gardening

There is no denying that fresh herbs and spices make a difference while cooking. There is, however, always the lingering possibility that they do not get used in time; freshly cut herbs don't last long. Of course, the optimal solution is to have them fresh, alive, and always at the ready.

Having a stock of growing herbs doesn't have to mean digging around in the garden. In fact, it doesn't have to even mean having a garden to dig around in (at least in the traditional sense). The Click & Grow Smart Herb Garden moves the outdoors … Read more

In a pinch and need a data connection on your tablet or laptop? You can use Open Garden to sneak a connection from your smartphone without needing to tether. Setup is easy, but the connection has enough hiccups and jumps to sometimes be more frustrating than it's worth.

Before you can use Open Garden, you have to download another program for your desktop. Once you set up the network, your gadgets will connect automatically whenever they're nearby. It can even work through NFC if your phone has it. However, owners of modern phones can have a more reliable … Read more

The ability to reach out and pluck fruits and vegetables off of a nearby branch, for many, is an unrealistic dream. Yet fresh food that is grown nearby continues to be a desirable commodity. As well it should; food that is fresh is far superior to that which has been hanging around during transport or otherwise. As delicious as freshly picked food may be, the hurdle of actually growing it is not one to be ignored. Unless of course, the whole process is automated.

Two new self-monitoring plant kits have been added to the Click and Grow kitchen countertop grove. … Read more

These days a lot of life is programmable. But as an avid gardener, I thought that surely nurturing seeds into little green shoots and then full-fledged fruits and flowers would require a nondigital green digit for years to come.

I was wrong. Plants, it turns out, can be activated.

A battery-powered planter pot called Click and Grow out of Estonia lets you grow real, living plants almost without lifting a finger. Even the vernacular around gardening comes fully updated -- sowing a seed can now be described as "inserting a cartridge," watering the soil is "refilling the … Read more

If you're looking for a way to share Internet connectivity from one of your Android devices to another tablet or laptop, this guide can help you. Open Garden is an app that will broadcast your Internet signal to devices around you via Bluetooth, in hopes of creating a seamless mesh network. The idea behind the app is to make the connection process easier so you can spend more time being productive or surfing the Web. Here's how to get connected:

Install Open Garden on your mobile device that has a connection to the Internet. This would … Read more

If you're anything like me, you've thought about the zombie apocalypse. You've wondered how long your canned goods will hold out and if you'll be able to fortify the windows against the onslaught of zombified neighbors.

What you might not have considered is that the zombie apocalypse could start right in your own patch of rosemary. You won't know the true meaning of terror until you feel that nip at your ankle and see your once-quaint garden gnome now thirsting for your blood.… Read more

Open Garden wants to help you share your Internet connection with every Wi-Fi-enabled device within 20 meters.

The San Francisco-based mobile startup, which launched today at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, lets users create a large mesh network that allows all the Open Garden-enabled devices to automatically share Internet access and bandwidth, according to a TechCrunch report. Essentially, what Open Garden wants to do is create a crowdsourcing platform for mobile connectivity.

The mesh network currently only uses one Internet connection, but it will break down larger networks into smaller ones with about 10 nodes, TC reports. If the network detects … Read more

The city of Grand Forks, N.D., recently got a popular Italian chain restaurant and a viral food columnist. Everyone on the Internet seems to be talking about Marilyn Hagerty's earnest review of the Olive Garden. So what's the fuss about?

The 85-year-old Grand Forks Herald columnist posted a review Wednesday detailing her experience at the first Olive Garden to open in Grand Forks. According to the Herald, the review received more than 230,000 views by Thursday evening. In comparison, the second most-read story got 5,500 page views.… Read more

Preparing food creates a lot of waste. It's an unavoidable necessity; meats, fruits and vegetables all have parts that are inedible or undesirable. And that doesn't even bring into consideration the packaging that is necessary to get it all into our kitchens. It's what we do with that waste that we can control. Like make it grow into something beautiful (and delicious).

While it would be nice if all unwanted kitchen items (and cooking experiments) could be planted into the ground, hidden from view until they turned into something useful, sadly, that is not usually the case. … Read more