hoping to accelerate our campaign
to allow us a chance at a competitive start this February; therefore, we’ve
created some fun incentives to share a little bit of what we do here at Simply
Sol with our generous supporters that have already contributed and to inspire
new contributors to join in on the fun.
+$10,000
1 lb. of high quality organic hemp product,
our tried-and-true CBD pain relief salve “Problem Salved”, medicinal
Ashwagandha and CBD tinctures and 10% off all of our products for life.
+$5,000
½ lb. of high quality organic hemp product,
our CBD pain relief salve “Problem Salved” and a medicinal tincture of your
choice.
+$1000
¼ lb. of high quality organic hemp product,
our CBD pain relief salve “Problem Salved” and a medicinal Ashwagandha
tincture.
+$500
Your choice of either a medicinal Ashwagandha tincture or our CBD pain
relief salve “Problem Salved”
Ashwagandha is our Ayurvedic super herb
we home grow and harvest to create our highly sought after tincture. This herb
is an incredible apoptogenic, meaning it working wonders wherever you need it,
but most evident on the nervous system, i.e. depression, anxiety, pain, and
overactive neuro activity to name a few.
Use of Funds
There are several ways we intend to use the funding to complete these projects. The shipping container building is currently underway, so the funds will be applied mainly to purchase and install the LED lights and control systems, HVAC, electrical and water outlets on the interior of the buildings. We have already completed the insulation and framing for the interiors of the building as well as exterior electrical paneling. We also plan to use this funding to finalize the flooring and source the last of our shelving/table/ equipment needs (i.e. hoses, aerators, 50 gallon mixing tanks, etc.) to begin growing. Some funding will be allotted to sealing and completing the clean room via hiring additional hands and the purchasing of the last of our timber needs to finish the interior. Funds will also be used to purchase several greenhouses for light deprivation purposes. This will include light blocking and clear greenhouse plastic, industrial fans, greenhouse frames, installation labor, timber for end walls, fans and supplemental lighting. We also plan to apply these funds to the soil preparation required for full greenhouse operation, which we plan to achieve by using an excavator to build relatively new regenerative German technique called Hugelkulture. Hugelkulture involves burying mycelium rich logs under varying degrees of organic material which would then be covered in compost and top soil. This creates a biodiverse, nutrient rich deep bed with the capability to self-water while never requiring tilling in the future. Any remaining funds will be applied to worker’s wages, overall farm operations and equipment maintenance or acquisition.
Reason for Funding
While we have some private support and personal savings, we, like many others around the world were not properly prepared for the full extent of the COVID- 19 pandemic. Both my co-owner and I stopped receiving income back in March from our other businesses (as musicians and organic product manufacturers and festival gig- workers) which severely limited our ability to expand beyond our monthly operational costs and regular business overhead through the coming low season. While we have fulfilled our goal of a fruitful first season with our initial start-up supporters, it's become apparent that we need to focus on setting up the necessary, but costly infrastructure to maintain a regular income that will better support us and all of our contributors while freeing us from the “stop and go” nature of the full season hemp farming markets. We are confident that this funding contribution will lead to direct and rapid increases in profit and future flexibility as well as enriching long term relationships with supporters.
