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This product allows a person that knows nothing about farming to be a farmer. How much space does the average person have in their back yard? Sitting idle, wast

This product allows a person that knows nothing about farming to be a farmer. How much space does the average person have in their back yard? Sitting idle, wasted. Not doing anything but providing a bit of aesthetic appeal. If the price point gets low enough, if construction is easy enough, and if enough people latch onto the movement this could be a game changer. Even if 10% of a family's food comes from Farmbot, that's 10% of food that doesn't need to be shipped across country for their consumption. This is essentially a 3D printer for food.

MustardTiger 10y ago
>This product allows a person that knows nothing about farming to be a farmer No it does not. It allows people who want to garden to garden. But people who want to garden can already garden. Your packet of seeds tells you right on it how deep to plant and how far apart. That's all this is giving you.
- ccallebs 10y ago
  There are a lot of nuances to planting that the back of a seed packet will not prepare you for. There are plants you don't want close to each other. There are plants that require more irrigation than their neighbors. The soil pH matters, pests are varied between species, and temperature levels can be paramount. Planting time absolutely matters. If you have ever tried to grow more than a few things in a garden, you realize exactly how complicated it can be. And while the product at hand does not address all of those things, it lays a foundation for a future where it could. The framework is built and it's open source.
  - MustardTiger 10y ago
    I operate a CSA and grow thousands of dollars of food every year. I am quite aware of how incredibly simple and easy it is. You are listing off things that aren't really significant issues, and which this device does not address anyways.
    - ccallebs 10y ago
      > I operate a CSA and grow thousands of dollars of food every year. That's great! And at the level you're at, the product probably doesn't make much sense. Everything is easy once you learn how to do it. I'm curious which of the things I listed aren't significant issues? They're all things I've came across when trying to grow food. I do agree that the current incarnation of this product fails to address those things, but the maker community will surely expand upon the platform. It appears to be extraordinarily modular.
      - MustardTiger 10y ago
        >Everything is easy once you learn how to do it. Which you still have to do. Again, this literally does nothing but plant seeds for you, which is a pretty easy job. >I'm curious which of the things I listed aren't significant issues? All of them. The only harmful interaction between plants anyone is going to experience in their garden is beans and peas getting slowed by onions. And that doesn't even matter much, it just takes a little longer for your beans to be ready to harvest. Acidity is largely irrelevant, some plants tolerate or even prefer acidic soil, but almost all plants grown in a vegetable garden do just fine with neutral to slightly acidic soil. And watering is a non-issue, use hugels or at least ghetto it up with "lasagna" beds. >but the maker community will surely expand upon the platform. To do what? Solve problems that are already solved and do not require any sort of mechanical solution?
dbcurtis 10y ago
> How much space does the average person have in their back yard? Not nearly enough. In Sili Valley, I live on a 8000 sq ft lot. In much of the USA, people live on 1/4 to 1/2 acre lots. A garden that will produce enough fresh produce during the growing season to feed a family of 4 during the season along with enough to preserve for the off season is bigger than that lot, even before you subtract space for the house. I invite you to do the math. My mother's garden fed us the year around. That garden was bigger than my current city lot.
- ccallebs 10y ago
  I'm definitely not suggesting that self-subsistent farming will be common with the product. Certainly not in SV! But it doesn't have to, right? If it can augment your grocery trips and prevent however much food you would've purchased from being shipped cross country, it's definitely left a mark. I didn't mean to suggest it would supplant the supermarket, only allow people to more easily grow their own food.

MustardTiger 10y ago

>This product allows a person that knows nothing about farming to be a farmer No it does not. It allows people who want to garden to garden. But people who want to garden can already garden. Your packet of seeds tells you right on it how deep to plant and how far apart. That's all this is giving you.

ccallebs 10y ago
There are a lot of nuances to planting that the back of a seed packet will not prepare you for. There are plants you don't want close to each other. There are plants that require more irrigation than their neighbors. The soil pH matters, pests are varied between species, and temperature levels can be paramount. Planting time absolutely matters. If you have ever tried to grow more than a few things in a garden, you realize exactly how complicated it can be. And while the product at hand does not address all of those things, it lays a foundation for a future where it could. The framework is built and it's open source.
- MustardTiger 10y ago
  I operate a CSA and grow thousands of dollars of food every year. I am quite aware of how incredibly simple and easy it is. You are listing off things that aren't really significant issues, and which this device does not address anyways.
  - ccallebs 10y ago
    > I operate a CSA and grow thousands of dollars of food every year. That's great! And at the level you're at, the product probably doesn't make much sense. Everything is easy once you learn how to do it. I'm curious which of the things I listed aren't significant issues? They're all things I've came across when trying to grow food. I do agree that the current incarnation of this product fails to address those things, but the maker community will surely expand upon the platform. It appears to be extraordinarily modular.
    - MustardTiger 10y ago
      >Everything is easy once you learn how to do it. Which you still have to do. Again, this literally does nothing but plant seeds for you, which is a pretty easy job. >I'm curious which of the things I listed aren't significant issues? All of them. The only harmful interaction between plants anyone is going to experience in their garden is beans and peas getting slowed by onions. And that doesn't even matter much, it just takes a little longer for your beans to be ready to harvest. Acidity is largely irrelevant, some plants tolerate or even prefer acidic soil, but almost all plants grown in a vegetable garden do just fine with neutral to slightly acidic soil. And watering is a non-issue, use hugels or at least ghetto it up with "lasagna" beds. >but the maker community will surely expand upon the platform. To do what? Solve problems that are already solved and do not require any sort of mechanical solution?

dbcurtis 10y ago

> How much space does the average person have in their back yard? Not nearly enough. In Sili Valley, I live on a 8000 sq ft lot. In much of the USA, people live on 1/4 to 1/2 acre lots. A garden that will produce enough fresh produce during the growing season to feed a family of 4 during the season along with enough to preserve for the off season is bigger than that lot, even before you subtract space for the house. I invite you to do the math. My mother's garden fed us the year around. That garden was bigger than my current city lot.

ccallebs 10y ago
I'm definitely not suggesting that self-subsistent farming will be common with the product. Certainly not in SV! But it doesn't have to, right? If it can augment your grocery trips and prevent however much food you would've purchased from being shipped cross country, it's definitely left a mark. I didn't mean to suggest it would supplant the supermarket, only allow people to more easily grow their own food.