What is an Indoor Farm of the Future?
The indoor farms of the future are used to bring fresh food closer to consumers. They are also an environmentally conscious way of farming. Some indoor farms grow only greens, and some grow fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, and herbs. Indoor farming is an excellent option for people who live in cities with little or no access to fresh produce. It is also beneficial for small-scale farmers who can’t make it financially viable to farm on a large scale and who want to stay in their homes and communities.
An indoor farm gives you control over the variables like temperature and humidity – factors that affect your crops and the quality of produce you grow indoors.
How to Convert Your Old Bomb Shelter into a Sustainable Farm?
Step 1. Find a Location
The first step in the process of starting a farm is to find a location. The land for sale should have enough space for livestock, crops, and other necessary structures.
A good location has water sources, electricity, and other utilities. It should also have fertile soil that will produce high yields. Farms also need to be near an urban area to sell their products to consumers.
Farmers need to evaluate the neighborhood before they buy the land because it affects their business operations in many ways. If there are homes nearby, there will be noise complaints because farms are noisy workplaces. There could also be adverse health implications if there are too many pollutants or pests in the area, which could jeopardize the safety of crops and livestock.
Step 2. Weatherproof the Site & Install Solar Panels
If you’re converting a building into a shelter, one of the essential things is weatherproofing the site.
You also need to install solar panels on the site to make sure that you can generate enough power for running an off-grid shelter. The cost will depend on the size of the top and how much work needs to be done, but generally, most people can expect to spend around $1,000 for water-tight walls.
Step 3. Install Basic Power Requirements for Livestock & Hydroponic Systems
Solar power setups are pretty expensive, but they are becoming more affordable. The panels are the most expensive part, but they last for years. The solar panel system creates electricity from sunlight and converts it to useable electric current.
Basic solar power requirements include:
-Strings of solar panels.
-Batteries or battery storage.
-Inverters or inverter/chargers.
-A charge controller(s).
-An electrical system with wiring and switches.
For the hydroponics system, you will need a growing bed, water pump, water timer, tubing, and plants. Different types of plants require different types of light. So if you are not sure which kind of plants to choose for your hydroponic system, look up the kind of light they require. The size of your growing bed can depend on how much space you have available and how much product you want to grow. If you do not have room for a large growing bed, use an aquarium or small container as an increasing bed instead.
For the livestock system, the materials needed are animal feeders and drinkers (to keep animals from polluting their water sources), livestock pens or cages (to keep animals from getting out), shelter (such as trees).
Step 4. Build the Structure From Scratch or Salvaged Materials
There are many compelling reasons to build a structure from scratch, but there are also some compelling reasons to make one from salvaged materials. The prefabricated structures offer prefabricated buildings that can be used in farmsteads and family homes. The materials used in the prefabricated buildings are fireproof and protect dwellers against natural disasters such as earthquakes.
On the other hand, makeshift shelters for farming do not usually protect against natural disasters and can be harmful to dwellers who do not have experience or skills in construction. The future of urban agriculture will be focused on more prefabricated structures instead of makeshift shelters. Bomb shelter conversion is one possibility for sustainable indoor farming. It is more of a long-term solution, whereas prefabricated structures are more immediate.
Conclusion: The Future Will Be Full of Urban Indoor Farms; Are You Ready?
We should not wait until there are catastrophes to create sustainable solutions. We can start planning for the future by building the necessary infrastructure to support it. We need to think about the future of our food security and how we can adapt to a changing climate. In extreme cases, cities will be flooded, and we need to find a way to grow produce indoors.