Located inside the concrete walls of the University of Washington's Condon Hall lies a hidden gem: a hydroponic indoor farm called Project Indoor Farm (Project IF).
Hydroponics is a method of farming that doesn't use soil but instead an aqueous solution. The garden — which began as a postdoctoral project by Kurt Kung in 2018 to research a micro-bubbling invention — is now an RSO sponsored by the food systems, nutrition, and health program in the School of Public Health and the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering. Amelie Gahagan, a fourth-year finance and environmental studies undergraduate, has been part of Project IF for her entire UW career and has witnessed the evolution of herself and the club.
"When we first started, we were only growing like three lettuce heads … we had to restart pretty much from scratch," Gahagan said.
Project IF primarily focuses on research, community building, and teaching about hydroponics. From leafy greens like lettuce, kale, and arugula, to herbs and fruiting crops like tomatoes and peppers, Project IF has grown it all. Some of the crops grown on the farm are shared and used in meals by the group.
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