The nearest farmer’s market? Your kitchen. Thanks to the GrowChef, you can enjoy the goodness of fresh farm produce, even in the midst of an urban jungle. Heralded as the “ultimate hydroponic food generator,” the GrowChef is a small indoor garden that promises to let you harvest a full pot of greens every day. Because why pay $15 for a salad when you can just make your own fresher version?
Designed to live just about anywhere in your home, no matter how cramped your space may be, the GrowChef can be hung on a wall, set on a floor or a window sill, or even hidden away in a closet. Because of its three-color LED illumination, this little garden creates enough light on its own so you don’t have to worry about placing it in a sunny spot. And while it measures just 24 inches long, 30 inches tall, and 12 inches wide, it claims to produce the same harvest as a three-meter long garden bed.
Of course, because this is a 21st-century invention, the GrowChef comes with an app that allows you to monitor the progress of your plants. And given that you can grow up to 51 plants at once, that’s a lot of monitoring. Luckily, you don’t have to worry about potting any of these plants, as there’s no soil involved. There’s just nutrient solution and vermiculite, the former of which you replenish once a month.
The three tiers of the GrowChef correspond with three stages of growth for your plants. When you’ve just slid new pods into their slots, they go to the very top, where they’ll receive the most light. As they begin to grow, they can be moved to the second tier, where they can continue to develop. And finally, when they’re almost ready for harvest, you can move them to the bottom tier, which really gives the plants room to blossom.
“I’m delighted to bring people a new original opportunity to have fresh herbs on your plate every day,” said founder Viktor Pjatnitski of the hydroponic garden. “GrowChef helps you to eat healthier, [and] reduce your shopping list and expenses. After two and a half years of experiments, we’ve figured out how to perfect the hydroponic farm to constantly provide you with ready-to-eat plants.”
You can pre-order the GrowChef now from Kickstarter for $210, with an estimated shipment date of March 2018.