SIP Furniture: A Peek Into The Future

via www.metrovegetable.com

Who would recognize that these plants are growing in EarthBox sub-irrigated planters (SIPs)? A company named Metro Vegetable is making fine-furniture planters that hide them. It is located in North Carolina, a traditional furniture manufacturing center of the U.S. that has been hard hit by Asian competition (especially China).

Note that this is the same design concept used by Cabbage Patch Garden a business started by a carpenter in Minneapolis. The difference is that Cabbage Patch Garden is marketing them as edible gardens rather than just furniture.

I see furniture like this as a peek into the future of urban greenscaping, not just for edible plants but for decorative plants as well. Plants are plants. It matters not whether you eat their fruit or simply enjoy their presence in your home.

The significant difference is that edible, flowering plants require much more light than the sub-tropical foliage plants commonly used for interior plantscaping. LED lighting, portability and other techniques will help to resolve this in the future. 

I have no doubt that modern greenscaping methods like SIPs will be incorporated into houses and apartments of the future. SIPs and composters like the NatureMill will be concealed just like the rest of the plumbing in our kitchens and bathrooms.

There are new manufacturing and service provider jobs here. We just need to get past the dirt hugger obstructionism that holds us back. Education and the will to do it is the key.