Knowledge 26 was a whirlwind. Between the sessions, the demos, and the hallway conversations, it was a lot in the best possible way. If you walked away with one of our sensors tucked in your bag, you might just be coming up for air now that the dust has settled. This post is for you.
And if you weren't at K26 but you're curious what the Community Garden is all about — welcome. You're in the right place too.
The short version: Community Garden started as a pandemic passion project and grew into something none of us quite expected. If you want the full origin story, it's all here. But right now, let's get you set up.
What is Community Garden?
The Community Garden is exactly what it sounds like: a community within a community. It lives inside the ServiceNow ecosystem, built for ServiceNow folks who also happen to love plants — or who just love seeing what's possible on the platform.
Here's how it works: you connect a sensor to one of your plants, and its health data flows into a ServiceNow-powered portal in real time. Soil moisture, light levels, and more — all tracked and visualized, right there in the app. And you join a growing group of people doing the same thing with their own plants.
The best part? You don't need to be a hardware person. Community Garden comes with its own firmware. If you can plug something in, you can participate.
Got a Sensor at Knowledge 26?
If you picked up one of our sensors at Knowledge 26, you're already halfway there. You have the hardware — now let's get it talking.
Head over to our Gitbook build guide for step-by-step instructions on pairing your sensor and connecting to the portal. It walks you through everything from firmware setup to your first live data reading.
Get started with the build guide →
See the portal you're building toward →
Resources
Everything you need to find your way around:
- The Portal — Explore the live Community Garden app
- Gitbook Build Guide — Step-by-step instructions for getting your sensor up and running
- Khoros Community — Where the ongoing conversation lives
- Slack Channel — Real-time help, questions, and plant chat
- Idea Portal — Have a thought about where Community Garden should go next? Submit it, vote on others, and help shape what we build. (You can also find it in the portal header.)
Come Grow With Us
This started as a passion project and it still is one — and the community is a big part of what makes it grow. Come say hello in Slack, share a photo of your plant, and if you have ideas for what Community Garden could become next, the Idea Portal is open and waiting.
The best communities grow together. We're glad you're here.
