Organic produce and non-GMO foods have become wildly popular in recent years due to new scientific insight that demonstrates the negative health impact of artificial agricultural processes.
GMO, or genetically-modified foods, are vegetable and fruit products that are grown from crops that have had their DNA modified through genetic engineering to increased crop yield, improve growth capacity, and more.
Many recent studies have shown that GMO food is linked to accelerated aging, infertility, poor immune system and a slew of other damaging health effects. In response to this information, more and more consumers are choosing to grow their own greens at home to avoid these potentially damaging products. Growing your own food in a small living space such as an apartment, however, can be difficult.
ēdn Tech is a new smart system designed from the ground up to streamline the process of growing herbs and vegetables at home. Blending cutting edge micro-agricultural science with a sleek contemporary design, ēdn tech products have been featured on popular entrepreneurial television program Shark Tank as well as gaining attention from media outlets like TechCrunch and Urban Gardens.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the design, functions, and features of the ēdn Tech range to find out exactly how they make growing your own healthy food at home to help you decide whether this intelligent micro-farming solution is right for you.
What is ēdn Tech?
ēdn, or “ēdn” tech, as it’s creatively spelled on the product website, is a new startup offering consumers the ability to grow their own healthy, GMO-free food at home. The ēdn team describes their mission statement as a desire to change the way the world grows and consumes food by providing products in which art, nature and technology merge.
The ēdn range promises to “make gardening simple”. Consisting of two separate products- a wall-based vertical home garden and a countertop grow box, the ēdn range provides eager home gardeners with an intelligent indoor garden that is intended to take the guesswork and frustration out of growing food.
The core ēdn tech system is the ēdn SmallGarden, which is the smaller, counter-top version, while the WallGarden is a scaled up, high capacity version of the same concept.
Both of the ēdn solutions are much more than your average home grow box. Automated, wifi-enabled, intelligent and stylishly designed, the ēdn mini-farms are attractive and contemporary in addition to functioning as effective and efficient home gardens.
Let’s take a closer look at each of the ēdn solutions to find out how they work:
The Edn SmallGarden
The ēdn SmallGarden is a unique fusion of home gardening and modern technology. Handcrafted from high-quality materials, the SmallGarden resembles an indoor planter box with an in-built handle, but hides a surprising amount of tech behind the contemporary design.
The outer frame of the SmallGarden is made of wood harvested from Oregon, with tasteful aluminum finishes sourced from a Texas production facility. The entire package is manufactured in Colorado, and is constructed to extremely high quality standards.
Incorporated into the handle of the SmallGarden is an automated LED system that provides growing plants with an optimized spectrum of light to promote fast and healthy development, while drawing only a small amount of power.
The growbox section of the SmallGarden incorporates a host of sensors, determining the moisture level of the herbs and vegetables growing within, and relaying information to users via a wifi connection.
A built-in water tank provides plants with water on an automated schedule, meaning all users need to do to grow healthy, chemical-free food at home is set up the SmallGarden, fill the nutrient and water trays, and manage the device via a custom-built iphone app.
Each SmallGarden box is capable of growing 12 different plants. The ēdn website also provides a range of SeedPods, or pre-prepared soil and seed mixes for users to drop into their SmallGarden, but it’s possible to use your own seeds and soil.
The ēdn WallGarden
The ēdn WallGarden is a scaled-up model of the SmallGarden that can grow up to 14 different large plants at once, and provides a sleek and stylish addition to any kitchen or home. Consisting of two separate growbox levels with mounted LED growlights, the WIFI-enabled WallGarden is as easy to use as the SmallGarden.
One of the major advantages of using both the ēdn Wallgarden and the SmallGarden is that neither of the solutions require fertilizer or dirt, creating a mess-free solution that grows healthy natural food in an anti-microbial and dishwasher-safe reservoir.
A community of ēdn garden users is available on the website, presented as a general forum in which WallGarden and SmallGarden owners can discuss topics such as the best growing practices, positioning tips, and techniques for getting the most out of the growbox.
The ēdn Market
Edn SmallGarden and WallGarden owners are able to purchase seed lots, called SeedPods, Capillary Mats for growing small greens, and plant food from a marketplace on the ēdn website.
Competitively priced and complete with a vast range of seeds including basil, mint, parsley, and more, the ēdn market is a simple way for users to order replacement seed stocks for their home growing device.
The ēdn home garden solutions are almost completely autonomous- users are able to leave both the SmallGarden and WallGarden to self-manage for up to two weeks at a time, and as the entire unit draws less energy than the typical household light bulb, it’s extremely cost-effective.
Food grown in the ēdn home garden is as nutritious, if not more so, than store-bought herbs and vegetables, and are free from the pesticides and synthetic additives that are used in the production of these foodstuffs.
Edn SmallGarden Verdict
Both the ēdn SmallGarden and WallGarden are unique, high tech solutions to the frustrating problem of growing your own food at home. Although ēdn products are slightly more expensive than the average bench top grow box, the quality different definitely shows, and the intelligent automation offered by the range make the entire home farming process easy and simple.
If you’re considering growing your own herbs and vegetables at home but lack a suitably green thumb, the ēdn range is an attractive and reliable solution.
