This year we're dreaming about the future, and thinking about ideas to get us there. Some ideas take a while to catch on, others seem inevitable. With more and more of us on the planet and living in densely populated cities, sustainable food production is an ideal topic to think about. Is there a better way to farm?
In SOM's (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) vision of future cities, many crops are grown right in the city, ensuring fresh produce and eliminating the need for transporting it over long distances (see Cities of the Future). In some places this is happening now through hydroponics (the growing medium is nutrient-rich water, instead of soil); aquaponics (water and fish waste is the medium); or aeroponics (air and nutrient rich mist is used). With these alternate methods, plants can be stacked in vertical racks, rather than planted in soil horizontally.
But could these methods be done on an even larger scale? A few companies seem to think so, and are proving their concepts at both the commercial and residential levels). True Garden offers vertical tower garden systems that use aeroponics, for both markets. Plenty is located right here in the San Francisco Bay Area and grows greens vertically for the commercial market. Gardener's Supply even offers a high-rise, low-footprint solution for the home gardener that uses soil and drip irrigation.
Of course, there is always a counterpoint to consider (see 9 Reasons Vertical Farms Fail). But overall these are exciting trends to watch, both for the commercial grower and the backyard gardener.
In SOM's (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) vision of future cities, many crops are grown right in the city, ensuring fresh produce and eliminating the need for transporting it over long distances (see Cities of the Future). In some places this is happening now through hydroponics (the growing medium is nutrient-rich water, instead of soil); aquaponics (water and fish waste is the medium); or aeroponics (air and nutrient rich mist is used). With these alternate methods, plants can be stacked in vertical racks, rather than planted in soil horizontally.
 |
| Growing lettuce vertically (photo attributed to Valcenteu) |
But could these methods be done on an even larger scale? A few companies seem to think so, and are proving their concepts at both the commercial and residential levels). True Garden offers vertical tower garden systems that use aeroponics, for both markets. Plenty is located right here in the San Francisco Bay Area and grows greens vertically for the commercial market. Gardener's Supply even offers a high-rise, low-footprint solution for the home gardener that uses soil and drip irrigation.
Of course, there is always a counterpoint to consider (see 9 Reasons Vertical Farms Fail). But overall these are exciting trends to watch, both for the commercial grower and the backyard gardener.
No comments:
Post a Comment