Farmshelf uses Ultimaker 3D printed parts for smart indoor urban farming units so we can grow fresh veggies in the city.

What if you could grow your own veggies indoors? For those of us who live and work in the city, Farmshelf units just might be the perfect solution for fresh food.

Using Ultimaker 3D printers, they’ve figured out how to print cost-effective, custom parts for urban farming shelf units.

“Farmshelf is a system that makes it possible for anyone to grow their own food,” explains Andrew Shearer, CEO and Co-Founder of Farmshelf.

“We’re starting off with the restaurants and cafeterias, but then moving on to, how do we make this possible for any individual at home to do? We’ve taken advantage of technologies from various spaces to automate and optimize all the various things a plant needs to grow.”

Businesses now have the option to use these Farmshelf units to grow fresh produce instead of buying mass-produced veggies. They currently offer ’50 mouth-watering leafy greens, herbs and micro greens.’

There are several benefits. First of all, customers get healthier, fresher, grown-on-site food.

Next, the turnaround for the growth cycle is faster. Growing greens with the units takes around 21-28 days for a full head of lettuce. Comparatively, it takes nearly 60-80 days on a farm.

Most important for the business, growing fresh greens saves restaurants money on ordering costs while providing better quality.

Plus, what’s really cool is that you can monitor your customized Farmshelf unit from your smartphone using their app.

Check out their video below to see what the units look like.

How did 3D printing parts help Farmshelf?

Farmshelf’s goal is to make indoor gardening simple, quick, and cost-effective.

However, research and development for their indoor farming projects can be expensive. Why? The parts must be constantly tested to fulfill certain requirements.

They must be successful throughout the entire growth cycles of plant pods. If something needs to be adjusted, Farmshelf needs to be able to constantly create new prototypes.

“Given the number of plastic parts that we use in the system that are custom, I cannot even imagine how many tens of thousands of dollars it would have cost us to make those sets of parts,” explains Gabe Fenton, Farmshelf’s botanist.

“Farmshelf is a system that makes it possible for anyone to grow their own food.”

They used the Ultimaker 2+ to print Farmshelf unit parts such as plant pods, air flow, vents, etc., that can be customized and adapted to various indoor spaces. This saves an incredible amount of money because they don’t need to outsource the project.

Renowned Chef Claus Meyer became interested in the idea for his Great Northern Food Hall in Grand Central Station in New York City. Meyer is the well-known co-founder of Noma restaurant in Copenhagen — winner of 2 Michelin stars.

His hospitality group aims to offer customers locally farmed produce and ingredients. So, they’ve invested in three Farmshelf units. Now, people can enjoy deliciously fresh micro greens and herbs miles away from the nearest farm.

Hopefully, Meyer’s restaurant is just a start. In the future, this kind of indoor farming technology has the potential to allow us to grow our own food – even when we live in the middle of a city.

Source: Ultimaker

Photo: Farmshelf CEO Andrew Shearer