“North Shore Greenhouses is located in the Coachella Valley, in southern California,” said Micki Dirtzu. “Our herbs are still living when they reach grocery store shelves, which means we have the freshest products available on the market.”
"North Shore was started 30 years ago by Leo and Suzette Overgaag. Since then, we have worked on perfecting our culinary grade products.” The herbs grown and marketed by North Shore still retain their root systems, with some being encased in small, plastic clamshells and others sold potted. The herbs are intended for immediate consumption in meals, drinks and even desserts. Because they were hydroponically grown, they may not easily handle being transplanted into soil for later use.
“Our expert growers work on finding new ways of improving our efficiency,” shared Dirtzu. “They also consistently explore ways of improving our products. Just within the past year, we started a new organic line—North Shore Organic Living™. This line includes potted and clamshell herbs, along with a line of microgreens. The microgreens are tiny herbs and veggies which all have bold flavors,” said Dirtzu.
“We’re very focused on grocery retail at this point but we have received increased demand from food service,” continued Dirtzu.
“With our growing process we are able to use up to 70 percent less water versus if we were to grow our herbs outdoors. This means there is no soil erosion, because everything is grown hydroponically,” explained Dirtzu. “Our new solar panels that actually follow the movement of the sun, allow us to get the most advantage out of the sun’s energy possible,” Dirtzu said.
“As far as looking into the future, we are focusing on building an additional two acres of greenhouse space to expand our growing capacity to meet demand. Our greenhouse technology allows our production team to control inside temperatures, humidity and the amount of sunlight that each variety of herb needs to create the best eating experience possible. We’re foodies at North Shore and it shows in the product we ship to retail partners every day,” Dirtzu explained.
For more information:
Micki Dirtzu
North Shore Greenhouses, Inc.
Tel: +1 760-397-0400