`SMART GARDENS' LET YOU GROW FOOD IN SMALL SPACES
A Vancouver company is making a smart garden that allows anyone living in an apartment or condo to grow their own food.
It's called AVA Byte and is small enough to fit on a shelf at home. AVA Byte scales down technology borrowed from the cannabis industry, said Valerie Song, co-founder and CEO.
“A lot of times people are getting basil plants from grocery stories and within a few days or a week or so it starts to wither away,” Song said. “We thought there should be a better solution to keep plants alive.”
AVA is short for Automated Vertical Agriculture. Plants start in various pre-seeded packs that include four different types of basil, five mixed salad greens or five Asian herbs. Water and LED lighting are administered by software monitored by five sensors and a camera.
AVA Byte is designed and made in B.C. and sells for $499.
During the pandemic, an estimated one in five people started growing food for the first time.
It often didn't work because firsttime home farmers didn't have all the information they needed to succeed, Song said. But AVA Byte, Song said, can connect via the internet to the company's customer service centre to help gardeners with any issues not covered by the app, pruning tips and educational material.
Smart gardens such as AVA Byte have catapulted into public awareness, she said, because of concerns over food security and changing consumer habits.
“When the pandemic first hit, our website saw 3,000 per cent increase in organic traffic,” Song said. “This type of technology can really help to change what gardening is in the future.”