Kickstarter Pick: 3rd Ward's Michael Zick Doherty Takes "Green Thumb" To The Next Level With Bitponics

As we've mentioned before, 3rd Ward's Michael Zick Doherty always seems to be working on innovative and inspiring projects. And today is no different. Teaming up with software engineer Amit Kumar, Doherty is currently raising funds on Kickstarter to support Bitponics, which they describe as "Your Personal Gardening Assistant." With just over a week left to go, they're raised over half of their $20,000 goal. Help them get there and you can score everything from a shout-out on the Bitponics website and a laser-etched Bitponics clay pot to a hydroponics workshop and your own Bitponics device.

We first caught wind of Bitponics when it won an Open Scholarship Scholarship last fall at the Open Hardware Summit, and that winning 26-second YouTube pitch has blossomed into an even more exciting and amazing project. In addition to automating and tracking any hydroponics system, Bitponics can help you cultivate anything that you'd like to see sprouting in your urban garden. "Once you tell it what you're trying to grow, it will use a database of knowledge built up by the community to create a 'growing plan' for you," the Bitponic Kickstarter page explains. "Bitponics will automate anything that can be controlled by a power outlet, like water pumps and lights." And for tasks that can't be automated? "We'll remind you by whatever means you choose: email, text, or in-app notifications."

The full Bitponics setup includes the sensor device, which collects readings like temperature, brightness and pH and lets you set up timers for lights and pumps, and an account on the Bitponics website, which helps you generate a growing plan, gives you recommendations if something in your system has gone awry, and lets you track all of your data and upload photos of your garden as it grows. The device will retail for $395, but you can get it for just a $250 Kickstarter pledge. You'll be able to store a year of growing data—or an unlimited amount for a higher-tiered membership. Anyone who just wants to give the website a whirl can store six months of growing data for free, and both the device and its Arduino-based firmware will be open source, making the possibilities endless.

Check out the Bitponics Kickstarter video and some photos below, then head to Kickstarter to learn more and pledge your support.

-- John Ruscher

TEACHER FEATURE // Annie Novak: Urban Farmer With Serious City Gardening Tips

Interested in growing your own garden? Well, solemnly swear no one who can give you better tips than urban farmer and 3rd Ward teacher Annie Novak.

Novak runs the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm and the non-profit Growing Chefs, in addition to working with the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. "Spring is the season of seeding!" she says, and right now she's working on transplanting tomatoes and planning for summertime at the community garden plot that Growing Chefs started with Red Shed Community Garden, which is not too far from 3rd Ward.

Here are a few city gardening pointers from Novak: 

• Invest in good soil! Buy a nice organic potting mix with no chemical fertilizers. Or make your own using coconut coir, a bit of compost, and some internet research!
• Buy healthy plants!  Look for nice, upright plants with no roots showing on the bottom of the pot. Buy locally at the farmers' market for plants that have been grown in our growing climate. If it's a veggie, give it lots and lots of sunshine. 
• Sow seeds wildly! If you don't have a yard or rooftop, visit a native plant center or buy native seeds, then seed bomb with abandon in open lots! Think ahead 100 years to a better city: call 311 to get a street tree planted.

The Eagle Street Rooftop Farm is located at 44 Eagle Street in Greenpoint and his open for a farm market and a chance to volunteer this coming Sunday, May 15 and Sunday, May 22 from 9am-4pm. 

For more about Annie Novak check out a great profile of her on the Urban Outfitters blog.

-- John Ruscher