It’s probably the last place you would think of for growing food, but about 100 feet below London, the one-year old startup Growing Underground is producing what it calls “sustainable and mouth-wateringly fresh micro greens and salad.” It’s the world’s first subterranean farm. The site, a bomb shelter during World War II, was abandoned for 70 years until entrepreneurs Richard Ballard and Steven Dring came along.
Growing beds are stacked on top of each other inside this former World War II bomb shelter. Photo credit: Zero Carbon Food
Once fully operational, it’s estimated that the system will be able to produce between 11,000 and 44,000 pounds of produce each year. “The whole system runs automatically, with an environmental computer controlling the lighting, temperature, nutrients and air flow,” Steven Dring, co-founder of the parent company, Zero Carbon Food, told Bloomberg.
The company says, “using the latest hydroponic systems and LED technology, our crops can be grown year-round in the perfect, pesticide-free environment that these forgotten tunnels provide.” The company is currently growing radish and mustard leaf and also grows watercress, Thai basil, rocket, red vein sorrel, red amaranth, pea shoots, mizuna, micro rocket, garlic chive and coriander.
Growing Underground is producing a variety of microgreens, including watercress, Thai basil and mizuna. Photo credit: Zero Carbon Food
READ MORE @ http://ecowatch.com/2015/09/28/growing-underground-farm/
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IT STATES : At Growing Underground we grow sustainable and mouth-wateringly fresh micro greens and salad leaves 33 metres under the busy streets of Clapham. Using the latest hydroponic systems and LED technology, our crops can be grown year-round in the perfect, pesticide-free environment that these forgotten tunnels provide. Because we have total control over their environment, each tiny leaf tastes as amazing as the last and because they are unaffected by the weather and seasonal changes, we can reduce the need to import crops and drastically reduce the food miles for retailers and consumers.
SO THE LOCATION IS 33 METRES UNDER THE BUSY STREETS OF CLAPHAM
Yea, it's a nice statement .. but still ..
Any photoelectric power as well as the heat needed that it WON'T recieve from the sun, will instead have to come from Electrical Input.
So again. Do you have any numbers on their electrical bills?
They won´t need any heat for the earth maintains a constant temp at this depth....not sure exactly what the temp is, but people use systems of underground tunneling for heating their houses here.
I'd love to see the power-bill for that one. ;)
I prefer food grown in sunlight, but it is an interesting idea...
me too Feathers................