Since lockdown, almost two-thirds of people in the UK have been inspired to grow more of their own food and plants at home. Perhaps like me, you now have an expanding collection of funky green houseplants that have added a bit of botanical style to your house, and perhaps like me, have lost one or two of those along the way. For reasons unknown to the beginner indoor gardener, one day that plant took a turn for the worse and never recovered, leaving you asking those head-scratching questions: Did I overwater? Did it get too hot? Did my partner kill it because he’s getting fed up with the house being taken over by plants and me constantly asking him to admire their lusciousness?
Whatever the reason, research carried out by Samsung showed that a huge 74% of Brits believe technology can assist with successfully growing our own food and plants at home, by doing everything from setting watering reminders, to controlling temperature and moisture. Acknowledging this trend, Samsung UK launched an exciting new initiative with the UK’s very first urban farm-to-table pizzeria. I was lucky enough to check out this awe-inspiring pop-up experience, joining Samsung in exploring how our roots in connectivity and tech can inspire the way we all select, grow and consume food.
Arriving at a trendy industrial indoor space in Dalston, ‘The Film Shed’, I was met with a galactic atmosphere consisting of huge greenhouse-like, geometric domes in which crops of mushrooms, tomatoes, basil, and rocket were all growing under special-coloured lights. I was also greeted with the smell of pizza and knew that I was in for a very exciting evening. After being handed a small tray for my pizza toppings, which I was to harvest myself, I was taken on an interactive journey through the immersive domes which each individually housed hydroponic basil, rocket microgreens, an indoor mushroom farm and hydroponic tomatoes.
Whilst on my pizza topping harvest journey, experts taught me all about the Samsung devices that controlled the connective technology in each ecosystem. Everything from the colour of the lights in the tomato domes to the irrigation of the two-metre towers of leafy greens and even the capturing of the ‘growing sounds’ of the mushrooms, was all enabled via Samsung’s clever technology, known as their ‘SmartThings Platform’.
Once I had been enlightened by Samsung’s innovation and had secured my ideal combination of unbeatably fresh ingredients, my favourite award-winning plant-based Pizzeria, Purezza, cooked up my pizza to perfection, adding a base of vegan cheese and pesto. As I sipped on my veggie cocktail, a ‘Mushroom Mary’ I considered how through Project Plant, Samsung has been able to demonstrate how tech can support small space growing, using connected technology to help facilitate small changes that make a big difference to how and where plants can be grown. Project Plant has showcased what can be achieved with technology, encouraging everyone to think about the way they grow, shop and eat. Here’s to keeping more pot-plants alive and maybe even growing a vegetable or two at home!
