Like most nonprofits tackling clients’ food insecurity and lack of basic resources, Community Link partners with multiple businesses, churches and community organizations to fulfill an expanding need.
For 20 years, the Saginawbased organization has served the small towns of northwest Tarrant County. Last year, Community Link researched the concept of a shipping container farm as a way to grow produce year-round.
They found a company in Boston that outfitted 40- foot insulated containers with vertical hydroponic growing systems for lettuce, leafy greens, herbs and edible flowers. The climate-controlled environment uses a recycled water system; LED lights stimulate plant growth.
“Texas weather is hard on farmers, and we needed something to meet the demand for fresh produce for our food pantries and farmers-market clients,” says Trey Harper, Community Link’s executive director.
Harper and his staff visited two container farms in Denton at the University of North Texas, and they liked what they saw — so they fundraised for their own. They called the project Fresh Link Farms and named the container The Lettuce Shack.
“A generous local family stepped up, and we also got the support of partners such as Cook Children’s Medical Center and the American Heart Association due to our focus on health,” says Harper of the origin of their 40-foot garden of Eden.
The container arrived in early May 2025.
Left: Vertical growing panels feature slots for each soil plug; the lighting system sits opposite the panels. A drip irrigation system is hidden along the top; water flows into a catch system in the floor and is recycled. Above: Trays of microgreens and seedlings sit under grow lights in “the nursery,” a small area toward the front of the container.
The Community Link team added a colorful wrap on the exterior that explains the mission and how hydroponics works. BF Fence and Fabricator built and installed a deck and overhead cover for increased protection from the elements. Utilities and land adjoining the Azle farmers market are provided by the city of Azle, which also built a small sensory garden filled with pollinators and native plants for educational purposes next to the container.
Staffers trained in Boston and managed to troubleshoot issues including HVAC problems and missing equipment after the container was set up. Hydroponic gardening requires a balance of the right lighting, nutrients and water as well as patience in establishing consistent growing cycles. Despite early setbacks, seedlings began sprouting. In August, the first transplants were moved to vertical growing panels — narrow slots that hold the dirt plugs. The first heads of butter lettuce and Romaine were cut in September and immediately delivered to both Community Link clients and the food pantry at Azle’s Community Caring Center.
Since then, The Lettuce Shack has grown more than 10,000 heads of lettuce and other greens such as kale and boy choy. Technical glitches, especially clogged irrigation nozzles, are a constant. Whitney Berry, Community Link’s director of food and markets, handles most issues and controls logistics from her mobile phone. During some of the hottest weeks in August — at a time when the nation was reeling from news of contaminated bagged lettuce — The Lettuce Shack sold out consistently at the farmers market. “Now we’re looking to expand,” says Harper. He’d love to have one close to the Community Link offices in Saginaw.
COMMUNITY LINK
Learn more at communitylinkmission.org
The Lettuce Shack
225 Church St.
Azle
communitylinkmission.org/freshlinkfarm
Meda Kessler is edible Dallas Forth Worth's art director, layout designer, and more.