5 ms·

Very clever nerd sniping. Until I read this I had no idea how badly I wanted to do something with agro-tech. All my ideas so far are just too silly to mention.

ctdonath 12y ago
I'll mention: Square-foot garden rental. Mail in the seeds and specify the area needed (in 1ft^2 increments), service plants/waters/weeds/harvests accordingly, providing webcam/etc updates, mailing the produce back.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- makmanalp 12y ago
  Even better, you get an API that gives you a photo of your square, air and soil humidity, temperature, and a call to water the square for x seconds. Planting and harvesting is manual, everything else you automate!
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - thebenedict 12y ago
    That sounds probably stupid, and like a tremendous amount of fun.
- schoen 12y ago
  Garden-as-a-Service?
  - syedkarim 12y ago
    This is killer. I would throw in a few bucks for someone to work on this.
    - randomdata 12y ago
      Isn't that basically the CSA model? Perhaps the interface to the grower has room for improvement?
      - syedkarim 12y ago
        I thought the CSA model was essentially pre-selling a share of the harvest. Whereas I believe this idea is to offer a plot that the user could control with remote hands? Possibly even a web-controlled arm or something?
- calbear81 12y ago
  Do you mind if I run with this idea at a hackathon? It's like your garden in Plants vs. Zombies! I had some tweaks in mind but very similar to your base idea.
  - ctdonath 12y ago
    Heh! Yes, run with it. Just keep me appraised.
    - calbear81 12y ago
      Will do!
  - syedkarim 12y ago
    Yes! Please run at full steam. Go nuts.
- desireco42 12y ago
  I love your idea :)
- daveloyall 12y ago
  You mean 1m^2 increments, probably. There are various paper and online resources that document the "row distance" for various crops. Those numbers are based not just on both above and below ground width of a given type of plant, but also how 'thirsty' it is. On further thought, maybe it would be legit to make your minimum unit equal to the average row distance of your most common crops. Also, did you know that all plants are engaged in constant chemical warfare with one another? Meaning, each plant releases toxins that inhibit the growth of competitive species. I recommend a book called Carrots Love Tomatoes. Why do I mention this? Layout matters. You can't grow tomatoes adjacent to brassicas effectively. There are plant compatibility charts which would allow you to develop a layout algorithm... BUT, there are also age-old predefined garden layout templates which are optimized not just for plant compatibility but also accessibility (you need paths to get in there and water) and beauty. ...And that folks is what happens when a programmer knocks up a gardener. :) But have you considered renting individual plants or something, instead of squares of land? The predefined garden layouts can be scaled, but I'm not confident that they can be tiled... In this model, no individual would own any specific spot--it'd just be one big garden! s/gardener/modern anarchist/
  - sweettea 12y ago
    Nah, 1ft^2. See Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening: http://amzn.com/1579548563 http://amzn.com/1579548563
    - daveloyall 12y ago
      Wow, that guy's pretty much cornered the market on that particular three-word google search! Do plants grow well like that? https://www.google.com/search?q=broccoli+row+spacing https://www.google.com/search?q=broccoli+row+spacing https://www.google.com/search?q=cukes+row+spacing https://www.google.com/search?q=cukes+row+spacing https://www.google.com/search?q=carrots+row+spacing https://www.google.com/search?q=carrots+row+spacing When I search the internet for information about agriculture, I usually keep an eye out for results from .edu webservers, rather than yuppies. Iowa State University has a great Ag program, for example, and they cite their sources and publish their data. I mean, you can of course rent sqft chunks of land, one unit is as good as another. Just try not to picture a 100x100 grid of squares each with a customer in the center--the plants would not grow for various reasons outlined in this thread. :)
- MattRogish 12y ago
  That's basically http://www.smartbackyard.com/ http://www.smartbackyard.com/ (from SmartGardener.com)

ctdonath 12y ago

I'll mention: Square-foot garden rental. Mail in the seeds and specify the area needed (in 1ft^2 increments), service plants/waters/weeds/harvests accordingly, providing webcam/etc updates, mailing the produce back.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
makmanalp 12y ago
Even better, you get an API that gives you a photo of your square, air and soil humidity, temperature, and a call to water the square for x seconds. Planting and harvesting is manual, everything else you automate!
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- thebenedict 12y ago
  That sounds probably stupid, and like a tremendous amount of fun.
schoen 12y ago
Garden-as-a-Service?
- syedkarim 12y ago
  This is killer. I would throw in a few bucks for someone to work on this.
  - randomdata 12y ago
    Isn't that basically the CSA model? Perhaps the interface to the grower has room for improvement?
    - syedkarim 12y ago
      I thought the CSA model was essentially pre-selling a share of the harvest. Whereas I believe this idea is to offer a plot that the user could control with remote hands? Possibly even a web-controlled arm or something?
calbear81 12y ago
Do you mind if I run with this idea at a hackathon? It's like your garden in Plants vs. Zombies! I had some tweaks in mind but very similar to your base idea.
- ctdonath 12y ago
  Heh! Yes, run with it. Just keep me appraised.
  - calbear81 12y ago
    Will do!
- syedkarim 12y ago
  Yes! Please run at full steam. Go nuts.
desireco42 12y ago
I love your idea :)
daveloyall 12y ago
You mean 1m^2 increments, probably. There are various paper and online resources that document the "row distance" for various crops. Those numbers are based not just on both above and below ground width of a given type of plant, but also how 'thirsty' it is. On further thought, maybe it would be legit to make your minimum unit equal to the average row distance of your most common crops. Also, did you know that all plants are engaged in constant chemical warfare with one another? Meaning, each plant releases toxins that inhibit the growth of competitive species. I recommend a book called Carrots Love Tomatoes. Why do I mention this? Layout matters. You can't grow tomatoes adjacent to brassicas effectively. There are plant compatibility charts which would allow you to develop a layout algorithm... BUT, there are also age-old predefined garden layout templates which are optimized not just for plant compatibility but also accessibility (you need paths to get in there and water) and beauty. ...And that folks is what happens when a programmer knocks up a gardener. :) But have you considered renting individual plants or something, instead of squares of land? The predefined garden layouts can be scaled, but I'm not confident that they can be tiled... In this model, no individual would own any specific spot--it'd just be one big garden! s/gardener/modern anarchist/
- sweettea 12y ago
  Nah, 1ft^2. See Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening: http://amzn.com/1579548563 http://amzn.com/1579548563
  - daveloyall 12y ago
    Wow, that guy's pretty much cornered the market on that particular three-word google search! Do plants grow well like that? https://www.google.com/search?q=broccoli+row+spacing https://www.google.com/search?q=broccoli+row+spacing https://www.google.com/search?q=cukes+row+spacing https://www.google.com/search?q=cukes+row+spacing https://www.google.com/search?q=carrots+row+spacing https://www.google.com/search?q=carrots+row+spacing When I search the internet for information about agriculture, I usually keep an eye out for results from .edu webservers, rather than yuppies. Iowa State University has a great Ag program, for example, and they cite their sources and publish their data. I mean, you can of course rent sqft chunks of land, one unit is as good as another. Just try not to picture a 100x100 grid of squares each with a customer in the center--the plants would not grow for various reasons outlined in this thread. :)
MattRogish 12y ago
That's basically http://www.smartbackyard.com/ http://www.smartbackyard.com/ (from SmartGardener.com)