Years ago, as I was coming through the Netherlands on a business trip, I was starstruck by a gorgeous woman who owned the bed-and-breakfast where I was staying… It was love at first sight! Iris was 75% Asian, 25% European and 100% my style!
Five months later, I traded the rainbows of Maui for the gray skies of northern Europe by moving from Hawaii to Amsterdam so that we could live together!
I stopped my job as the CEO of an international IT company thus allowing me to focus on my new life and reinvent myself in the European system!
Back in Hawaii, aside from a full organic vegetable garden, I had an abundance of bananas, pineapples, passionfruit, avocado etc. growing on my property.
Although after moving to Amsterdam I lived in a beautiful house on a canal, I missed gardening. I mainly missed eating the foods I grew…. This is when I became passionate about urban farming and researched all options available.
Three years ago, we decided to move to Ibiza where we bought a beautiful finca in a rural area of the island.
This is when we decided to start a business together… Something that would be meaningful for the human race and for the planet…. We wanted a business activity involving cooking, nutrition, and gardening!
When I studied urban farming, I had come across the aeroponic systems of Tower Garden…. I was fascinated by these towers which allowed all kind of vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers to grow abundantly while using 95% less water than conventional gardening with soil.
Water-saving, space saving and 100% beyond organic only using the purest minerals for nutrients was everything I had been looking for!
I loved the idea of not having to bend over pulling weeds, and the fact that since everything grows off the ground, it reduces incredibly the risks of pests and insects.
I was also very impressed by the versatility of these towers which could operate on a balcony, on a rooftop, in a backyard, in a greenhouse or even inside a room using a grow light kit.
Aside from that, I loved the design: I found these towers to be a true expression of garden art!
I had to check out this technology for myself!
I flew to the US and met with Tim Blank, the genius horticulturist who had invented the technology and who was then the managing director of the company.
We then visited together a Tower Garden farm. I was blown away! Everything grew bigger, faster, effortlessly, and gave the best crop imaginable! I tasted many leafy greens and herbs. Everything was so real, so natural, so vibrant, so flavorful: I had found my new carrier!
I came back to Ibiza, and within six months, we had set up the first outdoor aeroponic farm in Europe, created Agrotonomy Corp. , and became distributors of Tower Garden technology for the European market.
When I first met my wife, we were like “the town mouse & the city mouse”! I did not know much about city life and she did not have any gardening background! But with these towers, no previous gardening experience was necessary!
It is truly just a matter of planting a seed and watch it grow….. With this fully automated gardening system, everyone has a green thumb!
Overnight, my wife could grow tomatoes, beans, courgettes, all kind of leafy greens, herbs, strawberries, melons etc.
Almost immediately, Agrotonomy became much more than a just business: it turned out into a full lifestyle!
The constant availability of foods growing on Agrotonomy’s towers completely changed our eating habits by giving us immediate access to the freshest produce without having to drive to the grocery store.
Being distributors of Tower Garden aeroponic technology has allowed us to meet and connect with the most interesting people. These towers completely changed our social life by catapulting us into a world of eco-friendly conscious individuals.
Our next step is to set up a nonprofit organization aiming at creating aeroponic farms for educational purpose. We want to influence children to grow their own food using eco-friendly technologies!
A five-year-old can easily learn how to use a Tower Garden! Children who get involved start relating to fruit and vegetables in a different positive way.
All fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers produced in our educational farms will be donated to local schools.
We love to see the marveled expression of a child who planted a seed which magically turned into a fully-grown plant….it truly gives us hope for the future!
