Printed instead of planted, this strange concoction combines elements of gardening, gourmet dining and 3D printing technologies in a fresh new way.

Created by food designer Chloé Rutzerveld, Edible Growth involves an exterior casing of edible soil (growth medium) laced with mushroom seeds.

Once printed, the consumer waits while the seeds start to grow up and out through holes around load-bearing supports printed into the structure of the case. The finished food is ready to eat a few days later.

While many food printing experiments and ideas revolve around the concept of creating a finished product on the spot, this one is a unique sort of hybrid – it still requires patience, like (but less than) planted edibles would.