Two Raleigh men are raising funds on Kickstarter to launch the final phase of a project that combines an urban farmers market and greenhouse in one space. They've only got until this evening to do it.

Their project, The Farmery, has already received more than $22,000 worth of money in pledges but they won't receive any of the money pledged unless they reach their goal of $25,000 by 8:14 p.m.

The idea of The Farmery, started by Ben Greene and Tyler Nethers, is to combine the growing and buying experience and bring them both to downtown Raleigh or Durham. They've spent three years research and experimenting on a prototype that uses as little energy and space as possible to grow all sorts of vegetables and herbs.  

"It's as if the grocery store used the lights in the store to produce the food growing there," Greene said. But their project uses only natural light.

Their self-contained retail and growing unit will be made of shipping containers. It eliminates costs that present challenges to traditional farmers, such as fuel for transportation, packaging, and distribution.

One urban farmer, Maurice Small, who works with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle in Raleigh said the project "is a perfect solution for food deserts," areas where people have limited access to fresh and healthy food, including parts of Southeast Raleigh.

As soon as they receive the funds to finish their last phase of the prototype, the pair will bring their farm to downtown Raleigh or Durham.

Visit their Kickstarter page to see a video of The Farmery.

-- This is a guest post by staff writer Amanda James.