 I'm Wendy Lowe, and I'm your friend as we journey to take your health back, I should say. We are coming to you live from downtown Honolulu, from the ThinkTech studios of Hawaii. Today, our topic of discussion will be on helping Hawaii tower up. What does that mean? Well, I've come across a system, and I met a young man who's really actively promoting it here in Hawaii. The tower gardens is simply growing aeroponically and vertically. So that means we're using airspace. I believe isn't it three diameter feet of space, and we can grow up 11 feet high. So we have a good friend here that will share a little bit more about it. What I would like you all to take away from today's discussion is the idea that the tower gardens offer one of many solutions to growing sustainable nutrient dense food locally here in Hawaii. Today we are very honored to welcome Derek Chan. He is the managing partner of Towered Up, a Honolulu based company that provides comprehensive support to tower gardeners in Hawaii and around the country by providing nutrient, excuse me, by providing maintenance services and plant seedling that he'll grow and service you with. He'll deliver it to you or you can come pick it up from his facility. And I'm just very excited to share with Hawaii Derek Chan. So tell us a little bit about yourself Derek. Sure. Well thanks for having me Wendy. So I was born and raised in San Francisco, went to college at UC Berkeley where I studied biology thinking maybe I'd go to medical school, but realized after the four years that medical school just wasn't for me. So I did stay in healthcare and I've been working in healthcare administration for the past seven years and got a job opportunity to move to Hawaii and so I jumped on it and moved to Hawaii. And here you are. And here I am a year and a half later and learned to surf and just loving life out here. Well and you know by the looks of it I know you're still involved radically with healthcare and taking your health back and that's why you're learning more and understanding and promoting the tower gardens because as I understand you're going to be growing and teaching us here in Hawaii how to grow our food and I believe that this is like a solution to some of the problems here in Hawaii and as well as around the world. So let me just ask you how did you get involved with tower gardens? So I was fortunate when I moved here I was introduced by a friend to you and you know you took me in like I said and so I'm always grateful for that and the very first time I met you you invited me to your home and I came and I saw the tower gardens and then that's where I first learned about the tower gardens. I saw it and I was you know quite blown away. Wow and you know you're 32 years old right? Yes. And so I'm so excited because when I did when I met you and you had such passion for wanting to be healthy and you did the right steps of making the right health choices and then you got excited about growing plants and growing sustainable plants here in Hawaii and wanting to share it with the rest of us. I was so excited so we know what the tower garden is. Yes. Sharing with the rest of Hawaii. What is a tower garden? Yeah sure. Next slide here. The tower garden is a vertical aeroponic growing system that has no dirt, requires 90% less water, 90% less space as you mentioned before grows in a 3 foot diameter space and 100% success rate meaning anyone can grow including people that have a black thumb. So it's it's foolproof. Oh okay so and I can prove that guys because I've had a tower garden on my island eye and I am growing food that I consume daily and I grow nothing and so some of you may have known that I own the chocolate factory in the past my past life. So the only brown stuff between my nails was chocolate and it's still the only brown things between my nails because a tower garden has no dirt and so that's the exciting part about it. So tell us Derek how does a tower garden work? So if we bring up the slide there's a we have a diagram that shows how it works so basically you've got the pump that sits at the bottom of the reservoir which holds 20 gallons of water and proprietary nutrient solution which is all land and sea minerals and so the water's pumped to the top of the tower and it drips down onto the root systems of all the plants there on the tower. Wow that's amazing and you know everyone says oh it takes electricity I said yes it does and you know especially the pockies with the Chinese they say oh that costs a lot of money I said you know what I put a meter to my tower just to satisfy the numbers and when I did meter it out because it's on every 15 minutes or every hour it's on 15 minutes and 45 minutes it's off it consumes about two dollars and let's say two dollars and sixty cents of electricity per month so I think I'm worth two dollars and sixty cents per month of electricity so I'm all for it and I want others to know that it is it does make a lot of sense. So there what can we grow on the tower gardens? Well you can pretty much grow anything on the tower garden you look at this slide here you can grow anything from herbs such as basil, cilantro, dill, mint, parsley, all kinds of greens arugula, shard, kale, lettuces and then even fruiting crops such as cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant so I mean I still go to the open markets and I still go to the supermarkets but there are a few things I mean especially I'm a kale lady and everybody knows Wendy Lowell if you see her with a green drink in her hand she's going to give you or make you drink a kale smoothie but you know everyone's like kale I don't do kale but after I give them my smoothies because I have bananas in there extra virgin coconut oil a slice of cinnamon and all this great stuff in there so everybody is turned on to kale smoothies. So I've been drinking kale smoothies for the last six and a half years and I have never in the last six and a half years bought kale and that's because I am producing my own kale and on the next slide I wanted to share with you I saw it in advance. Yeah we've got a picture just for you Wendy I know you love kale so this next slide is for you. I call it the super-sized kale so obviously you can grow all different kinds of plants but hey if you're kale lover and you want to grow just kale well there you have it. Yes I understand that kale plants belong to one of your friends and I guess she's a single mom with one child and they just could not keep up the consumption of their kale that she was producing but that's an amazing I mean from a Chinese point of view that's chachang chachang because that's a lot of great calcium and protein that she could either sell or give away to her friends and neighbors. Absolutely and also the quality of the produce grown on the tower is better than anything you're going to find in the supermarket because it's fresh picked straight from your tower. I've had customers tell me that they don't like kale they never liked kale before this but when they started growing it themselves and eating it now they love it. Yeah that's the amazing part because you can actually see it grow I mean I remember when I first got my tower and my little seedlings started sprouting I actually felt like I was a grandmother for the first time I felt I'm a grandma I was so excited because I grow nothing and when those seedlings started sprouting I felt so excited and happy and it's never stopped and that's the other thing is you know some friends they have bought towers and they lost interest I don't know do they do you lose interest in health and feeling great I don't so I'll never stop growing and I know that's why we're gonna start talking a little bit about more of that the maintenance and the management of seedlings in your towers even if you don't have time to go ahead and do that but you know I just wanted to ask you another question sure how does growing in a tower vertically how does that compare to growing in the soil well when you're growing in the tower the nutrients are delivered directly to the root system so it actually you take a look at the next slide it shows the progression of how quickly the plants actually grow each week so you can see really in in three weeks you can already have edible produce and again because it's being watered 24 times a day right the pump is good is on 15 minutes off 45 minutes off so every hour it's it's being run and the nutrients are delivered to the the plants so they grow about 30 percent quicker than if you were to grow in soil wow okay can we see that slide one more time because I was kind of amazed I'm still looking at it so that you're saying to me on that first week on the top left corner those are like two week old seedlings yes and then you put them in your tower and then the first week after it's been in the tower it looks like that already yes so you see that much growth in so that's actually the third week after putting the seed into the rock will medium correct and then on the second week in the tower it looks like that and then on the third week you actually can consume it yes wow so you know I thought I think that is brilliant because you can actually see it grow and you know when I was with the Easter Seals program I remember we brought this to those kids at the Easter Seals adults and the children and they were amazed because they never I mean a lot of our kids there were on wheelchairs and you know they had special needs but when we taught them how to drop the seed in the little cubes and it started sprouting they felt like I did but of course they're kids so they didn't say I'm a grand kid but but they saw the growing and then actually they invited Auntie Wendy on Earth Day to come by and just eat what they grew and you know I was so amazed because they were so excited I couldn't believe how excited a child would be about growing lettuce and then having me eat it but it's what they produced right and so the neatest part about that experience for me is not only did they produce it caught it and put in a bowl they made some dressing and they put it on there for me but they also when I turned to the back they were also eating it and I was very amazed because if you grow it you'll eat it yeah and that's the I mean is that not one of a difficult task around the dinner table is getting kids to love spinach and salads I mean and we're talking without dressing so yeah we can put salad dressings on it you know all that great tasting so so they're basically eating the dressing and the salad is a byproduct of the dressing right so how exciting it is that they can and you know love or grow up they can grow up loving and enjoying the nutrient dense produce that they can produce right there at I just think that's just amazing I agree yeah so you know where can you grow a tower garden is there I think the question is where can't you grow a tower garden so I've some pictures of the tower garden being grown in a variety of different locations so all around Hawaii right so in Makiki and I believe that's Yerla and I there and I can see all kinds of plants and your kale in the background there I can grow on the east side in Kaneohe where it gets rainy and wet Hawaii Kai Makaha on the west side where it can get you know pretty hot so the tower garden is ideal for really any location wow that's amazing um you know so you're saying hot cold wet dry yes pretty much it can grow wherever you need it to grow can it grow indoors glad you asked that question it can grow indoors and I have some pictures of tower gardens being grown indoors and we just the tower garden company actually just came out with these new LED grow lights and as you can see from the prick the pictures plants can grow pretty big with the grow lights and they're adjustable so let's say you had a tomato plant or egg plant at the bottom you can move it so that they're still getting the LED lights wow that's incredible and you know actually I did I did see that on Facebook I think this gal live in Satsukatchewin in the north of Canada and I believe they're farmers weak farmers and so in the dead of the winter she but all the I mean they have food of course and they have the meats and all that but as far as vegetation I know that they always said they have potatoes onions carrots all the hardy crops is what they ate but you know within the last three and four years she's been eating salads in the dead of winter and you know where she grows it where in her basement wow yeah that's amazing yeah I saw you you know I mean that so I like I saw I saw a photo of it it was the tower garden with the lights and I asked her isn't it cold isn't it too cold to grow warm warm cropped vegetation and she says you just need to put a warmer into the base and it warms up the water it sends warm water up to the roots of the plants and in the basement with the grow lights she's got lettuce pretty much all year wow that's amazing so there you have it there's really no excuse I mean winter summer on Hawaii in Saskatchewan you can grow your own food anywhere yeah I just think and and of course we need it most here in Hawaii yes here I know like Puerto Rico all the different island countries island states we need it so badly and that's what excited me when I learned about it and I understood it and that I could do it you know that if nobody else wanted to be along with me I could start a little healthy revolution and so I got excited about it and now you're here and there's a bunch of us here in Hawaii that have our gardens but I think we have a different goal now for Hawaii and its future so what are the goals for tower gardens here in Hawaii? Yeah so we definitely want to keep encouraging individuals to have tower gardens in their own homes but we also want to expand into public spaces and commercially so that the public can can see the tower gardens and what they are and you know they really can be grown on a mass scale so I've got a slide here of some tower gardens at Iolani school for example and it's a great teaching tool to teach the kids you know about nutrition and health and and even taking it to the marketplace where they get a little taste of entrepreneurship as well. Wow you know we're gonna take a little quick break right now and then we'll come back and see what they do as far as making it a business so thank you Derek we're going for a 60-second break and we'll be right back with more great information. Aloha I want to invite all of you to talk story with John Wahe every other Monday here at Think Tech Hawaii and we have special guests like Professor Colin Moore from the University of Hawaii who joins us from time to time to talk about the political happenings in this state. Please join us every other Monday Aloha. Welcome back and we're so excited I know that before the break we talked about the tower gardens how simple it is that me the chocolate maker can actually grow food on my balcony. We met Derek Chan from who is a managing partner of Towered Up and he was telling us how it worked what can we grow what can we grow which is very small compared to what we can grow that you can grow on the dead of winter in a basement you can grow on balconies you can grow on hot towns and cities like Makaha and Eva in Mesa Arizona with our buddy Troy I'm just so amazed I mean the more I talk about it the more I learn about it I'm like so before the break I did ask you what are some of the goals with the tower gardens here in Hawaii and we did talk a little bit about the tower gardens in Yolani school. Yes. So tell us more about that. Yeah so like I was saying before the break it's a great teaching tool particularly for students because they can plant their own seeds watch it grow harvest it and it's just a it's a more visceral experience for them to be able to grow their own food and then cook with it or or take it to the marketplace and sell it and learn a little bit about business and entrepreneurship so and I think Wendy you're good friends with a man by the name of Steven Ritz who's top 10 previous top 10 top teachers in the world that teaches in the Bronx and he's done amazing things with with the tower gardens maybe you want to talk a little about that. Yeah well I mean I'm so glad I love Steven Ritz. It's the same thing what he is passion for the tower garden and what he does with his curriculum for his kids he teaches in the Bronx in the south side of the Bronx in New York City and he has developed programs after programs with his kids and his children actually think and know and feel that Steven Ritz loves them and he loves them because they're so excited about growing and learning and so the more that happens the more interaction he becomes more excited they become more excited about wanting to be at school so it's a total success I mean he has created the Bronx in fact a company called the Green Bronx Machine he has created that and is just propelling his energy around the world he's come to Hawaii he's gone to many different states different countries right now today I believe he's in Dubai where they're formulating towns indoor towns no vehicles just bicycles building and erecting these communities that are all teaching them to take health back so just walking cycling eating produce that they're producing right there in their communities and letting them all get excited about that quality of life so yes and we're going to try and bring Steven Ritz back because he loves Hawaii and next time there you go and teach him how to serve oh yeah that'll be fun yeah and so you know back to Elani school they're very blessed because they have a sustainability director who is able to coach the students on different forms of growing and every form is good I must say as long as it works for you and your opportunity you know there's hydroponics aquaponics farming there's aeroponics vertical growing so every system works as long as you allow it to work with you and for you it's just that we're very passionate about the amount of space that it doesn't use because you mentioned it uses 90% less land right right and how high can it go there 11 feet tall wow that's amazing you know and we also want to be very aware of some of the situations here in Hawaii you know sometimes the best quality of food only the people that can afford this level of food can have reach to it so I understand that in other states and even here in Hawaii we want to create more of a affordable means of food for some of the homeless on the street so tell us a bit of a project that you know about yeah so there's a homeless shelter in Los Angeles which is pictured here and so as you can see you can put up as many towers as you can fit on that on that space there's no limit to to how much you can grow and and again this is turning unused space into something productive so in this case they're producing food for all the residents here at the homeless shelter wow and you know that's amazing because I do I do a lot of work with the River Life mission and we service I want to see up to 20,000 meals per month our food is very graciously donated to us but how amazing is it that we could be more so sustainable yes within a shelter and so that seems to me like when we were I saw the picture I counted about 30 tower gardens there yes and that's on a rooftop yeah and so how amazing is that so who do you think would be managing all that they're on the rooftop well I formed a company just for those particular cases where it's called Towered Up and so we can come and set up towers for you whether it's individuals or in a commercial space like that that homeless shelter and then we can provide maintenance services to ensure that it's successful the the project's successful and you're growing the produce correctly and so really my company is to fill in the gaps because as simple as a system it is to use it still does require some time to maintain and so that's where we come in to fill that gap to give people the peace of mind that you know when I purchase a tower garden it's going to be successful right and you know I think that's key because a lot of facilities schools you know they're always on a tight budget and so the budget means I don't have the staff to maintain plans and to check the plans and somebody like you with your company I know that you love your plans because you're like looking at them and they're at I view because you're not going to the ground they're right vertically in the air so you can look to see do you have any pest do you have any visitors that you don't want so I think having somebody like you to maintain and manage it and love it I think it's so key and it allows the facilities to do what they do best taking care of the people of the street and taking and helping them to be more and your specialty will be loving and taking care of the plans that will help them take care of their bodies yes is that correct that's correct wow yeah and I want to add another thing too aside from feeding lots of people uh anyone that you know so if an organization like a nonprofit wants to purchase you know multiple tower gardens it's also income generating as well so they can sell to sell at the marketplace restaurants so really it's it's one option for nonprofits to be self-sustainable wow you know you just handed me a sheet and it looks very profitable to me but aside from that it's going to get you healthier so what does that mean I mean the price of health versus making money but how about having the best quality of food and income generating at the same time as allowing it to be a vocational training center whether it be for the school or for the homeless shelter I mean say I was a homeless woman and I did love gardening you would give me the opportunity to go up there and help you to manage that and I would take pride in that and that pride is basically what I need in myself to possibly get me off the street and back into the regular you know circulation of life so I see so many values to all of this you know and then again the sheet that you gave me I mean in a manner of what is it you said 3,000 square feet of land you can produce 150 towers with 44 plants per tower correct so that's like that's a lot of food. Over 6,000 heads of lettuce that you could produce to feed the people down there and if they couldn't eat it all then you could actually sell it as a eternal fundraiser correct is that correct that's correct right so out of the 6,000 heads you consume downstairs like 4,000 heads you would have 2,000 heads of lettuce and even if you sold it at two dollars ahead that's four thousand dollars oh yeah what shelter or nonprofit would not welcome four thousand dollars a month income as they're getting their clients and their staff help here right to win win yes you're a genius well don't thank me but yeah well Tim Blank the designer of the tower gardens you're a genius and we just love what he's created and the passion that he has beside behind it to continue to promote it not only here in Hawaii in the United States as well as the world he's wanting to share it with everyone and so you also just got back from a trip where were you you went to another school or yes so I came I just came back from Los Angeles where we helped a client who had purchased a tower farm instead of 10 towers in his home and he's an architect and he builds dome homes and so he wanted to set up the towers in his home to see how they worked and then his goal is eventually to put the tower gardens in these dome homes where it's going to house homeless people and getting them back on their feet and giving them vocational skills so again the tower garden has so many possibilities it's endless you just have to be creative and use your imagination wow so this gentleman another philanthropist at its best not only taking care of the people and bringing them shelter but teaching them how to fish yes and so that is so key because yes I'll give you a place to stay but we've got to get some responsibility going on here and so by learning and teaching them what they can grow so they can consume again they can market and up the quality of lives for themselves that's again genius right wow and I also I think you were at UCLA as well yes that's right I was also at UCLA and I have a picture here so the folks over at LA Urban Farms they set up these 44 towers at the UCLA campus rooftop so as you can see in the picture which we've emphasized it doesn't require a lot of space I mean there's 44 towers in that little space and it's otherwise wouldn't have been used but now they're able to produce almost 2000 plants to feed the students in the cafeteria which is right behind where the the towers are wow so University of Hawaii I know you're right behind them KCC let's go because the UCLA is producing food on the rooftop which was kind of dead space and now they're producing about almost 2000 heads of lettuce that the students can consume so that they can have more brain food so they can produce better students and reflect better on their university that's right genius oh yeah I tell you see you must be eating a lot of the stuff you grow because you're a genius too yeah well since since I got a tower garden you know that I've noticed myself becoming smarter and coming up with with with ideas so wow okay and I know um I know you wanted to bring some seedlings and some plants into this studio but we're on a green screen so the green plant wouldn't be green but I know you have a slide yes and it shows us what the babies look like the little seedlings right so again for for people that don't have the time or the expertise to start their own seedlings our company towered up grows and supplies seedlings for all of Hawaii so we can ship to all islands and then obviously here on Oahu and all you have to do is come by take the seedlings put it in put it in your tower and then watch it grow so we do we do all the hard work for you well imagine did you hear that this 32-year-old young man said we'll do all the hard work for you that's rare and up and beyond but I love it when you the I mean you're not a millennial so you're a one step out of being a millennial has that desire to work hard and and just continue to share this knowledge and information to teach us the rest of Hawaii and the world on the power of a tower garden so I know that your company is called tower it up and I know we have some information here on the screen and if anybody needs to know more about the tower gardens and how they can have one or if you have a project that you want Derek to work with he can help you by just going to his website getting in touch with him and he's going to help you tower it up and how exciting is that so thank you so much Derek appreciate you being here and keep the energy I mean when you're my age you're going to still look your age because you're towering it up now aloha everybody from thank you thank you