In 2020, I had just started working as the Farm Manager at the Institute for Culinary Education, running their small hydroponic facility. As with much of the rest of the world, ICE was forced to close temporarily with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this unfortunately meant that all plants had to be removed from the farm for the duration of the closure. When we returned five months later, the empty farm presented the perfect opportunity to make some changes to some of the systems, and to fix some of their main issues. I designed and implemented comprehensive upgrades to these systems, replacing all plumbing and improving other components.

In the summer of 2021, I worked with The Urban Wild, an NYC based non-profit that works to make more accessible to people and places affected by food insecurity. Together with their team, I designed and taught an introduction to ag-tech course, consisting of twenty two classes on different topics in agriculture, a selection of which are listed below. We covered everything from mycology to sustainable pest management in indoor farms, and everything in between. I also assisted them in the design and building of a greenhouse and hydroponic system at El Coqui community Garden in the Bronx.

Working at Farm.One, we were constantly coming up against space constraints. Generally, chefs that we worked with would require small quantities of a wide variety of items, but occasionally, we would have a client that needed a larger quantity of something. One of the more popular items ordered in large amounts was small leaf bush basil, also known as Pluto Basil. Despite the limited space, I was able to create a planting/ harvest regimen that allowed us to double our basil production in the same space (up to 40 lbs. a week from just 350 square feet), and consistently meet our customers needs every week with no down time.