Growing your own produce isn’t just a money-saver, it’s also doing the planet a favour.
Elliot Webb from Urban Farm-It explains how, and why mushrooms are key
What are the major challenges to world food production?
Where do I start? There are so many worldwide challenges when it comes to food production: climate, biology, technology, social attitudes. As climate change starts to have a more drastic effect, these challenges will only be exacerbated. We’re a society built on the foundations of small-scale cultivation but as the world becomes increasingly interconnected, we suddenly have factory monoculture separating us from an appreciation of the source of our food and removing our food sovereignty as individuals.
What is the goal of Urban Farm-It?
Our goal is to encourage a positive shift in food culture in the UK and beyond! Through easy-to-use products, clear educational resources and consultancy, we want to kickstart a sustainable food revolution. If we can develop accessible products and offer sources of engaging learning that change our culture around food, we can then enable individuals to change their behaviours in a positive way. This will have a ripple effect through the generations, going beyond our brand and into the wider world, with people able to benefit themselves through a more self-sufficient lifestyle and lower reliance on mainstream produce.
What are aquaponics and hydroponics?
Hydroponics is a method of growing plants beyond a traditional soil-based setup. By directly running nutrient-rich water through the roots, we can feed and support the plant. It’s great for utilising space that we wouldn’t traditionally be able to grow in and the result is far greater yields and efficiency.
Aquaponics is a form of aquaculture that builds on the foundations of hydroponics. Instead of adding plant nutrients directly, you rely on fish waste and the nitrogen cycle to supply the nutrients for the crops to grow. In doing this, the plants keep the water clean, keeping the fish healthy and creating a self-sustaining eco system. This method of growing is an exact replica of a natural cycle, harnessed for our benefit.
What’s particularly appealing about mushroom cultivation?
Mushroom cultivation can be achieved by anyone anywhere. By harnessing the power of mushrooms, even someone with barely any indoor and no outdoor space can have success, which is a powerful thing. In my view, incorporating mushroom cultivation is an essential step towards self-sustained food and medicine production globally.
Of course, some varieties are more of a challenge to grow than others, but all mushrooms have an impressive range of beneficial properties. For example, there is research into Lion’s Mane mushrooms which suggests it could be the key to tackling dementia. This area of research is something that is very close to me as I have family that suffer from the disease, which as anyone knows normally leaves you feeling helpless. Starting Urban Farm-It has taught me to look beyond traditional solutions and delve deeper into the world around us for answers. Mushrooms are the key to this investigation.
What mushroom grower products does Urban Farm-It offer?
Urban Farm-It is edging ever closer to being the mushroom growing one-stop-shop of choice.
We started with selling kits and other “first time grower” products, to encourage users into the concepts and to provide educational material to support them on their first time out.
Then we made the leap into distributing mushroom spawn (the technical term for mushroom seeds). Fast forward two years and we are currently the largest distributor of mushroom grain spawn and dowels (wooden plugs) in the country with over 68 different varieties and 100 different products. I never expected it, but we offer everything from advanced grow bags that reduce contamination to basic growing kits that are a great gift.
How do you take the next step to becoming a mushroom farmer?
The best place to start is always with one of our oyster mushroom growing kits. It has detailed instructions and teaching resources which give you the foundations before you expand your skill set into other methods such as bucket grows, bag grows, or outdoor bed grows. You don’t always need to start here though. Step-by-step guides for host methods can be found on our YouTube channel “Urban Farm-it” and our blog guides on the website.
The key is to keep progressing your range of techniques and species until you find a niche that suits your growing environment and the local market. After all, there is no point in growing fresh produce if you can’t sell it locally! And if you can’t find that niche or keep hitting a brick wall, our consultancy service can help.
How can Urban Farm-It help by offering consultancy services?
The Urban Farm-It Consultancy Co-operative is a new model for consultation services and something that we’re very proud of. Over the years we have built up a network of specialists who are all enthusiastic about sustainability and experts in the methods associated with it.
Rather than enlisting a single consultant for a project, with Urban Farm-It you engage the co-operative. We will select the experts and engage them on your behalf. For each specific challenge within a project, the best suited consultant will then tackle that individual challenge, whilst collaborating with the other consultants to keep the project on track. However, all this expertise comes under a single fee: for example, a day fee may be compromised of four 2-hour time slots from four different consultants, offering incredible value and knowledge for your money. Many brains are better than one!
What is the story behind Urban Farm-It?
I studied Aquaculture at University, which unexpectedly took me on a fish-farming world tour that offered a rare learning opportunity; not just from different cultures, but also from observing many ecosystems.
Whilst on the move, I spotted that there was a huge disconnection between large scale food production methods and what everyday people can grow at home. Being so far from home and the safety of my family, I developed a deep feeling that I wanted to leave the world in a better place than I found it, using the privilege of my experiences to be a part of building a sustainable food future. The combination of these thoughts led to the birth of Urban Farm-It, which was shared by a Brummie lad, and now best mate named Isaac that I met in Vietnam.
Back in the UK; Urban Farm-It started trading the same week that Boris announced the first lockdown, throwing all previous business plans out the window. This challenging period taught us that business is a juggling act of reaction to changes in the world, much like an ecosystem! I think that where we are today, the product offering and ethos that we have, has all been bred from the need to be dynamic, innovative and sympathetic to the needs of our customers and clients through one of the most difficult periods of living memory. We also came out of it with an acute awareness that the way the UK produced food was not working and a drive to keep going regardless of what was thrown our way.
Where can we find out more about Urban Farm-It?
Check us out on Instagram @urban.farm.it or through our website www.urban-farm-it.com, where you can find out more about consultancy, products and access learning tools.
