Page 81 - Bloomberg Businessweek - November 19, 2018
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Bloomberg Businessweek The Year Ahead 2019 Luxury
Gardening
▷ A device that shrinks the space—and time—required for growing plants
is coming to your kitchen
● SproutsIO is the
brainchild of architect
Jennifer Broutin Farah, ● An adjustable LED
who came up with the lamp overhangs an
idea for a compact, indented tray that holds
veggie-growing device the seeds. A camera
while working on inside the light scans
rooftop gardens for and monitors them,
the New York City switching the color of ▲ The indented tray,
Parks Department. She the lights to signal new ● Home cooks will measuring a
developed a scaled- growth phases. initially be able mere 12 inches
down model for her MIT to choose from across, arrives
master’s program. 14 varieties of plants, packed with seeds.
The device, so far including Tiny Tim
available only to chefs tomatoes, a “spring
and restaurants, will salad mix” with
roll out to the public in mizuna and kale, and
early 2019 at a price of a Mediterranean herb
$800. A subscription mix of sage, oregano,
service is also on deck.
76 Once customers finish a and thyme.
Farah is developing
“harvest,” the SproutsIO software to customize
team will ship a fresh the produce. If you
batch of seeds. like sweeter cherry
tomatoes, you’ll be
able to program
that in.
● The basin beneath the ▲ LED lights that use
seed tray collects water, half the energy of an
resulting in a hybrid incandescent bulb
method of hydroponic come in red, yellow,
(in which roots are and blue. All three are
fully submerged) and programmed to pulsate
aeroponic (plants are in “disco mode.”
only misted) techniques.
● It takes 20 days—half
the typical time—for the
tiny device to produce
enough lettuce for
● For the past your next dinner party; PHOTOGRAPHS BY PIPPA DRUMMOND FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK, PROP STYLIST AJA COON
18 months, SproutsIO shishitos and tomatoes
has been used in such take about six weeks.
restaurants as Boston’s
Menton, owned by
James Beard-winning ● SproutsIO works
chef Barbara Lynch, and remotely, via an app.
the Michelin-starred “I can be at home at
NoMad in New York. It’s midnight and decide
only about 12 pounds, to amp up the light
so chefs can carry it on the chervil,” says
into the dining room to Modern chef Abram
garnish a dish tableside. Bissell, in Manhattan.
�Kate Krader
