When you're “bugging-in” or hunkering down in one location for extended periods of time, it quickly becomes necessary to find sustainable food sources. No matter how many supplies you've stockpiled, if you can't leave your home, you're going to run out eventually.

In many cases, this means raising livestock or small-scale farming, but these methods aren't possible in a dense urban environment. If you're living in a small apartment or windowless basement, there's often not enough space, airflow, or sunlight to grow large plants.

A group called Studio We Love Eames has developed a product called the Mygdal Plant Lamp specifically for windowless rooms. It's essentially a unique take on the idea of a sealed terrarium, which is an enclosed glass jar that contains living plant in a tiny ecosystem.

The Plantlamp is hand-blown from glass, then placed into a clay mold.

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The terrarium ecosystem requires no human intervention once it's set up—just add a small plant and some soil, water it once, and seal the jar. Amazingly, the plant inside can recycle its own water for years or even decades, as long as it has a steady light source.

The clay mold is hand-sculpted and helps the lamp take shape.

Now, here's where the plant lamp comes in. The Mygdal device has a low-power LED light source at the top of the jar, which mimics the sun and allows plants to perform photosynthesis. As long as you've got a source for electricity (even battery packs, a generator, or remote solar panels outside the room) the plant will continue to grow for years. You don't even need to water it repeatedly.

Of course, if you run out of electricity sources, you can always set the terrarium somewhere where it can soak up sunlight naturally.

The tabletop version of the Plantlamp streams electricity along the glass to LEDs in the lid.

In a bug-in survival setting, this would be ideal for growing small vegetables, fruits, or herbs to supplement your diet. It's compact, sustainable, and requires almost no resources to grow—just a tiny amount of electricity (or natural sunlight) for a few hours each day. The warm light from the grow lamp also serves as a light source for your room.

Here are a few examples of food sources that sealed terrariums like the plant lamp can support:

• Herbs (thyme, mint, sage, oregano, chives, rosemary, dill)
• Dwarf fruit varieties (dwarf blueberries, pineapples, plums, and pomegranates)
• Creeping figs
• Small tomatoes, such as Tiny Tim, Pixie, and Patio varieties
• Edible fiddlehead ferns

Obviously, the lamps can also support inedible plants and flowers. No matter what plant you use, it will have the additional benefit of acting as a morale booster, since watching a plant grow over time can help you keep a positive mental state.

For more information on the Mygdal Plantlamps, visit Studio We Love Eames on Facebook.

Written by Patrick McCarthy