High-Tech Allotments: Could Vertical Veg Gardening Be the Future of Our Five-a-Day?
It Appears To Be Science Fiction But Growing Veg Crops Indoors Without Sunlight Might Be The Future. Read My High Tech Vertical Garden Article Here.
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This article is a bit high tech for most allotments or gardens. And I can’t say I am convinced it is the future .. but there are those claim it is.
In this article and video we are looking at a new facility in Maine, USA . It shows how we might grow our greens in the middle of our busiest cities in future and the idea is futuristic to say the least. To be fair this is not the first indoor vertical food farm. Several have tried and failed because the technology has not been up to it and/or the costs of such an energy intensive system have been too high.
But let’s look at the concept and you decide if my comments make sense.
A Massive Harvest in a Tiny Space
The cleverest bit about this setup is how much they can grow in a space no bigger than a small car park. By stacking the crops high and using clever hydroponic systems, they’re producing as much food as a 250 acre farm. For those of us used to squeezing every last radish into a raised bed, the efficiency here is mind-boggling. Because the environment is completely controlled, the “growing season” never ends; they’re harvesting 24/7, 365 days a year, regardless of whether it’s a washout of a summer or a freezing winter.
Well, that is the claim. To be fair this is a new facility and is yet to the proved to be as good as they claim.
Ditching the Sun for Pink Neon
You won’t find any glasshouse panes here. In fact, they’ve blocked out the sun entirely. the problem is that plants are a bit picky about their light. They don’t actually need the full spectrum we see. They’re happiest with red and blue light, which is why the whole place is bathed in a vivid pink glow. By using LEDs, the farmers can ensure every single seedling gets the exact same “sunshine,” preventing the leggy, lopsided growth we often see on a windowsill.
A Breath of Fresh Air (and a Lot of Gas)
In a sealed-off building packed with thousands of plants, things can get a bit stuffy. The plants go through CO2 so quickly that the farmers have to pump it pack in … because without it the crops would simply stop growing. They’ve even pinched a bit of inspiration from the air hockey table, using a “wall of air” to make sure the temperature and CO2 are perfectly uniform across every tray. It’s a far cry from opening a cold frame to let the breeze in!
The “Loop” System: From Seed to Salad
The entire operation is a giant, automated conveyor belt.
The Cycle: Trays are sown on the ground floor, moved to a dark room to germinate, and then sent up on elevators to the growing floors. Once they’ve reached peak perfection, they head back down for a trim and a wash.
Waste Not, Want Not: Water is a precious commodity, and this system is incredibly “canny” with it. They recycle nearly all of their water, filtering it and treating it with UV light before adding a fresh dose of plant food.
High-Tech Tracking: Every tray has its own digital tag, so the team knows exactly where every bit of rocket or kale is at any given moment. to be fair I saw similar systems in The Netherlands many years ago. The technology has upgraded but it is an old idea.
Why It Makes Sense for the High Street
You might wonder why anyone would bother with such a faff when we have perfectly good fields. The answer lies in the “food miles.” By growing salad right in the heart of town, they can get it onto shop shelves with few miles and fewer articulated vehicles. This means the greens stay fresh for weeks longer than the stuff that’s been sat in the back of a lorry coming from halfway across the continent.
It’s also about more than just veg. The project makes a point of providing steady, meaningful work for people with disabilities, proving that these high-tech hubs can be a real asset to the local community. While it’s a bit different from the traditional English garden, this “pink-lit” future might just be what’s needed to keep our salad crispers full without costing the Earth.
The downside of this system is two fold. Firstly pest and disease control has to be spot on because in this conditions they can spread very fast. Secondly, the cost of energy. They have som clever ways of mitigating costs but if you have to buy energy one the open market .. and someone closes the Strait Of Hormuz … you see where I’m going with this?
Of course if you own your own hydro-electric scheme or similar then things might look different. But even then there may come a time when selling energy rather than greens makes more sense.
The argument for social inclusivity through providing employment for people with disabilities adds a new dimension to this technology. It turns out that vertical farming isn’t just about high-tech; it can also be a real social asset for local communities.
The argument for social inclusivity through providing employment for people with disabilities adds a new dimension to this technology. It turns out that vertical farming isn’t just about high-tech; it can also be a real social asset for local communities.
It could also apply to many other businesses and business models