A pair of New Yorkers started a new indoor micro-greenery in an effort to help restaurants serve local ingredients to the city’s restaurants, stores and consumers at the height of the pandemic.
Newtown Creek Farms was launched after there was a great demand for New York-based greeneries that grow natural produce. Founded by Claudia Lake and Benjamin Kabin, the pair made the counter-intuitive decision to base their business in a Brooklyn home in Bushwick, giving their brand a creative, edgy kick.
“Brooklyn is vast and has a ton of food production and manufacturers,” said Kabin, a photographer and content creator who has worked for many creative platforms. “But most greeneries are on rooftops and gardens. We are indoors making us a year-round farm. That in itself is unique.”
“Most growers who provide fresh food for New York aren’t in town,” said Lake, a top make-up artist working in editorial and marketing. “We are hyper local and need to travel less than five miles to deliver to most of our customers. We use organic and sustainable practices to grow micro-greens for fine dining restaurants in New York City.”
Newtown Creek Farms’ micro-greens are grown indoors using organic and sustainable methods, allowing the duo to tailor every aspect of the growing process to each individual crop. The greenery currently sells foods like purple radish, speckled pea, broccoli, kohlrabi, chives, cress, cilantro and salad mixes. With some crops reaching maturity in as little as 8-10 days, Lake and Kabin are harvesting and planting micro-greens almost constantly. Once they’re strong enough, the two move the trays into the light and continue to water and monitor the micro-greens until they’re ready to harvest.
“Our love for their city, its food and the arts gives us a colorful and tasty mix of plants,” said Lake. “Ben and mine’s combined understanding of food and artistic aesthetics helps them understand what chefs actually want and need.”
For more information, visit newtowncreekfarms.com.
