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Tech NewsCESThis Kitchen Garden System Adds Microgreens (and Alexa) To Your Lockdown Diet
When it comes to indoor gardening you basically have to go big or go home. Anyone who has started seedlings in the kitchen and hoped to get some basil or thyme out of the process knows that it’s easy to get a sprout but hard to get a plant. Chicago-based Rise Gardens hopes to change … Continued
By John Biggs -
ScienceBad Ideas WeekHow Transforming My Apartment Into an Indoor Farm Turned Into a Very Bad Idea
A little over a year ago, I came up with an idea for story to turn my apartment into an indoor garden. This ended up being a terrible idea, though in my defense it was late January, and I was hoping the addition of greenery could inject some vitality back into those bleak, dreary days, … Continued
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Tech NewsThis Autonomous Garden Would Roll Its Way to the Perfect Plot
If you lack the skills to keep plants alive, this architectural concept might appeal. Called Hortum Machina B, the sphere contains electronics that enable it to sense its surroundings and move in order to keep its internal garden healthy. The concept is the brainchild of William Victor Camilleri and Danilo Sampaio from the Bartlett School … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsIKEA Keeps Getting Weirder, Now Sells Hydroponic Gardens
The world mostly knows IKEA for its flatpack furniture and mediocre meatballs. In the past year, however, the company’s doubled down on a new category: gadgets. And you know what? They’re kind of awesome. IKEA just announced its new summer line, and a lot of it is what you’d expect from IKEA in the summertime. … Continued
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Tech News
Astronauts’ Veggie Garden in Space is About to Grow a Burst of Color
After successfully growing (and eating) lettuce, astronauts on the International Space Station have graduated to zinnias. The new plants sprouted vigorously, and researchers are hoping the colorful flowers will bud soon. The ISS is continuing to grow edible plants in their Veggie facility as part of the VEG-01 investigation. Once they work out the kinks … Continued
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Tech News
A Tower PC for Your Less Than Legal Hobbies
Gardening can be a relaxing and rewarding hobby. But sometimes, depending on your choice of crops, you need to keep that hobby under wraps. And that’s where The Server Farm comes in. It looks like a vanilla desktop PC, but instead of electronics, inside you’ll find grow lights, reflection panels, and a compact watering system. … Continued
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Tech News
This Clever Modular Gardening Kit Fits 32 Big Tools Into One Small Bag
Gardening tools are kind of dumb, when you think about it. Why have a shed full of different tools, when really all you need is one handle and a bunch of different attachments? That’s exactly why REDHED’s Garden Tool Master Kit is so brilliant. Every tool you need fits in one handy bag! The kit … Continued
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Tech News
Parrot’s New Greenthumb Gadgets Take Care of Your Plants Automatically
Parrot’s ramping up its line of plant-care gadgets with two new products, which will be released later this year: Parrot Pot and Parrot H2O. They’ll take care of your plants for weeks on end so you don’t have to. Parrot Pot is basically a huge vase with an outer reservoir you fill up with water. … Continued
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Tech News
A Self-Sustaining Indoor Garden System Made Me a Summer Fresh Sandwich
An aeroponics system called the Replenishing Tower is living in our kitchen, and it just gave me fresh-from-the-roots lettuce and basil for a sandwich. Fresh vegetables are within reach all year long in the future. For the uninitiated, aeroponics is a soil-free self-watering gardening system that you pretty much can’t screw up, even if your … Continued
By PJ Smith -
Tech NewsSeed-Filled Caps Turn Plastic Bottles Into Tiny Gardens
If you’re looking for a more profitable way to recycle your empty plastic water bottles, forget about taking them to the curb every week. As long as your home gets a few drops of sunshine every day, you can turn them into tiny productive gardens with these Petomato bottle caps. Using them is not quite … Continued
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Tech News
Gardener Claims He Hasn’t Watered This Flourishing Biosphere Since 1972
If you can’t raise a plant to save your life you know the appeal of terrariums, which can sustain themselves for months on end without being watered. But a retiree in the UK says he sealed up his bottle garden in 1972—and hasn’t watered it since. The Times reports on David Latimer, a Surrey man … Continued
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Tech News
The New Click & Grow Herb Garden Does Everything But Harvest Itself
Click and Grow’s second generation home hydroponic system launches today that, like its predecessor, provides urban gardeners an organic, pesticide-free, and nearly autonomous herb garden. Except the new Smart Herb Garden doesn’t need a bright window spot—it includes its own miniature sun. Actually, the Click and Grow Smart Herb Garden differs from the original model … Continued
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Tech NewsA Sniping Sprinkler That Only Targets Your Plants When They Need Water
A built-in sprinkler system is a better way to water a garden than just standing there randomly blasting plants with a hose. And taking that idea one step further, the Droplet turns your sprinklers into intelligent snipers that only water the plants you tell them to using a focused stream—except when rainy weather already has. … Continued
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Tech News
How to Get Your Garden Ready for Spring Planting
Even as the East Coast continues to dig out of its latest snowpocalypse the country’s more hospitable climes are already beginning to thaw out. And now that your garden no longer resembles tundra, it’s time to dig in and get your plot ready for spring planting. Here’s what you’ll need to do. Take Stock If … Continued
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Tech News
A Fold-Flat Watering Can Designed For Your Cramped Balcony Garden
If you live in an apartment or condo in a big city, and have managed to find a little room on your tiny balcony for a modest garden, you probably don’t have much space left for the tools needed to toil over your cramped crops. So inventor Marc R. came up with this rather clever … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
Plant Your Next Garden With A Boom, Using Repurposed Shotgun Shells
For all the hubbub about California banning the use of lead in ammunition, there’s been less of a focus on safer alternatives—but designer Per Crowell has taken this to perhaps its most tongue-in-cheek extreme, proposing shotgun shells filled with seeds. The project website appears to take its mission quite seriously, suggesting that these are shells … Continued
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Tech News
How to Grow a Garden in a Garment Box
Cultivating an indoor garden is surprisingly easy these days, even if your studio apartment is only slightly bigger than a shoe box. And with a bit of resourcefulness and some minor MacGyvering, you can grow fresh produce year-round without sacrificing precious closet-space. Plants in a Box First, you’re going to need a suitable grow space … Continued
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Tech NewsAutumn Yardwork’s a Breeze With This Leaf Smooshing Rake
You might think the cheap plastic rake you grabbed at the hardware store is more than adequate given you really only use it for about one month out of the year. But that’s only because you haven’t been introduced to Quirky’s wonderful new Rake ‘n’ Tamp which not only wrangles leaves, it also tamps them … Continued
