Grow The Planet: Italian social network aids gardeners

If your hobby isn't reading, it might be gardening. A new social network from Italy is cultivating green thumbs across the globe. The website, called Grow The Planet, gives urban farmers a place to learn online, and share their veggies in the real world.
Grow The Planet is a social platform for do-it-yourself farmers. As urban gardens sprout up across the globe, founder Gianni Gaggiani is trying to connect them online.
Gianni Gaggiani, Founder, Grow The Planet, said, "It provides its users with everything they need to grow their veggies from seeding to harvesting. It gives a 360-degree view of everything that you should do."


The platform provides a step-by-step, day-to-day guide for tending a garden. With only a few clicks, new users can design their garden online, specifying the actual measurements of their plot and the kinds of veggies they plan to grow. Since its launch in March, Grow the Planet has attracted more than 10,000 users, most of them in Italy.


The site's encyclopaedic approach to farming is making it easier for young professionals to reconnect with the land - telling them when to sow, how often to water, and when to expect their first harvest.
Leonardo Piras, Client Director, H-Art Web Company, said, "Even if we don't know the techniques, we're not experts, at least we can watch our plants, and see on a screen or cell phone what we have to do every day."
Site users can follow other users, search friends by name and share pictures of their gardens. A geo-tagging feature tells users which fruits and vegetables can thrive in their climate. This also helps farmers find each other, exchange seeds, swap vegetables, and promote a zero-mile diet.