Growing underground: how to grow your own veg in a small space, by the urban farmer feeding London from a bomb shelter

London is an overcrowded city, with demand for affordable homes far outstripping supply, and space – both inside and out – at a premium.

It is understandable, then, that many city dwellers feel unable to try their hand at growing vegetables. No garden, no gardening, right?

Wrong. Hidden 100ft below Clapham’s busy streets is a disused World War II air raid shelter, from which urban farmer Richard Ballard has been quietly feeding the city.

Sunlight and soil have not been necessary for London’s first underground farm to thrive. The team at Growing Underground uses modern hydroponic technology – complete with rave-style pink LEDs – to grow herbs and salad leaves without depending on the weather.

This method of farming has minimal impact on the environment, using no pesticides and 70 per cent less water than traditionally-grown varieties of microgreens (leaves harvested small like cress, radish and basil). The systems are powered with renewable energy and carbon neutrality should soon be possible, thanks largely to the central location that gives the produce a longer shelf life in local stores.

Richard stumbled upon the two half-kilometre tunnels after making a film about London’s secret spaces. He was fascinated by how our ever-growing capital would sustain itself in the future. He began researching the subject and discovered that it was possible to grow a lot of food in a small space, as long as he had the right equipment.

Growing Underground, which now supplies Ocado and M&S, currently uses just 20 per cent of the 65,000sq ft at its disposal. They are busy scaling up the business this year, and Richard isn’t ruling out the possibility of working with restaurants and property developers on a consultancy basis further down the line.

“The United Nations predicts that we will need 70 per cent more food by 2050, so we’ve got to start thinking differently about how we produce food,” he says. “Individuals producing their own food is a positive and important step.”

Richard has noticed more city gardens and allotments popping up, but he also wants Londoners without access to such a space to feel more confident about growing their own at home.

Despite hailing from a family of growers, Richard had never attempted to grow his own microgreens before getting started in the tunnel.

Here are his top tips for newbies with limited space and a tight budget:

START SMALL

Everyone remembers growing cress in eggshells at school, and there’s no reason why adults can’t recreate it. Simply buy some absorbent paper, wet it and sprinkle with cress seeds. Water it every day and watch what happens. Soil could also be used.

INVEST IN THE KIT

There are several hydroponics stores dotted around London but Ikea also has a range of affordable grow kits. The Krydda/Växer includes everything you need, including a lidded nursey for seedlings; an eight-pot, water-retaining tray to transfer them to once they sprout; an LED cultivation lamp and fertiliser. It is just 44cm wide, 25cm deep and 42cm high, so could live on bookshelves, under tables or behind sofas and costs £63.50.

GET THE ENVIRONMENT RIGHT

If you have a window ledge, set your box up there to make use of the natural sunlight. If you are in a shady basement flat, or simply lacking on the ledge front, pick up a low-energy LED cultivation lamp for around £30 (Ikea sell these separately if you already have a nursery and sprout tray). Plug in a timer and it’s easy to fake day and night for your seedlings, 365 days a year, no floor-to-ceiling windows required.

BUILD IT UP

Microgreens can grow in anything so long as the environment is right, taking just five to 15 days. Next, try growing baby leaves, which take 20-30 days, or be bold and aim for full heads of lettuce in 30-40 days. Before you know it, you’ll have caught the grow-your-own bug…

JOIN FORCES

If this all sounds too intimidating, why not see if any neighbours fancy trying their hand at urban farming with you? If you live in a block, ask the people who own it if there is somewhere you could set up a community garden.

“We’re well known in London for not knowing our neighbours because life is so hectic and busy,” says Richard. “Small-scale urban farming is a great way of reconnecting with people that live locally.”

Richard Ballard from Growing Underground, the UK’s first subterranean urban farm, will be speaking more about the future of technology and agriculture at TEDxClapham this Sunday. Tickets are available here.