Their greenhouse farm has naturally-grown lettuce, greens & herbs, and seedlings for soil-less gardens sold at the farm, farmers markets, and online.
Funded on 01/27/2021
In 2017, Clint and Sheree built a 2,100 sq ft greenhouse in Cumming, Georgia on a 1/4 acre leased lot. As first-time farmers, they had a lot to learn and they grew a lot (pun intended). For three years they have primarily growing lettuce & greens in aeroponic vertical towers.
This allows them to sustainably grow a significant amount of safe, nutrient-dense food year-round for their local community, while conserving natural resources. They also grow herbs and microgreens in a controlled environment, producing enough to sell at two farmers markets and the storefront at their greenhouse. This year, they will add weekly CSA salad subscriptions.
They also grow seedlings for hydroponic/aeroponic gardeners, selling seedlings online and shipping to the eastern half of the U.S. through thier subsidiary, ATL Urban Farms. In 2020, they began growing and selling seedlings for local soil gardeners too.
There are several reasons why now is the time for Sweetwater to move:
• The demand for fresh, local food has outpaced our ability to supply.
• Their current location is too small to expand or easily host customers.
• Next year highway expansion at their current location will make the greenhouse difficult and even dangerous to access.
• They have been invited to join another farm family where they can double their results and halve their expenses.
Ultimately, their dream is to establish a farm venue where they grow food for people to eat, teach people to grow their own food, and give people the opportunity to connect with the land, their food, and each other.
Sweetwater Urban Farms grows lettuce, greens, and herbs in aeroponic vertical towers. Commercial tower gardens allow them to grow up to 44 full plants or 176 baby greens in 2 sq ft. compared to traditional growing methods. This allows them to grow up to 30% more food, 3 x faster, using 10% of the land needed, and with just 2% of the water.
They sustainably grow a significant amount of safe, nutrient-dense food for their local community, while conserving natural resources. Growing in CEA (controlled-environment agriculture) greenhouses allows them to grow year-round, with no digging, weeding, or watering. Learn more about Tower Farms here.
Clint and Sheree both have a background in business and a passion for agriculture that shines through their work. We are excited to support Sweetwater Urban Farms as they move and expand their production capacity and continue to grow their farm business. The Steward Team had the chance to visit Sheree and Clint in Atlanta and to see firsthand the wonderful work they are doing in Georgia. We are excited to launch this project aimed at helping them grow to better serve their community!
Better late than never, they say :-)
Although we hit a few bumps (ok maybe chasms) along the way we are excited (and relieved) to have our 2nd greenhouse up and running!
As planned, the first 30x66 greenhouse is now exclusively for our Tower Farm (now at 50 towers) and seedling nursery. The new 30x36 greenhouse is divided into our retail space for seedlings and garden supplies and our workshop/event space. We have already hosted 2 events in the new greenhouse!
Although we've had our head down (and occasionally spinning around!) we are always thinking about each one who believed in us and enabled us to move to Ball Ground. We absolutely love it and we have reached more people in 1 year than our 3 years in our previous location.
That is a reminder and affirmation that although challenging, we are where we need to be. We are looking forward to settling in but will continue to expand as the Lord provides.
For pictures and updates, go to:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WugDmQrBZ9TBjaNQA
Thank you & God bless!
Sheree & Clint
wow! where did May and June go?! oh yeah! into the fields!
it's been exciting and challenging setting up in a new community. on the exciting side, the first greenhouse and processing area are up and running beautifully and so many new seedling and produce customers. on the challenging side, we have to jump through some hoops with county before building the 2nd greenhouse :-(
on the positive side, we have focused on the fields and they are rewarding us. we planted tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini, cucumbers and flowers. so much fun, so much work!
now we are reaping the harvest and it's coming in like crazy. Clint is taking produce to market and selling direct through online sales and the CSA.
whatever comes our way we keep looking up. the (mostly) blue sky from the hill top still takes our breath away and our heavenly Father continues to supplie all of our needs - with help from you, our generous friends!
thank you for allowing us this opportunity and taking the ride with us!
don't forget to follow us on social too. we're making plans for more content!
with gratitude,
Sheree & Clint
It's been a whirlwind month! I can't believe its May already! We slid in sideways a bit muddy and worn out but we officially opened our new greenhouse on April 10th!
We had to postpone the open date a couple times due to the utility issues. When we were promised power on April 7 we committed to April 10. Guess what? No power on April 7 but we were committed (and hopeful) so we started moving on April 8. Still no power on Thursday. We were taking our first load of seedlings Friday morning and EMC was there! I am sure I heard angels singing :-)
We setup best we could and Sat morning we welcomed our first visitors. It was glorious and everyone was SO excited for us and appreciative. We have been open 4 weekends plus many appointments during the week. Each person arrives with a smile on their face and leave with fresh produce to eat or seedlings to grow their own. Our Tower Gardens and seedling babies love the full sunlight and their new space.
This week planted 180 tomato plants, 80 peppers and 10 ground cherries (Clint's favorite!) Soon we will have cucumbers, squash and zucchini. We were behind schedule but it was actually to our benefit b/c we had freezing temps and then a hail storm in the last 10 days. Welcome to Georgia!
This week (when the rain stops) we start to tear down the Cumming greenhouse and move it over. Still so much to do but we are up and running in Ball Ground!
We are so blessed.
Continue to follow us on Insta and Facebook...
https://www.instagram.com/atlurbanfarms/
https://www.instagram.com/sweetwaterurbanfarms
we're a little behind but we will get there :-)
Thank you so much for your support!
much love,
Sheree & Clint
We have commitment from my new hero Todd Satterfield at Amicalola EMC to install power on April 7th! That means (barring no natural disasters) we will start moving next week!
We have trenched everywhere to run electric, plumbing and propane lines. I'll be honest, it's a mess! We finished running the interior wire and Clint will wiring all the outlets, lights, fans, shutters to the electric panel this weekend. Then last big task is using the wheelbarrow, shovels and rakes to spread 2000 sf of sand/gravel mix inside, remove as many rocks as possible and lay the ground cover. And we'll be ready to move in! oh and fill the trenches... and install wi-fi, move the office camper from Chattanooga and re-gravel the driveway and parking...
Today is the last day we are open to customers in Cumming. Tuesday we will ship our seedlings from Cumming for the last time... I'm not sad at all. We have had so many amazing experiences, some fun, some hard, many unexpected, all learning, growing and God-ordained. So blessed.
Now with the help of you our gracious, generous contributors we are ready and anxious for the next hard, joy-filled, life-giving adventure.
Step by step.
"Go as far as you can see and see how far you can go".
May you also have a blessed Easter weekend full of reflection, joy and grace.
with love,
Sheree (and Clint)
Where they have like just a few hours before they have the owners coming in? And the place looks like a mess? Is it TV magic or is it real?
In our case, I know its real! It's been a journey to get our electrical permit signed off but that happened last Thursday. Since then, it's been heads down putting in wiring and plumbing. Today we got the trencher out and went to town! Looks like we have a bad case of moles! But the fans are installed, most of the electrical conduit is run inside and tomorrow we will finish in the trenches and fill them up. We have to bury the water and power lines.
The good news of the day? We have a chance of getting our power pole and meter in next week! Can't wait! What? Oh my, I have to finish all of this so we can be ready! Yikes! We will get it done, just like on TV!
Clint
see videos/pics @ https://www.facebook.com/sweetfarmsurban
the rain finally subsided and the sun blessed us long enough to finish the grading and gravel for the driveway and pads!
Then Cade (our son) and Clint got the posts and hoops ups. Saturday friends Kevin, Kimberly and daughter Olivia helped with the purlins and Sunday Kim and John helped us finish the side boards and set posts for the pump house. so so grateful and blessed to have friends come along beside us!
prayers appreciated as we setup utilities on site. the hardest parts are the ones we can't control.
this week we will be building the end walls and pulling the poly. we use repurposed windows because we are building for beauty and function. it takes extra time and effort but its worth it!
our adjusted timeline is to move in by March 15th. lots to do so we're off!
remember if you are on Facebook you can see pics and follow our progress @
https://www.facebook.com/sweetfarmsurban
with much love,
Sheree & Clint
the rain finally subsided and the sun blessed us long enough to finish the grading and gravel for the driveway and pads!
Then Cade (our son) and Clint got the posts and hoops ups. Saturday friends Kevin, Kimberly and daughter Olivia helped with the purlins and Sunday Kim and John helped us finish the side boards and set posts for the pump house. so so grateful and blessed to have friends come along beside us!
prayers appreciated as we setup utilities on site. the hardest parts are the ones we can't control.
this week we will be building the end walls and pulling the poly. we use repurposed windows because we are building for beauty and function. it takes extra time and effort but its worth it!
our adjusted timeline is to move in by March 15th. lots to do so we're off!
remember if you are on Facebook you can see pics and follow our progress @
https://www.facebook.com/sweetfarmsurban
with much love,
Sheree & Clint
The blessings from our campaign and your contributions continue to overwhelm us. We have received our funds, placed our first order and scheduled the grading - all in a week! Lord willing and weather permitting the grader will break ground tomorrow! (Prayers appreciated as 80% rain is predicted.)
We will keep you posted!
If you're on FB or Insta please follow our progress there too!
https://www.facebook.com/sweetfarmsurban
https://www.instagram.com/sweetwaterurbanfarms/
We will never be able to thank you enough but we will be faithful with your contribution. We would love for you to visit us anytime too!
with gratitude,
Sheree & Clint
We are blown away by the response to our project! Thank YOU! At the moment we are 85% toward our goal which means we are only $8000 away from moving day! With your help and God's grace we will be up and running in February!
We have challenges ahead no doubt - we're farmers, right!? Yet each partner encourages and sustains us. We are overwhelmed by our friends who have stepped up. We are in awe of strangers who have chosen to walk beside us. Just wow. Our mission is to serve and we are humbled to be served.
If you are reviewing our project but haven't jumped in yet, come join the party! We will be faithful with your support. Together we will start a ripple that will touch lives for years to come.
with love & gratitude,
Sheree & Clint
Prep - Prepare Property: $13,150.00 This includes grading for a greenhouse, water and plumbing, electricity installation, on-site internet, and additional small expenses to enable us to prepare the new greenhouse site
GH1 - Purchase Materials and Build: $12,314.00 This includes creating a new tower greenhouse and the costs of all of the greenhouse components and installations.
The Move - $950.00 This includes the cost to actually move to our new location including moving: propane and heater, re-installations, and moving seedlings.
GH2 - Move Cumming Greenhouse: $2,500.00 This includes moving the Cumming Greenhouse, which is the seedling greenhouse of our operation. We will need to remove and reinstall greenhouse components.
Refinance ATL Purchase Loan: $18,274.30 This will add $3654/month to our cash flow during the transition and will later be applied to the Steward loan after other expenses.
Mobile office, pickup and storage trailer: $7,000 The new greenhouse location will require us to have an office location on site. A new farm pickup with lower gas mileage will also be important for the new location, which is further from home. Finally, a secure trailer for storing tools and equipment on site is needed.
Total Budget - $54,188.30
This loan will be made to Sweetwater Urban Farms LLC, a Georgia limited liability company, which grows nutrient-dense greens and herbs for their local community.
This loan will enable Sweetwater Urban Farms to move to a new location and expand its greenhouse production.
The total loan amount is $55,000 which will assist Sweetwater Urban Farms in moving, expanding, and serving more customers.
This loan is set at a 9% interest rate, with a 60-month term, and fully amortized payments beginning 3 months after an initial deferral period.
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