Last week at the end of a post about PET Bottle furniture by PlastiKetic, I told you to visit this blog this week if you happened to like the ‘vertical-garden‘ concept. I’m glad you did and I’m so happy to be able to show you this amazing new piece of upcycle design. Like I said, it’s a vertical garden made out of several old and used products and materials.
Maybe you remember the Recycled Bicycle Wine Rack out of old tyres by oopsmark? Well, today this upcycle design brand launches its latest creation.

Bottles and whiskey barrel garden

This creation is called ‘Elegant Farm‘ and is designed by Jesse Herbert, founder of oopsmark, based in Montréal | Canada. He worked on this creation for several years. Jesse has applied his design philosophy of minimalism, environmental responsibility, and functionality to urban food production.

Why? “More and more people are informing themselves on various forms of urban farming to counteract the heavy ecological footprint of industrial agriculture. However, there remain few options for the increasing number of people wishing to get involved but who don’t necessarily have the time, means, or expertise for the more commonly practiced forms of urban farming. To meet this growing demand, the Elegant Farm offers a beautiful, rewarding and no-nonsense option for hyperlocal urban food production.”

Elegant Farm uses two key products: discarded beer bottles and a used whiskey barrel. Born out of Jesse’s desire to grow food indoors at his Montreal home, the Elegant Farm is a vertical hydroponic system. It’s easy to operate, takes up less than 1 square foot of space, costs 3¢ a week in electricity and grows greens, herbs and vegetables indoors year-round. Furthermore it’s handmade in North America almost entirely out of natural, biodegradable and recycled materials – 93% biodegradable or upcycled materials!

Jesse Herbert’s experience in environmental technology development informed his approach to product design, with a particular focus on taking responsibility for the lifecycle of the materials. This meant substituting harmful materials such as plastic, rubber and glue, for natural and renewable materials wherever possible. Jesse was also concerned with creating a beautiful as well as function piece that would hang attractively in any room, choosing wood, leather, rope and steel for the unique rustic meets urban minimalist aesthetic.

Elegant Farm users plant seeds into small pieces of rockwool, leaving them to sprout. After a week or so, the seeds can be transplanted into one of the Elegant Farm planters to grow. The Elegant Farm is extremely energy efficient. A small air pump uses bubbles of air to lift sections of water up from the reservoir to the top of the Elegant Farm. Water drips down through each planter, back to the reservoir where it is recirculated. In addition to this, the Elegant Farm produces delicious and abundant harvests using only natural light. However, users can upgrade the system with a timer as well as grow lights to improve yields.

Photos © oopsmark

So if you’re enthusiastic about urban farming and always wanted to grow organic herbs and vegetables at home, this is your chance. Please visit the Elegant Farm kickstarter campaign and by contributing to this crowdfunding campaign, backers will help make the Elegant Farm widely available.
‘Hydroponic heaven for gardening at home’!

Design by oopsmark