Indoor Farming is Catching On!

While growing your own produce is still far from the norm, nor even –yet!– truly fashionable, Indoor Farming IS catching on…  You have only to look at new merchandise, developed to meet the demand…

On the high end of this trend (for those with money to spend), there are now machines that are not that expensive, considering that they essentially do the work of growing indoors for you, giving you fresh produce (albeit, as of present, in limited variety) that comes from neat tank-style beds requiring little work on the part of the farmer (potentially, you!).  The big feature, in addition to little work, is the constant, year-round supply of super fresh (so, nutrient-rich) edibles…  which sounds pretty good right now, considering that we are staring down the face of food shortages that are essentially due to political reasons which can only get worse, at least in the near future…

The two examples of such machines that appealed to me most (no affiliate links to click, at the moment, just free publicity for the innovative companies that have developed these super products), and which are designed, of course, for in-home-use, with production geared to single-family quantities,  are :  rootie.sk and clickandgrow.com.

The Rootie is a hydroponic ‘smart’ garden manufactured in Slovakia, but the company will ship anywhere.  Being hydroponic, soil is eliminated from the growing equation (along with a lot of potential problems relating to insects and soil contaminations), while Rootie technology guarantees a more efficient use of water, resulting in 90% less required in their grow-cycle, compared to growing in soil.  The Rootie company is just now in the process of launching, so there are discounts possible for early orders.

The clickandgrow, on the other hand, is a system using soil, but the innovation is that the soil used contains the seeds and all the nutrients needed to grow them.  The soil comes in pods that are inserted into cups that are suspended in the grow tank.  And the grow tank contains enough water to hydrate your plants for a month in a recycling process.   Pods with nutrients only are also available, allowing you to sprout the seeds you provide yourself for the system.  Once again, growing indoors means you can grow your crops independently of the season, thus having fresh veggies at your fingertips all year round….  To facilitate your regular harvesting, the company has a delivery subscription system, so you always have the pods you need when you need them.

Both of these products encourage us to think that, as technology develops to meet demand, there will be even more surprising advances to propose, as time goes on, and as need and demand grow, and the services proposed improve.  Probably, to ensure variety and quantity for the average family, more than one grow tank would be needed in the initial investment…  whatever the system you choose.  And by the way, nowhere do we get an idea of how long we can count on these systems to last, but again, this is undoubtedly a point on which technology will also advance as time goes on.

Of course, when buying such machines, we trust that the components will hold up to use, and that the necessary supplies (seeds and nutrients, at least, if not also spare parts and accessories) will continue to be available in the uncertain future…  and that the overall investment and operating costs will not put the veggies (and fruits and herbs) we produce into rivalry with the price of gold and silver…  But even considering that there are many things we can do without in a severe economic crisis, so as to cut corners and save money, the cost of food will remain something that cannot be totally dodged, particularly if we have loved ones we need to feed…

Another inovation that relates to indoor farming is the countertop electric composter.  Vitamix makes one that needs no enzymes or additives (potentially a problem, if they become difficult to come by) and which converts kitchen scraps into soil in 3 hours, selling for around $300.  And a new brand, Lomi, has just put their countertop composter on the market, although it sells for a whopping $499.  But as a companion to your indoor farming system, composting is the potential alternative to system-specific nutrients.  Long-term, turning food waste into fertilizer is going to be an indispensible step in sustainable indoor farming, besides being logical and ecological.  But if you are not in a hurry to turn your kitchen scraps into food for your crops, there are ‘tumblers’ you can buy, and keep on your apartment balcony,  that do not require electricity, but keep the contents contained and keep the neighbors in apartment buildings (close quarters) from being offended by smells or insects…

While all these options are exciting to see, for the moment, on this site, we will be sticking, with our indoor crops, to the simplest materials, since we want to show that indoor farming can be done, and by anyone, even those with little time to devote to the project, and little money to spend on it.  The rewards to reaped will, we hope, be sufficiently motivating, once launched, to take us, and our indoor farming, to ever expanding levels…

So, let’s get to it!

Keeping things simple and quick at the start, we’ve decided to inaugurate our project with greens…  They are (perhaps deceptively!) easy to grow and can be harvested after two weeks, making a quickly available and welcome addition to hot-weather meals which we will soon want to be putting on our tables, at least those of us in the northern hemisphere…  And we know from experience that once one ‘gets a taste’ of the energy that super fresh greens deliver, whether traditional lettuce, micro greens, or just plain and simple sprouts, they quickly become, in any season, an essential ingredient for a satisfying meal that will leave us ready, willing and able to advance those other important activities, unrelated to food, that we all have going in our lives…

Cheers!