My Story: From South Dakota Farms to Utah’s Urban Gardens

Growing up in South Dakota, I was surrounded by sprawling farms, planting my first garden at age twelve. Those early years digging in the soil sparked a lifelong passion for agriculture and a deep understanding of our food system’s impact on the planet and society. When my wife’s job brought us to Utah in 2022, I saw an opportunity to make a difference. My brother and I launched Jake and Joe Co., starting with lawn mowing but dreaming of transforming landscapes into thriving gardens.

Post-COVID food shortages exposed a glaring issue: neglected lawns and overgrown lots across Utah were being overwatered and mowed, wasting space that could feed communities. So, I founded Backyard Harvest Co. as a DBA under Jake and Joe Co., posting on social media to offer free lawn mowing in exchange for land to garden. The response was overwhelming—nearly an acre of land offered by homeowners, churches, and schools. In fall 2022, I transformed a 1,500-square-foot overgrown front lawn into my first garden, sourcing free topsoil and compost to plant garlic, turnips, and leafy greens under low tunnels for winter growth. The harvest wasn’t huge, but it proved the concept worked.

By spring 2023, I expanded to two more gardens, navigating challenges like inconsistent yields and logistical headaches of managing scattered plots. In our third year, a Utah LFPA grant allowed us to donate produce to Catholic Community Services and focus on high-value microgreens to stay afloat. But the grind of running multiple plots, building a customer base, and balancing other jobs took a toll on my health and family. I learned a hard truth: people crave fresh, local produce but lack the time, skills, or resources to grow it themselves. Our food system is broken, and I’m determined to fix it.

The Vision: Adamah AI – Gardening Robots for Everyone

This is where Adamah AI comes in—a revolutionary idea born from my years in agriculture, maintenance tech experience, and passion for community service. I envision a trio of AI-powered robots transforming urban spaces into vibrant, sustainable gardens:

Main Bot: Plants, prunes, and harvests with precision using advanced computer vision (YOLOv8 for 98% accurate weed detection), hyperspectral imaging, and sensor fusion via Kalman Filters for real-time plant health monitoring (NDVI metrics). It navigates with sub-millimeter accuracy using RRT* algorithms and graph neural networks, slashing chemical use.

Load Carrier Bot: Hauls produce, compost, and supplies, optimizing logistics with multi-agent swarm technology for seamless collaboration.

Aerial Drone: Scouts gardens from above, spotting pests or nutrient issues early, saving battery life for the ground bots.

These robots, powered by NVIDIA Jetson for edge computing, use LSTMs for yield forecasting, XGBoost for irrigation scheduling (85% accuracy), and Model Predictive Control for delicate tasks like bruise-free harvesting. A hybrid solar-electric charging dock keeps them eco-friendly, while reinforcement learning (PPO framework) and federated learning let them adapt in just 10,000 episodes, improving performance by 15% quarterly. Integrated via ROS2 and Kubernetes, this system boosts yields by 20-50% and cuts labor costs by 80%.

Imagine: anyone, anywhere, can grow organic produce in their backyard without lifting a finger. These robots handle soil prep, planting, weeding, pest control, and harvesting, making food sovereignty accessible and transforming city landscapes into green oases.

Why I Need Your Support

To bring Adamah AI to life, I’m raising $20,000 to build the first prototype this winter. The funds will cover:

Parts and Hardware: NVIDIA Jetson modules, sensors, motors, and solar panels for the robot trio and charging dock.

Software Development: AI models, ROS2 integration, and Kubernetes for swarm coordination.

Tools and Equipment: 3D printers, soldering kits, and testing gear for prototyping.

Marketing and Outreach: Building a website, creating demos, and spreading the word at farmers’ markets and tech expos.

Consulting: Partnering with AI and robotics experts to refine the system.

The Impact: Healthier Communities, Greener Cities

With your support, Adamah AI will empower people to grow their own food, reduce reliance on industrial agriculture, and create vibrant, sustainable communities. By automating gardening, we’ll save time, cut costs, and make healthy eating accessible to all. Picture schools, churches, and backyards bursting with fresh produce, fostering physical and mental well-being while combating climate change.

Join the Journey

I’ve poured my heart into gardening and my mind into this vision, but I can’t do it alone. Your donation—whether $10, $50, or more—will help build a future where urban farming is effortless and abundant. Join our email list at adamahai.xyz for updates or contribute today to be part of this revolution. Together, we can change how we grow, eat, and live starting in Utah and spreading worldwide.

Let’s make cities bloom. Thank you for believing in Adamah AI.