CropKing Hires New Horticulturist

CropKing Inc., based in Lodi, Ohio, has hired Nick Greens as a horticulturist/consultant.

“The addition of Nick to our team significantly strengthens our resources that are available to our customers. From a consulting and horticultural standpoint, Nick has a unique background that allows us to continue to diversify our services beyond the traditional hydroponic lettuce and tomato growing. From an education and training standpoint, Nick is able to educate in a creative and effective way, both in-person at our facility in Lodi and through our online presence,” said Paul Brentlinger, president of CropKing Inc.

Greens started his growing career in 2002 as an apprentice grower for a hydroponics shop. In 2007, he moved to Humboldt County, California to work as an assistant grower for a collective of green houses, where he began experimenting with a vortex brewer to develop several recipes for compost teas.

In 2010, Greens moved back to Chicago to grow produce for Blue Star Produce where he developed his compost tea recipes and grew organic microgreens and leafy greens, working for and advising many indoor farms including Garfield Produce, Bright Farms, Windy City Greens, Plant Chicago and Nick Greens Grow Team.

He created the microgreens program at FarmedHere in 2014, building its first NFT systems, creating crop and lighting recipes, and helped improve monthly sales. In 2016, He created a similar microgreens program for Falling Waters Farms in Indianapolis.

Greens is passionate about educating a new generation of controlled environment farmers and has created many internship opportunities for at-risk youth in Chicago.

In 2016, he helped design and build the Food Science Lab at Schurz High School in Chicago, based on a STEM curriculum, that trains future farmers and supplies healthy food for the school cafeteria.

For more information, please visit www.cropking.com.