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We are ISO Certified.
At Rafferty Farms we are committed to quality and food safety, That is why we have achieved one of the most stringent food safety standards recognized world wide! We are proud to say that Rafferty Farms is now an ISO 22000 approved facility!
You can rest assured that all of the products from Rafferty Farms are made to the highest possible food safety standards and are safe and heathy options to feed your family.
Greenhouse 2.0
The new greenhouse is 7 times larger than our previous greenhouse. We learned a great deal by building a smaller prototype system and have applied all of the knowledge and experience to our new greenhouse.
Koi Pond
Most aquaponic operations can look very industrial, with plumbing pipes everywhere and fish being grown in small tanks (much like our first greenhouse). At Rafferty Farms we decided to make the environment in the greenhouse much more appealing with our 60,000 L koi pond being the heart of our growing system. This provides a beautiful place for our fish to grow and thrive.
Packaging Area
A food-safe and clean place to package all of our produce is a must to provide you and your family a safe and high quality product. All employees are HACCP trained and customers receive their orders within a few days after it was harvested and packaged.
Beautiful Rows Of Basil And Mint
We grow our mint & basil year round in our super energy efficient new greenhouse. Using a combination of insulation, geothermal, water capture and ultra high efficiency furnaces our system allows us to grow year round in the most sustainable way in our cold climate!
Vertical Growing
Growing vertically in long rows allows us to maximize our growing space. We are able to fit 38,400 plants in only 5000 sq ft of floor space, that’s equivalent to almost 8 plants per square foot!
Our Products
Please see our Product page for details. You can buy our products from our distribution partners Galimax Trading and Worldwide Specialty Foods. Otherwise, feel free to Contact Us.
8 Ingredient Pesto
Contains the Rafferty Farms basil you love, and uses only 8 high quality ingredients to create an amazing taste and texture. it also has a 4 week shelf life with no preservatives!
Check out our pesto recipes page for easy and tasty cooking ideas!
Herbs
Heirloom Genovese Basil, Thai Basil (discontinued), and Mojito Mint.
Microgreens
Red Radish, Ruby Stem Radish, Kale, Red Cabbage, Purple Kohlrabi, Arugula, Red Mizuna Mustard, and Pea Shoots.
Being Sustainable
Rafferty Farms is a small, but growing, company with important goals. If humanity is going to feed itself adequately in the future, traditional farming is going to need a helping hand. That’s why we are working hard to create commercially viable aquaponics greenhouses because we believe that is the way of the future.
We are also constantly improving our system design, which is capable of producing fresh produce year round in the cold northern climate. With our proof of concept in operation since 2015, and a 7,000 square foot expansion completed in 2019, we have already increased our production capacity by nearly tenfold.
Sustainability is important in how we design our systems and what technologies and materials we use. At Rafferty Farms, we are always considering how to incorporate innovative methods to save energy cost and reduce waste. For example, we incorporate rainwater capture systems to reduce freshwater usage, and geothermal systems to reduce heating and cooling costs.
Solar electric
In our first greenhouse, we started with a small array of solar voltaic panels and were able to generate enough electricity to power a number of our water pumps, fans and LED grow lights year round. The energy generated by this system was used during the day while the excess energy was stored in batteries capable of powering the water circulation pumps for several days without sun. The excess electricity is now fed into the grid.
Wind Turbines
Rafferty Farm is located on the crest of a hill where we receive plenty of wind all year round. Our small wind turbine can produce lots of supplemental electricity, which can run our fans, pumps, and other systems. As battery technology costs come down, or we are able to tie into the grid, this technology can produce plenty of power for our greenhouses.
The key to a year round greenhouse will always be heat management. To address this, in the summer we circulate hot air 8 feet underground to use the earth as a heat battery allowing us to regulate the temperature inside the greenhouse. We also have a solar water heating system that allows us to collect the sun's energy during the day and use it to heat the fish tank.
Solar Thermal
Geothermal
In our greenhouses, we dig channels into the ground to harness the stable temperatures of the earth. We circulate air beneath the ground to warm the cold winter air, so we don’t have to heat it as much. We also use the cooler dryer ground temperatures to condense the moisture in the air to dehumidify. All this air circulation underneath the greenhouse also stores heat in the ground beneath year round, and acts as a battery for heat when we need it later.
Water capture & conservation
Water is the key to all life, and freshwater scarcity is an impending global crisis. Aquaponics is a growing concept that uses very little freshwater compared to conventional farming (90% less). Not only do we save water by growing aquaponically, we also incorporate other ways to conserve freshwater. Through rainwater capture or re-condensing the humid air in the greenhouse, this adds up to saving more freshwater, and using less precious groundwater.
Recyclable Materials & Packaging
At Earthis, all business cards are printed on 100% recycled paper. We grow and ship all of our products in fully recyclable packing materials, often made from 100% post consumer materials. After you have enjoyed our products please recycle the packaging. Remember, Earth Is Limited!