Tag Archives: smart vegetable cultivator

This architecture-inspired vegetable cultivator was designed for city dwellers to farm at home!

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Vegetment is a sustainable vegetable cultivator for city dwellers to have the means to all the perks of farming without the mess and bulk.

Adapting to tiny living spaces like compact city apartments means finding small-scale alternatives to our favorite large-scale pastimes. The ways we cook, clean, and store home goods inevitably change to fit comfortably within the small floor plan of efficiency studios and micro-apartments.

In crowded cities, vegetable cultivators provide all the perks of gardening without the mess and bulky appliances. Vegetment, a gardening appliance designed by Subin Cho, is a tiny-living solution for city dwellers to have access to a garden and fresh produce.

Inspired by the cogency of urban architecture, Cho downsized different aspects of city infrastructure and applied them to the design of Vegetment. Especially influenced by the open-air nature and voluminous space of verandas, Vegetment’s overall structure echos the look of deep outdoor deck spaces. Vertical by design, Vegetment appears like a micro-sized high-rise apartment complex, with each level leaving space for miniature gardens to grow and thrive.

Since city apartments aren’t well-suited for large gardens, Vegetment was conceptualized as a solution for city dwellers who’d still like to grow their own produce. Comprised of three tiers, Vegetment grows vegetables on its bottom two verandas. Taking cues from macro architectural concepts, a sliding louver system mimics the look of a sliding glass door and backdrops each veranda.

As Cho explains, the louver system, “opens and closes according to the flow of nature and adjusts sunlight and ventilation appropriately. It is automatically operated in a motorized manner according to the environment of the veranda (sunlight, temperature, wind) without any separate operation.”

In addition to the clever louver system, Cho design Vegetment with built-in solar panels for each garden to receive sunlight during the day and artificial light from LEDs at night. Then, a drain system brings water to the plants and a water reservoir where any excess water is stored. Owners of Vegetment also receive regular deliveries of seed pods, making gardening in the big city as easy as ever.

Designer: Subin Cho

The louver system mimics the movement and appeal of sliding glass doors. 

When sunlight is provided, the louver system automatically opens for the plants to receive light.

The post This architecture-inspired vegetable cultivator was designed for city dwellers to farm at home! first appeared on Yanko Design.

This smart indoor garden uses hydroponics to grow vegetables while matching your modern home!

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With the pandemic leaving most of us to our own devices, some of us knew we had no choice but to get good at cooking. My spice cabinet is overflowing because of it. Getting more and more familiar with herbs and the punch they pack in flavorful dishes, the popularity of horticulture has also increased. More and more people are installing indoor garden systems into their homes because they provide an easy, accessible way to bring the flavor of fresh herbs to every dinner plate. Grobo Premium is one such indoor garden system that utilizes smart technology and hydroponics to harvest vegetables and herbs inside the comfort of your own home.

Since Grobo Premium is a smart garden system, the weight of having to learn about horticulture is lifted from the user’s shoulders. All that’s required for plant cultivation with Grobo is planting the initial seed and filling/draining the water as the days go by. Since hydroponics generally takes a more hands-free approach to gardening, the makers behind Grobo Premium chose it for their smart indoor garden system. Hydroponics is a type of horticulture that grows vegetables and herbs without soil, opting instead for mineral-rich solutions, oxygen, and water to cultivate plant life.

Once the user plants the initial seed, an eleven-liter water tank that rests at Grobo’s bottom feeds the seed with water while a nutrient-dosage unit balances out the pH levels to achieve optimal sprouting conditions. Inside Grobo’s main body, dual intake fans keep the amount of air balanced for the plants to then grow towards the eight LED lights that provide ample sunlight and energy. Through an accompanying app, Grobo allows you to track your plant’s progress so even when you’re away, you can always come back home to fresh herbs and vegetables for dinner.

Designer: Grobo

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This tiny vegetable cultivator is an indoor garden for one, bring fresh food to your table!

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Now more than ever, I think we’re all itching to get outdoors to spend time in nature. Enjoying the natural pleasures of life, like gardening and cooking, has become a top priority for many of us. However, being stuck inside due to quarantine restrictions can make that difficult. I know I hardly have room on my window ledge for a hummingbird feeder, let alone a vegetable garden and I’m not the only one. Designers like Eun-Jeong Pi attempt to bridge the small spaces in which many of us live with our strong desires to still remain close to nature and live sustainably – Farmin, a smart vegetable cultivator designed by Pi, offers one such bridge.

Farmin is comprised of four main parts: the body, cover, seedling bags, and an LED lid. The body is definitely the hub of the vegetable cultivator, storing the soil, seedling bags, and water inlet. Along the left side of the body, an LED indicator signals to users when the soil in Farmin could use some water, which can then be distributed using the water inlet until filled completely. Then, on the right side, the body features an air filter that helps maintain the cultivator’s productivity and regulate the air that the plants breathe.

Dotted over the body’s surface, seedling bags provide good drainage and aeration for each cultivation period. Farmin’s transparent, yet foggy cover alludes to the morning fog in nature that nestles above evergreens in dense forests, working to remind users that their miniature vegetable garden can bring them closer to nature. Of course, the cover also works to contain the vegetable garden’s mature plants so that they don’t wilt or make a mess of your kitchenette. I know mine is already messy enough without any spilled soil. An LED lid also works to mimic sun rays for each vegetable to absorb and use as nutrients.

Nowadays, many of us have painted our thumbs green (even if the paint was toxic), and designs like Eun-Jeong Pi’s smart vegetable cultivator, Farmin provides the means to test them out and give smart home gardening a try. Millennials seemed to have been following this trajectory towards sustainable living for a while now and this time spent in quarantine has only solidified our dreams of cultivating our own small garden one day. Alexa, play ‘Garden Song’ by Phoebe Bridgers.

Designer: Eun-Jeong Pi

With the popularity of home gardening steadily increasing over the years, Eun-Jeong Pi created their own solution for small-scale gardening fit for your kitchen counter.

Through different ideations, Farmin ultimately assumed a soft and simple structure, allowing for intuitive operability and attractive display.

With an easy-to-use hinge door, Farmin hopes to help make home vegetable cultivation that much more accessible and the fruits of your labor that much more immediate.

An LED display offers different modes of operation, depending on the natural light that your vegetable garden might already be receiving. Turn on ‘Night Mode,’ when the sun goes down so that your home cultivator’s available light is maintained.

A slim water inlet allows users to nourish their garden with water, while an LED indicator signals when your soil might need some replenishment.

Farmin’s accompanying app provides users with the means to adjust the conditions inside Farmin so that their plants remain well-fed, while also offering fun tips for recipes and plant care.