Oakland California is not known for farming let alone technologically-driven hydroponics. Kijani Grows is a small company in Oakland that is trying to change this with a system of cycling water through fish, gravel, and plants to create a very efficient farming setup in a small space. What makes this system better than others is that it is integrated to modern electronics so you’ll get notifications when you should water or harvest the plants!
Check out this video of their system:
The land in West Oakland where Eric Maundu is trying to farm is covered with freeways, roads, light rail and parking lots so there’s not much arable land and the soil is contaminated. So Maundu doesn’t use soil. Instead he’s growing plants using fish and circulating water.
It’s called aquaponics- a gardening system that combines hydroponics (water-based planting) and aquaculture (fish farming). It’s been hailed as the future of farming: it uses less water (up to 90% less than traditional gardening), doesn’t attract soil-based bugs and produces two types of produce (both plants and fish).