Feargus O’Sullivan
CityLab
London’s newest urban farm proves that with the right equipment, you can grow food just about anywhere. The 1,805-square-foot carbon-neutral project has one of the strangest locations of any city horticulture project. It’s located 115 feet below a busy South London street, inside a sprawling World War Two air raid shelter. The new farm, run by the company Growing Underground, opened its doors to the press for the first time this week and will release its first crops onto the market later this month.
Just off a major road, the surface entrance of the farm is a small warehouse—the size of a corner grocery store—that gives no hint of the experiment beneath. Founding a farm here is more than just a clever use of agricultural technology. It has created a literal secret garden.
When I visited on Monday, it was a surreal experience to say the least. After rattling down in an old elevator, I landed in what looks like a greener version of some Bond villain’s lair. The warm growing tunnels have jarringly bright, antiseptic-looking light and sweet, sticky air that hangs heavy with the faint smell of moldy cabbage. Visitors to the site must cover their feet in plastic protectors and enter through thick plastic doors designed to keep any bacteria at bay. During my visit, an attendant was fretting about swatting a lone housefly that somehow made it down the shaft, though not as far as the crops themselves. Beyond the growing space, dingy tunnels stretch out on two levels as yet unused. It feels far from everyday London, but all the while you can hear the rattle of subway trains, hurtling past on a track just a few meters above the farm.
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