(Photo courtesy of InHouse Produce, and used with permission.)

 

What if your favorite restaurant grew fresh vegetables in their dining area?  What if they could harvest them, just in time to add to your salad or entree?

That's the concept behind Los Angeles-based startup InHouse Produce.

Visitors to upscale restaurants tend to "ooh", "aah" and share on social media when they see InHouse Produce's vertical displays.  They offer restaurants more than 100 different varieties of fresh veggies in a hydroponic edible wall.

And by doing so, they're using a concept dating back to ancient Babylon: vertical farming.  Then, they add sensors and twenty-first century LED lighting to create the environment favorable for growing a specific crop.  Staff at InHouse Produce can also monitor the crops' progress in real time.

Co-founder Andrew Blume showed us the setup during Maker Walk LA 2019, during our stop at Soylent Innovation Lab.

Several weeks after Maker Walk LA, Andrew shared the story of InHouse Produce, his experiences with vertical agriculture and some of the common challenges with creating vertical farms.

(Photo courtesy of InHouse Produce, and used with permission.)
On this edition of Over Coffee®, you will hear:

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How Andrew first became interested in vertical farming;

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Some of the common challenges of vertical farming which don't occur to most people;

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The story of InHouse Produce (they started in Pennsylvania in 2017);

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How Andrew became involved after the company moved to Los Angeles;

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The ways the different varieties of plants are chosen to appeal to different types of chefs;

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Why vertical farming can be more sustainable than its traditional counterpart;

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Some of the art and science considerations for planning and growing indoor microfarms;

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A walk-through of the process when a client gets a microfarm;

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A resource for individuals to create their own, smaller indoor vertical system;

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An amazing experience which Andrew had, as an entrepreneur;

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Which crops may grow best, in the future, as space travel to Mars becomes feasible!