Zooey Deschanel's vegetable gardening hack makes growing our own food easy – experts say it's the 'future of gardening'

Zooey Deschanel's hydroponic Lettuce Grow farmstand is the easiest way to grow vegetables in your backyard. It's highly user-friendly, design-led, and effective.

In a consumerist culture, where we want everything more and faster, there is something undeniably appealing about the idea of vegetable gardening. There is a strong allure in the slowness of the process, the connection to the earth, and the easy availability of healthy food. However, many people find it difficult to find the time to spare to work on a garden, and it feels like too much specialist knowledge is required. Deschanel's device takes the guesswork out.

The Lettuce Grow farmstand is self-watering and self-fertilizing, making hydroponic gardening a breeze. It's pretty much the ultimate vegetable garden hack. It works with a water pump to keep your plants hydrated with no effort.

'Previously, I had not been able to keep a houseplant alive for more than a week…I was shocked, to be honest, and awash in leafy greens before I knew it,' One Lettuce Grow user says. It's no surprise, then, that it's Deschanel's go-to. It's available in both indoor and outdoor varieties, with the outdoor version showcased in the backyard she shares with Property Brother Jonathan Scott.

'I think it's fun to let what's growing to guide me on what to cook,' says Deschanel of how her Lettuce Grow has impacted her gardening habits. She continues, ' It inspires me to cook things I wouldn’t cook if I were just going to the store and grabbing ingredients.' The urge to start a vegetable garden this second has never been so strong.

'I like designing my weekly menus around what I have growing, then that leads me to find and discover what to shop for at the store that complements the ingredients I have growing on the farmstand.'

Though the device seems fascinatingly novel in Zooey Deschanel's backyard, it's actually part of a much larger popular turn to hydroponic gardening. 'Hydroponics' refers to a form of gardening where plants are cultivated without soil and periodically watered with a nutrient-rich liquid, transforming growing plants into a simpler, cleaner process. These systems are most promising for the way they simplify indoor gardening, making for an increasing gardening trend as more and more people move to urban areas.

Thom Rutter, master gardener and content editor at Homes & Gardens writes: 'Hydroponic growing systems are shaping the future of indoor gardening. The potential of this innovative method of growing plants without soil is thrilling, enabling those who reside in rental units or those who do not have access to outside space to grow delicious crops.' Whether you are an avid outdoor gardener, or more of a citydweller, tools like Deschanel's farmstand are an excellent way to hop on the trend.

Zooey Deschanel's Lettuce Grow system is an inspiring reminder that growing your own food doesn't have to be a far off dream; it's right here, right now, and it's the future.