Kittitas Valley Greenhouse Inc.
Farmer
About
Richard Ness and Mary Young-Ness started Kittitas Valley Greenhouse in 1988. For the first 10 years in business, we sold to our local grocery stores. Now we sell exclusively at local Farmers Markets. Rich has farm experience from his work on a truck farm in the Kent Valley throughout his high school and college years. Greenhouse growing also utilizes Rich’s college chemistry education. Mary is a former certified public accountant and provides the business background for the greenhouse. The farm that the greenhouse is located on has been in Mary’s family since her grandfather purchased it in the 1940.
Programs and Partners
Production Practices
Produce grown in the greenhouse is grown hydroponically. The plants are grown in a mixture of peat moss, coconut fiber and vermiculite. A fertilizer mixture that includes mined fertilizer and organic fertilizer is added to the irrigation water prior to watering. During the season, the fertilizer mix is fine tuned for optimum production by analyzing leaf samples once a month. By following these methods, we can grow the highest quality tomatoes over a longer period of time. The water source for the greenhouse is pure spring water. No pesticides, herbicides or fungicides are used in the greenhouse. Natural predators are brought in to eliminate the unwanted pests.
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