How a nonprofit is continuing to provide food, despite skyrocketing temperatures

• Video shows one of Grow Jackson's greenhouses, where they grow free food to be distributed to neighbors in need.
• Weeks like these, Executive Director, Jacob Inosencio, says temperatures in the greenhouse can get to be over 120 degrees.
• Temperatures as high as these can be dangerous for some plants and the people working in the greenhouses.

(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)

Rather than an air-conditioned office, Grow Jackson's office is in 21 gardens and two greenhouses across the neighborhood. On days like these, temperatures can be sky-high in those greenhouses.

Farm Manager Margo Wang explains, "In the summer, it can get really hot. Too hot for the plants to survive because we can't always be here monitoring and watering. These bails of water help regulate the temperature of the water inside the greenhouse."

Grow Jackson aims to distribute a couple of thousand pounds of fresh food to neighbors in need each year, and heat like this can be good for some plants, and not so good for others. Wang continues, "Peppers, they love the heat. I think this year we'll get an early harvest of peppers. But, other things, or leafy greens, our lettuce and spinach, aren't really liking the hot weather."

It's not just temperatures that are spiking, but concern. Executive Director, Jacob Inosencio, says "When we start to get concerned is when it gets into the 110s, 120s in here. The reason for that is the plants start to get stressed out, the soil microbial communities die, and of course, it's getting to a point where it's too hot to work in here."

Find out what they're doing to mitigate these problems:

However, the team is still finding ways to get the job done. "It's hot. It's beating down sun, so we make sure we get a lot of our work done in the morning. We take a lot of breaks. We make sure our staff has a lot of water and snacks," but not without from the help of their neighbors. Wang says, "Thankfully, we've got a great community around us that supports our gardens, asking to bring us water, asking how they can help."

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