As a member of the World Future Society based in Jakarta, Indonesia, we often receive information on anything futuristic.

Scenarios for the future of urban farming, a blog post by Freija van Duijne last year, came up with basic scenarios that are still in a preliminary stage.

With a simple drawing van Duijne explains how LED technology, sensor technology and all sorts of ICT applications are affordable to apply for indoor, layered crop production. Various companies have demonstrated this to be economically successful in producing fruits and vegetables.

Meanwhile, another concept developed two years ago, The Kitchen Nano Garden, promotes growing a vegetable garden right in your kitchen, without help from sun or rain.

Little did we know that it is not a concept anymore, we actually had these high-tech vegetables at the No Rules dinner in London with Chef Ben Spalding that we blogged about here.

Before the event started Mattia Bianchi, one of Ben’s assistants put a box of greens on the table.

At some points when preparing the no menu dishes, Ben cut some herbs from the box and decorated the plates. He offered a bunch of tiny leaves to us, without washing them. We didn’t know what we were tasting, but for sure we sensed the freshness and crunchiness.

While busy garnishing, Ben said that the vegetables grew in Farmino, an appliance installed at his place in September that can grow what you need by using LED lighting.

Information comes to his cell phone when the greens are ready to be consumed. We were so impressed with the idea that we googled Farmino, read everything that we could put our eyes on and wrote them an email asking for more details.

Jason Hirst the Managing Director of Evogro Ltd, a start up company at the East Malling Research campus in Kent, one of the leading horticultural research institutions in the UK that makes Farmino, promptly replied:

“The Farmino,“ he explains, “is an indoor plant growing system that makes it easy for restaurants to grow their own salad leaves, herbs and microgreens. You can put it more or less anywhere indoors and it works all year round. It uses specialist LED lighting, hydroponics and smart cloud software to create perfect plant growing conditions, optimized for the particular crops the customer has selected.”

Microgreens are small and young seedlings with tiny leaves less than 14 days old, ideal for garnishes to salads, sandwiches and soups. A scientific analysis of nutrients in microgreens, as reported by the National Public Radio, indicates that leaves from almost all 25 microgreens in the analysis had four to six times more nutrients than the mature leaves of the same plant.

In one Farmino newsletter we read that seeds are selected and sown onto a wool and hessian mat. You just have to activate the hydroponic system, then sit back and wait for mother nature to work her magic.

The picture below, from Farmino website, shows a contrast of a lettuce seedlings started on the same day. One grown on a south-facing windowsill (left) and the other from the same seed group grown in a Farmino (right).

An article about futuristic dining by Will Yums, 2063 Dining by Ben Spalding and Miele at London Design Festival  , explains how the cloud computing works: “It is linked to an i-pad app so you can control everything on the go, just have a look and see what it needs adjusting and control it all via the app where ever you are in the world!”

Farmino produces excellent, consistent plants without pesticides nor herbicides and you can pick them just when needed, so they are at their freshest and have great flavor, aroma and texture, just like we experienced at No Rules.

Jason Hirst informed us that Evogro Ltd. has been working with a number of chefs and restaurants on the development of the system.

In addition to Chef Ben Spalding, Graham Garret also has Farmino on trial beginning in October. Chef Graham Garrett was a London-born former rock drummer and songwriter before he worked with renowned chefs and owned The West House in Kent that earned his Michelin star in 2004. 

The first Farmino was installed for Chef Neil Gill in May of this year at the Season Kitchen and Dining Room.  This modern British eatery follows the season and like to use produce when it's at its freshest and most abundant, when food tastes at its best.

The one at the Season Kitchen, as written in Farmino News, was laden with six types of mustard, two of kale, two of rocket, several varieties of mustard, amaranth and five types of fragrant basil. Green shoots were visible on day three and in just ten days, produce from the Farmino was on the dining menu.

Every Farmino is custom built to conveniently fit whatever space you have. Four shelves give you opportunity to rotate the crops and grow a nice variety.

People have been asking where to buy Farmino, but Evogro said, for now its for professional chefs only.

We at Omar Niode Foundation wish Envogro Ltd. a huge success and hope that this private company, established in 2011, will be able to globally commercialize Farmino so that we do not have to make special trips to London to relish the healthy futuristic microgreens.

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Images: Evogro Ltd., Freija van Duijne, Neil Gill, Sdecoret/Shutterstock, Omar Niode Foundation