The Stem Garden was inspired by Austin Kerr-Valentic’s stackable planter design submitted in response to a Quirky design challenge to create a completely new rainy weather garden product from start to finish in 24 hours.
The final design of the indoor/outdoor Stem Garden was influenced by Nikki Laffel’s sketch that incorporated the elegance and simplicity of champagne flutes into a planting system. The Stem Garden is available for presale at a discount: It will retail for about $39 and comes with a variety of herb seeds, instructions and the tagline,“Fresh Herbs in Your Kitchen.”
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Crowdsourcing for Garden Products
- The success of the Stem Garden shows that there is potential for crowdsourcing ideas in garden product design.
- Design Challenges for Rapid Innovation
- Quirky's 24-hour design challenge proved that it is possible to take an innovative garden product from conceptualization to production in a short amount of time.
- Hybrid Indoor/outdoor Gardening
- The Stem Garden's versatility to be used both indoors and outdoors presents an opportunity for companies to capitalize on the trend of small-space gardening.
Sectors Adopting This
- Home and Garden
- The Stem Garden offers a unique and affordable option for home gardeners who want to grow fresh herbs in their kitchens.
- Crowdsourcing Platforms
- Companies that specialize in crowdsourcing ideas, such as Quirky, can capitalize on the success of the Stem Garden by offering more design challenges in the home and garden space.
- Sustainable Agriculture Startups
- With the increasing popularity of small-space gardening and indoor gardening, startups that specialize in sustainable agriculture products can benefit from creating products that cater to these markets.
