Focus: Greenheart Organic Farms

Managing director Elena Kinane reveals more about the organisation’s produce, the challenges, and how the F&B industry can support it

When was the farm set up, and what is its ethos?

Greenheart Organic Farms was launched in 2012. We are passionate about growing genuine organic produce in the UAE’s harsh desert climate. We sell directly to the local community and restaurants, cutting out third-party traders. All our produce is freshly harvested only hours before sale, and we pride ourselves on growing old-fashioned heirloom varieties strictly without the use of any chemicals in naturally nutrient rich soil. Our expanding selection currently includes more than 120 different varieties of vegetables, herbs and fruit. We also sell our own free-range, grass-fed, organic chicken eggs.

Why did you think there was a need for such a venture?

When I first moved to the UAE in the mid-90s there wasn’t any locally-grown organic produce available and the overall selection in supermarkets was poor. I started growing a few vegetables and leafy items on my balcony and later in my garden. Having grown up in an eco-friendly household where home-grown organic produce was part of everyday life, this wasn’t difficult.

After a period of trial and error, the results were pretty impressive and I teamed up with some Emirati friends and grew on a larger scale on their farms outside Dubai. During this time I visited many farms and realised that produce was grown in sand with the help of lots of chemicals with virtually no soil building or seed collection. The produce had no taste and was in many cases highly toxic. The desire to do better was born, and meeting up with farm engineer Azzam Mubarak made it possible to take the trials to another level.

This evolved into a larger scale project and in 2008 we launched Nazwa Organic Farms. Although this enterprise quickly became popular, it was sadly short-lived. Equipped with more skills and experience we started out again and soon set up Greenheart Organic Farms.

What can we find growing at your farm, and how big is it?

Our main farm is huge, but we are currently only using a small part of it. We can only expand once we have enough of our own farm-made compost. It takes about six months for the plant/crop leftovers and the animal manure to break down. All our animals (chickens, goats, cows and camels) are grass-fed with alfalfa grown on the farm.

The chickens and goats also get treats of herbs and vegetables that aren’t fit for sale. We are currently growing on 7000 square metres indoors and about 25,000 square metres outdoors. Last summer we extended by another 12 grow houses so we’re expecting to produce almost 100 tonnes of vegetables, herbs and fruit this year.

We’ve been collecting our own seeds for the past three years and much research has gone into selecting the best varieties for the UAE climate. Next to the usual varieties like tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, lettuce and herbs, we also grow a large selection of unusual varieties such as lemon and melon cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes such as ‘Costoluto’, ‘San Marzano’, ‘Oxheart’ and ‘Black Krimm’.

We also have six different kale varieties including Scarlet and Black Tuscan, carrots such as round ‘Parisian Market’ and ‘Purple Dragon’, rhubarb, golden and Swiss chard, Amazonian Aztec broccoli, broccoli raab, mustard greens, several varieties of spinach, pak choi, sweetcorn, celery, different types of cabbage and cauliflower, Genovese basil, melons, strawberries and more.

During growing season we add about 3-4 new items to our list of produce each week. This week for instance we’ve started harvesting French Breakfast radishes, Burgundy spinach and ‘Narandello’ sweet peppers.

Article continues on next page ...

Can you tell us what challenges you face when it comes to farming in this region, and how these are overcome?

The UAE is perceived as a hostile farming environment due to a lack of soil and water and sometimes-extreme temperatures. We’ve researched extensively and formulated our own techniques to adapt to these challenges.

Firstly we’re dealing with sand instead of soil. Good soil consists of particles of sand, clay and silt. Our sandy soils here have a poor structure and are too coarse to form aggregates. The only way to combat this is to add organic matter to the sweet sand in the form of compost, manure and natural minerals.

This is why building our own soil is such an important part of our business. We also invest a lot of time in saving our seeds, rather than growing hybrids shipped in from Holland or the US, so we can adapt them to our local growing conditions.

This, with time, increases our output, enhances the flavour of our produce and helps us to achieve our independence from seed suppliers. The benefits to consumers are better quality and lower prices. Growing produce from our own seeds also reduces water consumption. Water conservation has long been an important topic in the UAE and is central to our operation. All the sweet water used for our plants comes from our own wells.

We only use drip irrigation and we’ve developed several different techniques that help to reduce water consumption such as intercropping and the use of mulches.

As there are very few current publications on desert farming, we feel it’s important to record, analyse and evaluate all our findings. We take general organic farming techniques and adapt them to local conditions. We use the knowledge we gain from running trials to increase our range, develop new techniques, and grow more efficiently and cost effectively.

Do you work with the F&B industry or is your business largely retail?

Right now it’s about 50/50. We have a following of customers visiting our farm shop in Al Barsha South or ordering home delivery online via our website. We also work with more than 10 wholesale clients and are in talks with four well-known Dubai-based restaurants.

We finished our HACCP certification last August and have started to supply to five-star hotels. Our largest hotel client right now is the Four Seasons Hotel Dubai at Jumeirah Beach. Other businesses we supply include N_K_D Pizza, Detox Delight, Essentially, Comptoir 102, The Cycle Bistro, BeStro and Galeries Lafayette Gourmet.

What kind of support do you require from the F&B industry?

There are many ways the industry can support genuine organic growers in the UAE. For example, a juicing company needs kale with lush, moisture-dense leaves that produce high yields and a nice flavour when juiced, so we grow a kale variety that meets these needs. On the other hand, kale used in salads or as kale chips should have different qualities.

In return, we ask our clients to predict the quantities they will need so that we can plan ahead. To minimise waste we only grow what we’ve budgeted for, so short notice requests can’t always be accommodated.

We also need our clients to share our understanding of growing seasons. In Europe, for instance, strawberries are associated with summer menus but here the strawberry season is between December and April. When yield of a particular vegetable is unexpectedly high we can offer it at a discounted rate. If a restaurant’s menu is flexible with daily specials, these extra quantities can be absorbed. This is advantageous for both the restaurant and the grower.

Lastly, but no less important, is the need for chefs to support the introduction of unusual heirloom varieties that do well in the UAE climate. Sometimes people shy away from trying something new. One example is the wonderful lemon cucumbers we’ve been growing.

At last year's Dubai Food Carnival, John Torode featured them in one of his demonstrations. This helped raise awareness and increase the popularity of this unusual old-fashioned variety amongst the public.