New Rotofarm by Bace

Love good food but worried about agriculture’s impact on the environment? Bace is the brand that is putting self-sufficient farms into our kitchens with their new and innovative creation, The Rotofarm…

Extensive industrial agriculture is helping to destroy our planet, contributing to greenhouse gasses, deforestation, irrigation problems, soil degradation, and pesticides in our environment. It seems that, as a society, we’ve forgotten where our food comes from and are adopting more and more unhealthy and processed food into our diets. Growing your food at home could be an obvious step in the right direction, but being entirely self-sufficient takes time and dedication. 

Considering this, we sat up and took notice when we came across the new Rotofarm by Bace. Designed by forward-thinking Australian student Toby Farmer, this sustainable and beautiful creation is an all-in-one zero gravity hydroponic garden, which can grow fresh vegetables right where you need them – on your kitchen countertop. 

The Rotofarm provides a family with fresh, organic produce and makes it easier to grow food at home, promoting self-sufficiency in a new way. Its clever design maximises on space to grow the most amount of food with no soil, making it perfect for both homes and apartments. Its appearance is also smart and modern, to say the least! 

Urban farming was brilliantly showcased at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show with Tom Dixon’s ‘Bespoke Outdoor Spaces’ garden which was created in collaboration with Ikea. Looking to revolutionise the future of farming and growing plants, they pioneered an experimental horticultural laboratory that was divided into two levels. The ground floor displayed impressive hydroponic technology to grow hyper-natural vegetables similar to that of the Rotofarm. 

How does it work?

If you were to unravel the circular planting bed, it would create a 1.5m long space within a 30cm footprint – helping us to maximise on worktop space. Inspired by space shuttle technology, it spins slowly and completes a full circle every hour. By doing this, it eliminates the net effect of gravitational pressure on the plants, which enables them to grow twice as fast and more freely than they would in the ground. The vegetables stay rooted in, automatically fed by the exact levels of water, beneficial bacteria, and nutrients they might need by the Rotofarm’s reserves, which you can keep topped up in the base. 

There’s no need for soil, so you won’t get any mud or dust in your kitchen as you might do with regular planters. Biodegradable coconut fibre squares are included with pre-planted seeds, simply place them inside the farm bed and watch them grow. When it is time to harvest your homegrown produce, you won’t have to get your hands dirty. Simply stop the machine from rotating and cut whatever you want to use out of the planter. Your family meals will soon feature a variety of organic vegetables, from spinach and rocket to kale and wheatgrass. No plastic wraps are required for keeping it fresh, either! 

Why we love it…

The economical LED light tube inside the Rotofarm provides all the light the plants might need, mimicking the spectral composition of sunlight. The light automatically fades on and off at optimal sunrise and sunset times. 

The Rotofarm is an innovative and pioneering creation, which can potentially reinvent how people could grow food in their own houses. With so many designers hot on the trail of ‘sustainability’ and ‘self-sufficiency’ as the buzzwords of the day, it’s reassuring that people such as Toby have put their heart and soul into improving our environment for the right reasons. Rather than wanting the idea of an indoor vegetable farm to be a novelty, Toby wanted to make sure that his Rotofarm belongs in people’s homes as a permanent feature.

While rotary systems are not new on the agriculture scene, other designs on the market are large, bulky and require huge drums of water that take up room. The Rotofarm’s design is sleek and contemporary, helping it to blend in with most kitchen styles. Designed with longevity in mind, it is made from medical-grade stainless steel, frost-smoked glass and durable silicone, meaning that it will maintain its smart finish for years to come. 

‘This device is not something that should look out of place. It should look like an incredible object in your home.’ –  Toby Farmer, Bace Rotofarm founder. 

Everything has been considered; even unwanted glare from the LED light can be covered with an optional Magnetic Climate Cover. The cover is tinted on the outside and a mirror on the inside, meaning more light reflects back inside. This ultimately creates a closed environment inside the farm, allowing for additional growing methods such as micro steaming and humidity control. 

Out of thousands of entries, the Rotofarm has made the Top 5 shortlist for the Dezeen Awards 2019, which are announced this month. So far, the product has been listed on crowdfunding website Kickstarter, so it’s very much at the beginning of its journey, but with so much interest in its potential already, this is certainly one to watch out for in the future.