FAIRFIELD, Iowa—Minutes after train cars loaded with coal roll by, Jan Swinton admits this rough industrial park on Fairfield's north side is hardly where you'd expect to find the beginnings of a lush vegetable garden that will help feed the area's 1,700 schoolchildren.
But there, tucked behind a nondescript factory, is a new greenhouse, sprouting spinach, radishes, pea shoots, greens and lettuce on a cold April day, thanks to its industrial partner next door.
In a unique experiment, Swinton is growing veggies by tapping unused heat from her neighbor, Schaus-Vorhies Kleaning, a company that uses heat up to 1,600 degrees to clean and sometimes strengthen metals.