Tunnel vision

The future is fresh herbs cultivated underground

SOME 33 METRES BELOW Clapham High Street in a tunnel that runs for half a kilometre, a bed of pea shoots is ready to be harvested. No more than 10cm tall, their tips, framed by curling tendrils, taste crisp and vibrant – pure pea. Around them are other microgreens and herbs – including rocket, coriander and pink-stem radish – growing in trays stacked like bunk beds under the glow of LED lights. It ’s a fieldscape-meets-science laboratory, and originate d, explains Steven Dring, from an argument with his friend Richard Ballard.

‘We were discussing the future of cities and how to feed the population. We wondered how you could grow fresh produce in a small footprint.’ Inspired by books on the subject, Dring and Ballard quit their jobs and sought out an urban site to cultivate. The London tunnel, built as a Second World War airraid shelter, proved perfect.

Cool, dark and quiet (save for the rumble of Tube trains above), they provide a controlled environment for crops – no pests, no weather. A hydroponics system means seeds are sown on recycled carpet instead of soil and the water is constantly reused. ‘LED lights mimic night and day,’ says Dring. ‘It’s not your usual farm.’ Top chefs clamour to use Growing Underground’s punchy wasabi and fennel shoots, and this Wednes- day mixed boxes of the microherbs will roll out in 30 Marks & Spencer stores. ‘I spend my time trying to shorten our supply chains,’ says Charlie Curtis, who hunts out sustainable suppliers for the supermarket, ‘and we just fell in love with what they’re doing down there.’ Boxes cost £2.50 from Wednesday until 3 October, then £3, from Marks & Spencer (marksandspencer.com)

From top In tunnels 33 metres below ground, microgreens and herbs are cultivated; vibrant coriander growing via a hydroponics system