From anywhere in the world, one can access it to plant seeds and water them. Eventually the garden will come to reflect this community. It's connected across the Web, one side in cyberspace, the other in a very physical environment. The Telegarden went online in June of 1995 and continues to evolve. Five new seasons have been initiated.
Activity is recorded in logs so that the cooperative can be self-governing.
For the experienced gardener, the TeleGarden offers a search for the sould of gardening. Sowing a single, unseen and untouched seed thousands of miles away might seem mechanical, but it engenders a Zen-like appreciation for the fundamental act of growing. Though drained of sensory cues, planting that distant seed still stirs anticipation, protectiveness, and nurturing. The Mercury Project by some members of this team and others, used an industrial robot to permit remote excavation of a sand-filled archaelogical site. Such hunting and gathering characterizes existing Internet protocols.