Sable Dog Farm is an indoor, vertical microgreens farm located in Boise, ID. Farmer, Krista Shawley, started Sable Dog Farm to offer a sustainable option for year-round, pesticide-free greens grown and sold locally.

Krista's goal is to provide delicious and highly nutritious food to our community while spreading awareness of the Urban Farming movement and the important role it plays in combating climate change and soil depletion.

"Growing indoors allows us to grow in square feet rather than acreage, to control how much soil is used, and how much water is used. Our farm is also committed to sustainability by using plant-based packaging that is both recyclable and compostable. Our microgreens are grown to order and harvested within 24 hours of delivery."

Krista's Innovative Contributions to Year-Round Local Food Production

#1: Maximum Light Exposure through Short Winter Days

Greens require 6-8 hours of direct sunlight everyday to grow. While some winter days in the Treasure Valley might be sunny enough to light up a field of greens for 6-8 hours, the cold air and the frosty ground will kill it just as soon.

Krista's thoughtfully designed indoor farm repurposes conventional LED lights to create an optimized microgreens growth environment that's productive through the dark, cold winter months. (Remember, that's almost half the year here in Idaho!) She carefully adjusts the lighting to respond to the seasons and to compensate for levels of shadiness up and down her vertical rows.

#2: Prioritizing Nutrient Density per Square Foot

Krista cultivates microgreens consistently through the winter, keeping pace with summer sales by frequently monitoring her air exchange, light exposure and humidity.

Through careful design and trial and error, she manages to produce foods with the same nutrient-density across all seasons. Across her space-efficient vertical rows, Krista's greens feed on light at the top, soil around the roots, and water at the base. Far from sickly or anemic, Krista's microgreens are consistently vibrant, colorful and flavorful all year round.

(Try for yourself. Her Superfood Samplers offer a wider range of microgreens and nutrients in one container.)

READ MORE

3 Indoor Farms Beating the Frost to Feed Us through Winter

This 3-part article series explores innovative contributions to year-round local food production in the Treasure Valley area.