Hydroponic firm gives ‘homegrown’ a whole new meaning

Urban Cultivator is targeting professional kitchens and well-moneyed consumers who want the freshest herbs and greens possible.

Longtime supplier to marijuana growers reinvents itself to satisfy demand for legal herbs

By Randy Shore
Vancouver Sun
May 23, 2011

Excerpt:

One of B.C.’s most successful hydroponic suppliers is transitioning from building marijuana-growing equipment to servicing aficionados of an entirely different class of herbs, mainly basil and microgreens.

BC Northern Lights has built and sold more than 8,000 hydroponic growing systems over its 10 years in business, products targeted to the marijuana home grower, according to junior partner Myles Omand. The new spinoff, Urban Cultivator, is targeting professional kitchens and well-moneyed consumers who want the best and the freshest herbs and greens possible.

The change comes just in time for the company to launch itself into the mainstream — and the locavore zeitgeist — with an exhibit at Eat! Vancouver in June. Tuesday, owner Tarren Wolfe will pitch Urban Cultivator to the tough-talking entrepreneurs of CBC’s Dragons’ Den, who may decide to invest their own money in the company’s expansion if they like what they hear and see.

Read the complete article here.