When you picture farming, an image of wide-open farmland out in the country might come to mind.
But a local group wants to bring farming inside Myrtle Beach city limits.
At their meeting Tuesday, Myrtle Beach planning commissioners talked about urban farming and allowing it within the city.
Seedside Greens, a farming group based in Myrtle Beach, wants to be the first urban farm in the city, and they want to focus on micro farming.
Micro-greens are basically mini versions of full grown vegetables. You’ve seen them before as the stylish garnish on top of your meals at fancy restaurants. Varieties include kale, arugula, basil, beets, cilantro and more.
Margot Tennant, the owner of Seedside Greens, wants to grow and sell them to restaurants and customers throughout the Myrtle Beach area.
The group wants to rent out a 800 sq. ft. commercial space at St. James square between 38th Avenue North and Robert Grissom Parkway.
The emphasis will be on hyper-local, fresh produce.
“Right now, the average head of lettuce travels over 1,400 miles, and then you have increased transportation, packaging costs and a subpar product at the final destination,” Tennant said.
She said a farm inside Myrtle Beach would give restaurants and locals the freshest vegetables possible.
“Agriculture became like a commercialized thing, and a lot of people don’t have that same relationship with their farmer or know how their food’s grown, where it’s grown, how it’s prepared,” Tennant said.
City planning staff is all for the idea and drafted a new ordinance to allow urban farming in certain zoning areas. The ordinance would allow for urban farming only indoors to cut down on noise and smells near neighbors.
Planning commissioners recommended a one-year pilot program to council that would examine the impacts of indoor urban farms on the city.
Council will vote on the proposed ordinance that would have to pass three readings to become city law.
Seedside also wants to start a fresh produce delivery service where you could get their products mailed weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly to your door.
You can read more about Seedside Greens on its website and Facebook page.
