Well, and I've looked into farming from a number of different aspects and this little box looks damn suspicious.

For starters, it assumes that you need to spend $50k in order to farm two acres, that your problem is going to be no electricity, but that you have access to water but no way to distribute it. That's a ... very specialized set of problems that do not overlap with the typical impediments to farming in the developing world (access to capital, security of land) or the impediments to farming in the developed world (access to land). I mean...

Our first prototype, that we affectionately call Adam, is already active in Sonoma County, on a school property called Shone Farm.

Hey, Redfin - go price me 2 acres in Sonoma County real quick.

Here's 7.7 acres of uncleared farmland in an area of cleared farmland. They want $550k for it. That's about $72k an acre. It probably suits their model perfectly. Now all they need to do is find a schmuck with $140k for the land and another $50k for the box who knows so little about farming he's willing to pay cash.

Because he won't get a loan, because a bank will tell him to get a farm loan, and the farm bureau will say "we'd love you to get a loan but we only give them out to experienced farmers" and then they'll say "but how do we get experience without land CATCH 22! RAGE!" and the bank will say "duh you rent land like everyone else you simp."

Because in the US, that's what's done. And it's damn straightforward. And your investment cost is super nominal, and you work really hard, and if you're willing to keep at it, you get to go play in the wonderful world of agricultural loans which are quite attractive but by the time you've accomplished that you've probably figured out that anyone who tells you you need drip irrigation and crop rotation has apparently never planted a potato.

It's also impressive that in an era of intensive agriculture they don't think you need a tractor for two acres. My grandpa had five. I mean... I guess you could try it without a tractor? but the year my grandpa did wheat he bought a fuckin' combine.

And then you start to wonder if perhaps a solution that "works" in Virginia and Sonoma County might not match up with the Rift Valley in Ethiopia, you discover the chick is on AngelList, and you start to smell a successful PR blitz about a greenwashed startup idea that probably doesn't have any actual customers in mind.

Check her resume. do you see any agricultural experience?

The idea of farming intrigues me but in practice I cant even get good yield out of my little raised bed boxes. Aphids, slugs, birds pests have destroyed my veggies every year. The seeds never quite seem to sprout like expected (either not at all or stunted growth). There is a lot to know about farming, soil management, fertilizer application pesticide schedules, proper seed selection and a lot of other stuff that is poorly documented and difficult to learn.

Plopping a bunch a Wi-Fi controlled drip controllers isnt going to feed 1 person much less 150. I spent $120 bux on drip irrigation last year and probably $100 on compost, amendments etc + seeds and I got a (single) bunch of carrots, 6 leeks, couple pounds of beans, and a couple heads of lettuce (actually got a lot of lettuce but it mostly bolted before I ate it). I love it but I have no illusions that I'll even break even.