How did Developers’ Gazpacho become a challenge?!

#verticalfarming #agritech #office #digitalization 

When COVID-19 struck and forced us all to isolate at home, we still had a hunger for common activities with colleagues and wanted to find ways to keep up our team spirit. 🤔The idea we came up with? Growing fresh tomatoes in our office while working remotely! 

That was the challenge the Xplicity team set ourselves this June (we even gave it the code name  – “Susikodink pomidoriukus“), and at that point it seemed neither crazy nor impossible. We wanted to try growing tomatoes at our office using vertical farming systems adapted for our small-scale urban needs. However, we didn’t just want to use the farming system as-is – our goal was to create a software system that would enable at least 70% of the necessary care of the tomatoes to be carried out digitally and remotely. To be specific, we wanted to develop software that uses sensors to gather data that would enable ‘smart’ tomato growing. That way, while sitting at home, we could fertilise, water, adjust lighting, etc.  

Frankly, it also was about setting a fun challenge for the whole team and creating an engaging, hands-on experiment. Of course, we also hoped that it might turn into a convenient, clean and sustainable future solution for offices, possibly kindergartens, and even some restaurants – especially since, in Lithuania, we have perfect conditions for tomato growing. 

So… why have we not yet implemented this experiment?  

In short, we have faced difficulties in finding companies that provide tools for small-scale indoor vertical farming. A partner that could provide us with the hardware and spice this up with a bit of know-how about growing tomatoes. One who would be willing to combine their agri-knowledge with our software development experience, and together launch a pilot project growing tomatoes remotely. 

So what about the Gazpacho part? Well, we have promised ourselves that if we succeed with this experiment – together with all the developers, we will have a Gazpacho party at Xplicity using our office-grown tomatoes! 

So here’s where you can help: we are still itching to carry out this plan, and we are looking for vertical farming partners to join us in the experiment! (Yes, we understand it’s a difficult challenge – but that’s what makes it fun! We are happy to spend our time and effort to make this experiment work.)

Want to join us and help with this agro-provocation? Write a comment below or PM me. Let’s make a decision that makes a change TOGETHER!