It’s not easy to write about Minigarden’s story in just one post because its development didn’t happen overnight and took the help of many people, however, I’ll tell it how I experienced it. I believe you’ll find it interesting to learn how we finally achieved this brilliant, new way of planting that is set to revolutionise the way we look at urban gardening. At a first glance, Minigarden may look like just another flower pot, still a beautiful one, however, it hides a great deal of wisdom. It’s simplicity is deceiving: thought not in an obvious way, Minigarden comprises an innovative system thought to ensure the successful growth and maintaining of plants. The seed that started vertical planting It all started with my father, Manuel Maria Rodrigues, an innate entrepreneurial with experience in almost all industry groups (agriculture, industry, commerce and services). A few years agor, he began testing and designing a new planting system: a small seed of what Minigarden would become in 2007. Its genesis sprouted from a simple need — my father’s will of keeping an active life during retirement. He carefully thought, day in day out, about how he wanted to spend this stage of his life. Finally, he decided to share with his grandchildren the joy of planting strawberries. He built many vertical flower pots, which ended up being the push for a project that would soar to great heights. The strawberries came in abundance, as well as the mockups, which were regularly changed to ensure a successful picking spree. To be more precise, Minigarden started because of the agricultural background of our company...
We found out that Chef Chakall is a fan of Minigarden. As we admire him and know his reputation as an advocate of a carefully balanced and healthy diet, we asked him why he chose our systems to create his kitchen garden right next to his kitchen counters. Why did you choose Minigarden? Because it meets all my needs, because it has an automatic irrigation system and due to its quality. As I travel a lot, I have little time to look after my plants, and with Minigarden my herbs don’t need much care and attention. Do you know of a similar system? With all the features of Minigarden, don’t know any. Where do you keep your Minigarden? I have two Minigarden Vertical systems, one in my Lisbon restaurant and the other at my house in Lisbon, which I also use as a studio to record my TV programmes and give my cookery lessons. What have you planted there? I have all kinds of herbs, lemon grass, parsley, coriander, lemon balm, etc. Was it easy to install and maintain? Very easy to install, and as I have an automatic irrigation system, it’s fantastic. How do you perform maintenance on your plants and your Minigardens? I don’t have to do almost anything; as it has an automatic drip-feed irrigation system suitable for each plant, I don’t have to worry. Do you have any special tricks for looking after your plants? If so, what are they? Yes, they love listening to Mendelssohn… What do you like the most and the least about Minigarden? I like everything, because it’s practical, clean...
