The owner of a hydroponic hop farm has moved his innovative operation to Ceredigion, in Wales.
Gareth Davies, founder and director of Dark Farm. Photograph: Dark Farm
Gareth Davies, founder and director of Dark Farm, grows his hops in pots, indoors, using hydroponic growing methods. These are normally used for crops like salad leaves and herbs, rather than a plant that can reach 7.5m in height.
Believed to be first indoor hop yard in the UK, Dark Farm offers a quarterly hop subscription to home brewers, and has recently relocated to a disused warehouse near Lampeter. It is out to prove that the benefits of hydroponics can revolutionise hop farming.
“Growing hops in a controlled environment and adjusting the nutrient feed according to their growing cycle saves a great deal of water,” said Gareth.
“Growing indoors also protects the hops from pests and diseases. We don’t use any pesticides or fungicides on our hops. And the feed we give them is organic.’ Dark Farm currently has around 400 hop plants, comprising 12 varieties.
Being able to regulate the hops’ water supply is a great advantage during these times when we’re going from prolonged dry spells to extremely rainy periods. Growing hops this way has been successfully done in the US for several years, and it’s estimated that this method can produce the same yield using one tenth of the area.
A vision to expand
Gareth, whose background is in web development rather than farming, launched his business in Devon in 2017. Now he and his wife, Yohanna, who grew up in Carmarthenshire, have returned to Wales to continue their journey and build on their experience.
Gareth said: “Home-brewing is becoming more and more popular, especially since lockdown. We’ve been having to supplement our hop subscription service with hops grown on other farms to keep up with demand.
“Our vision is to supply our members with hops grown entirely on our indoor farm — apart from certain varieties which we can’t produce ourselves.”
As well as hops, Dark Farm sells home-brewing equipment. The business also publishes the home-brewing magazine, MASHED!, providing part-time employment for Yohanna, a writer and graphic designer.
Gareth has a clear vision of further expanding operations to provide employment for more local people, as well as acting as a hub to inspire other rural and urban enterprises to embrace sustainability, alongside community and business.
