Run a vegetable garden with your smartphone or laptop and have the harvest delivered to your home? That sounds tempting. That is exactly the concept of the start-up myAcker from Carinthia. In an interview with ntv.de, founder Christoph Raunig explains where the vegetables come from and how they differ from supermarket products.
Growing your own tomatoes, zucchini and carrots is something many people can only dream of. After all, not everyone has the opportunity and/or time to care for their own garden. That’s what Carinthian Christoph Raunig and Patrick Kleinferchner, who founded the online platform myAcker in 2018, also thought. Here you can create your own little virtual vegetable garden. Christoph Raunig reveals in an interview with ntv.de how it works and whether you can take part even as a complete beginner.
ntv.de: How does the MyAcker concept work?
Christoph Raunig: MyAcker works like an online vegetable garden. The special thing is that you go through all the activities that you would go through in your own garden when growing vegetables. But you do the whole thing from a distance. Everything that happens in the field is done by local people. They implement the orders given online. Our Icosa station collects important data from all of our customers’ gardens. These include, for example, weather data, information on soil moisture, the degree of weed infestation and data on the growth progress of the plants in the field. You can then check all of this online. This is ideal for people who don’t have the opportunity to grow their own vegetables because they can combine digital with analogue. So you can also grow your vegetables if you live in a high-rise building in the big city.
Is it even worth registering with myAcker in the winter months?
The myAcker garden is based on reality – as if you actually had your own vegetable garden. In winter you can’t do anything in your own garden and that’s why the season at myAcker starts around Easter and runs until the beginning of November. People should think more about their food and its origins again. At myAcker, all the activities that you used to do physically are brought back to consciousness.
Where are the vegetables grown and how big is the vegetable garden?
The customer can choose the size of their garden themselves. First you get a garden between one and two square meters. Then you can expand it up to seven square meters. The customer can decide for themselves which garden they would like to have. For example, it is located in Mühldorf in Mölltal (Carinthia) or in Rappoltenkirchen, in Tullnerfeld near Vienna.
What types of vegetables can you plant in your online garden?
You can choose between 67 different types of vegetables and herbs. However, you first have to acquire this large selection with experience points. The more gardening experience you have, the more plant choices you have. Of course, you can’t grow everything all year round. When temperatures are below zero at night, the plants cannot thrive because the water freezes. But the last vegetables we harvested endured sub-zero temperatures for a short time. These include, for example, sprouted cabbage or white cabbage.
What will be done by the users? most planted?
Our bestsellers are lettuces, carrots and radishes. It’s actually a colorful mix of vegetables that are planted by users.
What quality are the vegetables? Is it organic?
Both arable locations use exclusively organic vegetables. This has been the case since the beginning, but in 2021 our vegetables are now officially certified organic. Since then, the company has been inspected by the organic control body BIOS. The fertilizers we have available are also organic fertilizers.
How can you see whether the instructions are being implemented properly?
The garden is equipped with cameras so that you can check what is happening in your own garden at any time. There are also a lot of people who come by and look at their garden. So that’s not a problem at all. You should just register in advance so that one of our gardeners can take a short tour.
How do you get the vegetables? Do you have to harvest it yourself?
The vegetables are harvested, packaged and sent at the customer’s request. Shipping is very fast and is climate-neutral within Austria. The next day you have your harvest at home. So you don’t need to go there in person. Nevertheless, you can of course also pick up your vegetables yourself. To do this, customers simply select the “self-collection” option on the portal.
Can you also have vegetables sent to Germany?
Shipping is only possible within Austria, otherwise the transport route would be too long and the vegetables would suffer. But we have also integrated partners who use the concept and then enter the market in their area. We are currently actively looking for additional partners who want to build a new digital foothold.
How much does the whole thing cost?
The customer can choose the size of the garden and the types of vegetables he wants to grow. This costs 39.90 euros per month for the garden. This includes all the activities in the garden – i.e. the garden rental with all the plants, the fertilizer, watering and all other necessary work steps. He also has five free harvest packages, which means you can get your harvest delivered five times for free. After that, shipping costs of 6.90 euros are added because we also want to ensure that the harvesting takes place efficiently. For example, if you want to have the carrots sent to you on Monday and the salad on Tuesday, you shouldn’t do this individually. There are also seasonal packages for 199 euros with the same services as the monthly package, but most people choose the subscription model. However, it is important not to book for just one month, as the vegetables need a month to ripen and therefore no harvest can be expected in the first month. In our opinion, you should plan on three months for a good harvest.
Can you run an online garden even if you are a complete beginner gardener without any know-how? How do you avoid mistakes?
Of course, the platform supports you with information about gardening. The information is given in such a way that you can only carry out activities that are currently allowed to be done. This makes the whole thing easier. Only plants that have the right soil temperature may be grown.
Do you get money back if there is no harvest – for example due to storms?
The basic idea, of course, is that you deal with your food. It’s part of the “game” that not everything works perfectly, but in principle you can also buy crop insurance. Then you are protected if the harvest doesn’t work because, for example, it was too cold throughout the year. But most users take the risk and book without insurance. After all, you have no guarantee of a good harvest in your own garden on your doorstep.
What happens if you don’t take care of your garden or the harvest doesn’t come off?
For example, if you don’t water your vegetables or there are dangers lurking, you will receive notifications from our portal. Often even several times. If these are ignored, the harvest can be at risk. Fortunately, this happens very rarely. There is a holiday package in case the customers are away for a few weeks. Then the platform takes care of it. However, most people are very behind in planting and harvesting their produce properly.
What happens if you no longer want your harvest?
You can have your harvest donated, for example to needy families or charitable organizations. Or you can sell the harvest on our marketplace.
What is the marketplace and how does it work?
Many also use the marketplace, where you can buy additional products. It also gives me the opportunity to sell my own surplus crops to other online gardeners. So you can swap back and forth. It should be noted, however, that the vegetables only last seven days after harvest. Therefore, after this period has expired, it will also be removed from the marketplace. If it is still edible, we don’t throw it away, we donate it.
Which people use MyAcker?
Many families with children use myAcker to pass the whole thing on to the next generation in a playful way. Then we also have many companies that plant and harvest vegetables for employees, as well as school classes. A class garden is looked after there together during the school year. The students share the work in the garden and then there is also a class trip to the field. In the end, the vegetables are cooked and eaten together after they have been harvested.
Isabel Michael spoke to Christoph Raunig