Vertical Screen Garden
Situated on nearly a full acre of land, the Vertical Screen garden consists of a wide variety of raised bed garden boxes for use by our employees. Our 144 raised beds comprise more than 5,000 square feet of garden. Using raised bed plots allows our mixture of different soil amendments to meld with added organic matter (compost) to form rich, deep soil teeming with beneficial organisms, making our garden less susceptible to weather and pests. Plots are irrigated using an automatic drip irrigation system, eliminating the need for wasteful sprinklers and allowing the water to get to where the plants need it the most – the roots.
We also employ a full-time corporate gardener, who teaches employees a range of organic and sustainable gardening techniques. Each season, employees choose what they wish to grow from a catalogue of seeds and plants, all provided by the company. We grow everything you would find at a good farmers market – heirloom tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, squash, cucumber, watermelon, lettuce, peas, cabbage, broccoli, fresh herbs and cut flowers, just to name a few. Our orchard, which started in the spring of 2014, includes apples, peaches, nectarines, plums and persimmon trees, along with shrubby fruits such as blackberries, blueberries and raspberries.
Everything grown in our garden is produced organically. No synthetic fertilizers or pesticides are used. This ensures that everything we grow is natural and organic. Each employee is responsible for the planting, weeding and harvesting of their garden. Employees are able to take home half of their harvest, allowing them to enjoy their healthy, fresh, organic produce at home (and save some money on their grocery bill). The other half is distributed in our company cafeteria to other Vertical Screen employees. Participating in our garden is an excellent way to relieve some stress at work, and the principles and techniques taught in our company garden can be taken home and applied to an employee’s backyard or patio garden.