Estonia-based Natufia Labs has brought its fully automated indoor hydroponic Kitchen Garden appliance to the U.S. market.
Developed by chefs for chefs, the Kitchen Garden allows anyone to grow almost any herbs, vegetables, and microgreens right in their kitchen all year round without pesticides, the company says.
The company says the Kitchen Garden is the world's first fully integrated and automated hydroponic kitchen garden.
"The Natufia Kitchen Garden goes beyond farm-to-fork and provides herbs and plants from kitchen-to-table," says Gregory Lu, Natufia co-founder. "Moreover, it reduces waste in the food supply chain and gives the homeowners year-round control over what they want to grow, regardless of climate or season. "
As the company explains it, the Kitchen Garden features technology that automatically maintains the perfect light, temperature, water, and pH level to ensure optimal health for the plants. It also optimizes all minerals, nutrients and vitamins for the non-GMO leaves and flowers. Since it is controlled indoors, homeowners do not need to worry about pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. “These are year-round, 24/7, kitchen-to-table ingredients without the concern of weather challenges or seasons,” the company says.
“With the combination of our robust technology and high-end design, you can now practice a sustainable lifestyle and eat healthy while minimizing your environmental impact through packaging, pollution, food miles, food waste and toxins,” Lu says.
- The company says the system works like this:
- Homeowners choose their seedpods.
- Owners place the seedpods into a nursery tray, which provides the perfect spectrum of light needed for plants to grow—strong enough for germination and low enough to keep the roots unstressed.
- The next step is transferring seedlings from the tray into the ceramic cups. Two pull-out racks hold 32 cups and a total of 165 microgreen plates. The cups are poreless, helping to minimize bacteria and keep the plants healthy.
- Watering is fully automated. The unit controls the pH levels to ensure the best health for the plants.
Once the produce is ready to harvest, homeowners can pick what they need just they would in an outdoor garden.
Natufia Labs says the seeds of the system are “strictly non-GMO, certified both organic and Demeter—today's most strict certification for seeds.” Seeds come in individual seedpods and can grow anything from basil to lemongrass. “The unit simultaneously grows 32 plants in handmade ceramic cups,” the company says. “The watering is fully automated, cascading from the top, down to each cup. This ensures that each plant receives the necessary amount of water and nutrients, which are dissolved directly into the water. Each Kitchen Garden can produce enough plants and herbs to ensure two harvests a day.”
Each Kitchen Garden is Wi-Fi-enabled, allowing homeowners to connect via mobile device and monitor and control the machine through the cloud. It also has three playlists to play music for the plants: classical, ambiance and nature sounds.
Other features of the Kitchen Garden include specially developed LED lights that mimic daylight and provide the optimal range of the light spectrum for plant growth; tinted glass so people can see their plants growing in real time; food-grade stainless steel for aesthetics and a clean environment for plants; and a design that can easily be integrated seamlessly into any high-end kitchen aesthetic like other appliances.
The Kitchen Garden fits most kitchens, the company says, and plugs into the wall like a small dishwasher. It’s available with a 30-day delivery time, the brand says.