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I Grew Tomatoes With the Heat From My Crypto-Mining PC
Anything worth engineering is worth overengineering
If you spend time on Instagram in our post-pandemic world, you’re probably experiencing some gardening FOMO. Maybe your biggest lockdown goal was “pwn Candy Crush” or, if you’re like me, “limit your toddler’s screen time to a scant five hours per day.” Now that we’re months into the pandemic, though, your friends who channeled their early quarantine angst into planting seeds are likely starting to reap the benefits in terms of fresh herbs and handfuls of juicy, Insta-friendly heirloom tomatoes.
If you’re more comfortable with wires and while loops than bugs and compost, don’t despair. Gardening has become increasingly tech-enabled. There are now tons of ways that you can apply emerging technologies to the challenge of growing your own food.
Just before Covid-19 struck, I started a project to build the world’s most overengineered, high-tech garden. It ended up incorporating hydroponics, solar power, cryptocurrency mining, recycled water, sensors, the Internet of Things, infrared imaging, and much else. Here’s how I did it — and how you can build your own tech-enabled pandemic garden, too.
