Urban Edibles

What is Urban Edibles?

Urban Edibles is dedicated to helping urban dwellers with full lives to successfully cover their balconies, windowsills or rooftops with edible crops. We are aware that many potential urban farmers quite simply can’t find the time to inform themselves on all the issues around growing food and are further hampered by the tricky logistics of getting supplies of seed, soil and pots into their homes.

Are you the kind of person who regularly wonders why that basil plant from the supermarket always dies on you? You might be the CEO of a major company, but if you’ve never grown so much as a bean sprout then you’re going to need clear and well researched advice on what is appropriate for you and how to grow it successfully.

Once we’ve helped you choose appropriate plants, we’ll offer you a starter ‘toolkit’ with all you need to grow your plants into bountiful banquets – the seeds, pots, soil and simple but comprehensive instructions that won’t insult your intelligence. Best of all, we’ll deliver it to your door (we’ll start with Rotterdam and expand this service to other cities as far and wide as your demand takes us).

Put simply: There is a need for new tools and services that help urbanites choose and grow edible plants. Urban Edibles is filling that need.

The ‘Matching Engine’ of Urban Edibles

The aspect of the project we are seeking your support for is for the creation of an innovative online ‘engine’ for matching plants to people. A piece of online software that will be able to match your motivations and situation to plants that are inspiring to you and also realistic for your lifestyle and the opportunities your space provides. We need your support to pay for the development of the software, for (further) research into appropriate plants for the launch version and for associated costs of actually getting this tool online and fully functional.

This ‘engine’ is really the core of our product so we want and need to start here. The funding you provide will get this useful resource up and running, providing a start for us as we work towards building all of the products and services described above.

The creation of the engine will take us a few months from the moment of funding. When this engine is online, you will be able to use it straight away, even before all our other plans have come to fruition. Your contribution will have helped create something that is extremely useful to urban farmers the world over.

Who is Urban Edibles?

The faces behind Urban Edibles are Marten Witkamp, Sophia van Ruth and Eefje Ernst, three entrepreneurial members of The Hub Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The plant matching engine will be developed primarily by Marten and Sophia as Eefje is on a creative sabbatical. Her skills will come back online as we get to the toolkit making stage, where her talents are most relevant.

We are social entrepreneurs, meaning that we are motivated by our ability to achieve positive change. We are on a mission: to make cities buzz with sustainable food production.

Inspired yet?

So… Why might you want to support this initiative? Well, for one thing you might simply want the product! Once we have created the matching engine you will have full access to it online even whilst we are developing it further. You may also want to support our goals. One of our aims is to reconnect savvy citysiders to one of the most fundamental things that supports their lives – the growing of food. We are further motivated to green up the urban landscape and supplement downtown food supplies with the most local produce you can get – that which is grown right next to your kitchen! 

Alternatively, you might be a sucker for one or more of our fantastic prizes!

N.B. Please note that if we do not reach our funding target, it may not be possible for us to create the intended engine to match plants to people. At least: not very soon. We will put all contributions - under or over the €6000 target - in our ongoing Urban Edibles funding account and carry out our ambitious plans from there.  

See our website at www.urbanedibles.eu
More project details available if you are interested.