Agriculture

The John Deere Autonomous Tractor Will Help Farmers Focus on Feeding the World More Efficiently

Last year at CES, John Deere showcased how technology and sustainability drive modern farming, but this year they took things to a whole new level. Building upon 20 years of self-driving technology that still required a farmer to supervise what was happening from the tractor, the John Deere Autonomous Tractor is now a reality. This futuristic tractor will not require human supervision in the cab, freeing up time and helping farmers work more efficiently. https://jd-ces-2022.s3.amazonaws.com/media-resources/videos/05010_Experience_Farmer_3-Screen_v010.mp4

News

John Deere Highlights How Technology and Sustainability Drive Modern Farming

You might think it odd for a company like John Deere to be at CES, but after spending an hour with them yesterday, I can completely understand. Even though I’ve spent much of my adult life in an agriculturally-focused town managing a cattle ranch, I’d never paid much attention to the tech being utilized by the farmers in my area to produce food and fiber for human consumption. My eyes have now been opened.

Reviews, Crowdfunding

Altifarm’s Pico Indoor Garden Is a Cute Way to Grow Plants Indoors

Indoor gardening has become really popular these days, and Altifarm has released the cutest version thus far. Pico is, as Altifarm puts it, “A garden in your palm.” It’s a miniature garden meant to grow small plants or herbs that is self-watering and has a built-in telescoping LED grow light. You can get yours from Indiegogo starting at $34.

Outdoors

Achieve a Green Thumb Using These Gardening Technologies

Watering plants, mowing grass and trimming shrubs isn’t the ideal weekend for most. That especially goes for folks who have brown thumbs. One study found one-third of people would rather visit their in-laws than work on their lawn.

Outdoors

This Time-Lapse Camera Lets You Capture Your Garden As It Grows

Nature has a funny way of sneaking up on people. A flower that seemed it wouldn’t flourish for weeks suddenly blooms in all its glory only a couple of days later. Nature enthusiasts know this phenomenon well, and many of them wish it were possible to record plant and flower growth as it happens, thereby never missing out on natural beauty at its peak.

News

Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2: For Those Who Need a Nearly Indestructible Work Tablet

If your job means being outside in the harshest weather conditions, and you need a tablet that can survive drops that would kill other devices, one that can be used while wearing work gloves or even when the screen is wet, then you might want to check out the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2. It was made for just that.

Editorials

Composting Toilets: Straight Poop on a Taboo Subject

Do you live out in the country or off-the-grid? Have you ever had to contemplate buying, installing, and using one of the many composting toilets on the market? If so, then this post is for you!

News

Click & Grow Creates an Affordable DIY Indoor Garden

If you like the Click & Grow way of doing things, but you aren’t sure if you want to invest in their Herb Garden, then you might want to check out their new DIY Indoor Garden. At $29.99, it’s a great way to get started with indoor gardening! What do you get for $29.99? The kit includes “9 plant cups with a wick that draws the exact right amount of water into the cup when submerged.” You can use the materials of your choice to hold the plant cups — anything from LEGOs, to jars, to coffee cans, to egg cartons. You’ll need…

News

OPCOM Releasing the GrowFrame for Home Farmers

At the start of 2017, Judie wrote a review of the OPCOM GrowBox hydroponic system. It lets her grow a variety of vegetables and herbs inside her home, and it is an impressive system; you can read her review here. At CES 2017, OPCOM introduced the GrowFrame; it looks amazing.

Reviews

OPCOM Farm GrowBox Indoor Hydroponic Gardening System

For years, Kev and I have talked about planting a garden so we could grow our own vegetables and be somewhat self-sufficient. Because we live on the top of a big rock, if we plant a garden it will be an endeavor involving a bulldozer and hauling topsoil. Until that becomes feasible, we’ll have the OPCOM Farm GrowBox hydroponic garden.

News

The OPCOM GrowBox and GrowWall: Self-Contained and Soil Free Indoor Gardening

We’ve looked at other indoor gardening solutions in the past, but this is the first soil-free version. Check out the OPCOM Farm GrowBox and GrowWall. They both use “automated systems featuring proprietary LED light spectrum technology with lighting and water cycles and nutrition finely tuned for optimal plant growth at a rate 25 percent faster than outdoor gardens.”

News

Click and Grow Wall Farm and Wall Farm Mini: The Future of Farming?

I love my Click and Grow Herb Garden so much that I have two of them; one grows flowers and the other grows edibles. With the success that the company’s had with their table-top sized products, it’s no surprise to me that they have taken their calling to the next level by creating the Click and Grow Wall Farm.

Reviews

Click & Grow Smart Herb Garden: The Garden Anyone Can Grow Just About Anywhere

I like to joke about having a black thumb, but the truth of the matter is that ever since I got a Click & Grow Smart Herb Garden, I’ve been feeling a lot better about my gardening prowess.

Outdoors, Reviews

BloomSky SKY1 Solar Powered Weather Camera Kit + Solar Panel Review

We’ve reviewed several weather stations in the past, but the BloomSky SKY1 is in a class of its own. Not only does it give you up to the minute weather info from your chosen location, it creates a time-lapse movie of the entire day, and it allows you to share your info and movies easily with others.

News

Popular Smart Garden Company Edyn Announces Partnership

Last year, Perry told you all about the Edyn Smart Garden that was successfully funded by Kickstarter. Well, you’ll be happy to know that the company announced a few partnerships that will help further their growth in business in the U.S. and beyond.

News

Edyn Garden Sensor Now Available Exclusively at Home Depot

Edyn, the connected garden sensor, announced on July 1st that they struck an exclusive retail partnership with The Home Depot. This smart garden device is solar-powered, Wi-Fi enabled, and water and fertilizer resistant. Plus, you can use the Edyn iOS app to find out how to maximize your garden’s health! The Edyn Garden Sensor is available now for $99.97.

Crowdfunding

Edyn Smart Garden Launches Kickstarter Campaign

It seems like everything these days is hi-tech, except for the great outdoors. Maybe it’s time to change that. The folks at Edyn want to give you a “smart garden” with their new Edyn Kickstarter campaign. Using a combination of WiFi connected devices in the garden and an iOS app, Edyn hopes to revolutionize the way we all garden.

Gear Bits

The Nourishmat Starts Your Gardening Adventure with Ease!

Do you lack a green thumb, but like fresh vegetables? Have only a small space in your yard but want a garden? If so, the good folks at Nourishmat have a special package for you! At $64.95 for the base model, the Nourishmat comes with a weed-barrier mat with plant templates for seeds and step-by-step instructions—perfect for beginners! It is ingeniously simple. Using the companion planting technique, the neat little package helps simplify gardening for busy folks or people with limited space. Everything from seeds (82 seedballs with 19 different garden plant types), garden mat staples to plant location and spacing is…

How to Do It Yourself!, Outdoors

How To Start a Simple Heirloom Vegetable Garden from Scratch

How many of us have been at a grocery store and been disappointed with the variety and quality of produce? How many sandwiches or other dishes have been befouled with limp lettuce or a feeble yellow-green-pink tomato? It’s no wonder kids (and some adults) aren’t too keen on vegetables. What to do? One solution is to start your own garden, especially an heirloom garden. The term “heirloom” is still often debated, but for the purposes of this post I’m going to loosely define the term to mean an openly pollinated plant that breeds true to its parents and is not…

Crowdfunding

Home Aquaponics Kit: A Self-Cleaning Fish Tank that Grows Food

Project Title: Home Aquaponics Kit: Self-Cleaning Fish Tank That Grows Food Status: Funded, with only 37 hours left (at this posting) Closing Date for Funding: 1:59am CST December 15, 3012 URL of the Project: Home Aquaponics Kit From the Creatives: Grow fresh produce right in the comfort of your own home – beans, basil, thyme, baby greens, oregano, mint, parsley, spinach and so many other delicious foods! • So what’s happening inside? The fish, they poo and they pee, and all that waste-water gets broken down by beneficial bacteria into nutrients • The waste-water from the fish is then pumped up…

News

Help Combat the Spread of West Nile Virus Mosquito Vectors with Acase’s InaTrap

When my wife and I were married, 13 years ago today, we had plenty of birds flocking to our feeders, including blue jays and an occasional crow or two. A few years later I began to notice significantly fewer of these members of the Corvidae bird family, a harbinger of the West Nile virus insidiously creeping westward. These birds are a reservoir species for the West Nile virus, and are quickly killed off by the virus. The nasty little critters that are the primary vectors of the virus are mosquitoes, and when a human is bitten by a mosquito infected…

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