First pass under a rumbling elevated subway and then walk up five flights of stairs, there you'll find a bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables growing in an apartment window. Chives, red leaf lettuce, sage, basil, even strawberries, all growing above each other and next to each other like Hollywood squares.
We're in the Brooklyn apartment of Britta Riley, the founder of Windowfarms and she's invited us to her Brooklyn loft to check out the future of urban, home farming.
A Windowfarm is a vertical hydroponic farm that's set up in a window and can grow certain fruits, vegetables and herbs year round based on the season, even in winter. To feed the plants, a clear plastic tube is connected to a pump on a timer that circulates a nutrient rich solution directly to your plants root systems.
Up until now, Windowfarms have all been homemade, crafted from plastic bottles and other materials listed on the open source Windowfarms website free for anyone to use. There are already nearly 25,000 window farmers, but due to $250,000 in funding raised by a recent Kickstarter campaign, a commercially manufactured Windowfarm will be available for pre-order this weekend, and delivered in March.
Growing your own food at home is rewarding, economical and as fresh as you can get. Literally rip a piece of basil or sage and cook with it while it's still alive. Visit the Windowfarms Store to get your own.