When we learned about two recent college grads turning  8,000 pounds of coffee grounds into at home mushroom growing kits -- we knew there was a Grommet story waiting to be discovered. Just when the founders of Back to the Roots, Alex and Nik, thought they were headed off to careers in consulting and investment banking, they came up with the idea to create kits that allow all of us to be farmers in our own kitchens. We were thrilled to launch Back to the Roots mushrooms kits last year (and even more thrilled about growing gourmet mushroom ourselves!). During a recent visit to their Oakland, CA facility we may have spotted a new project they are working on and today, we're thrilled to help them spread the word!

These guys are at it again and we're proud to rally behind any idea they come up with (we figure if they can grow mushrooms out of coffee grounds, well they can probably do anything). Today, Alex and Nik are announcing their new Kickstarter campaign for Back to the Roots Aquaponics Garden which is a homegrown food and aquaponics accessible to everyone - families, gardeners, kids, classrooms, teachers, and foodies! The Aquaponics Garden is an elegant table-top fish tank that cleans itself & grows fresh food at the same time. A closed-loop ecosystem -- now that's pretty cool.

Take a look:

These guys need our help, check out their Kickstarter page to learn more and help them get this off the ground. They need to raise $100,000 by Decemeber 15, 2012, can we help them out? Pledge and/or share this post on Twitter, Facebook, and anywhere you think we could help Nik and Alex turn their idea into a reality.

Jules talks networking at Boston Startup School

How important is networking when trying to impress potential customers, investors or product launch platforms like Daily Grommet? Extremely important! With connections behind you, you're likely to be noticed and move toward the top of the list. Whether you're looking for a job, or trying to get your product noticed, the rules stay the same.

Our fearless leader, Jules Pieri, gave an illuminating talk at the Boston Startup School last week on Networking: Do's and Dont's. Her experience and advice is great for students, job-seekers and entrepreneurs alike. Below are 5 major takeaways.

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We've shared some pretty exciting news this week, Rakuten invested in Daily Grommet!  Since our announcement, we've been busy -- we're working hard to launch new products, we're growing our team (we've gone from 19 to 29 employees in just two weeks!), and we're sharing the Grommet story every day.

Ian & Jen, prepping computers for out new team members

To learn why Rakuten is such a great partner for Daily Grommet, be sure to read this interview Jules did with Xconomy: Jules Pieri on Curation, Trust, and Daily Grommet’s Deal with Rakuten.

This is an exciting time for us, for our partners, and for our community. Thank you for your encouragement and support, only exciting things ahead (there's no stopping this team)!

Our relationships with our Grommet partners lasts well beyond launch day. We want to see their businesses expand, grow and thrive and are eager to help them succeed.

 We’ve recently learned that two of our Grommet partners have entered in Martha Stewart's American Made contest. Martha and the editors of Martha Stewart Living magazine are searching for the rising stars in a new generation of small-business owners.  Both Grommet partners, The Bee Man and Moultonology  are in the running for the Audience Choice Award. The winner will be honored at the American Made event in New York City, will appear in Martha Stewart Living magazine, and will receive $10,000 to further his or her business.

Now THAT sounds like an opportunity for growth!

We know that both of these business are very deserving of this prize and we also know they would be thrilled if you took a moment to vote for them.

Vote for Brian Howell, The Bee Man here.

Vote for Anne Dowell of Moultonology here.

Best of luck to both of them! And we can't wait to explore all of the other "American Made" businesses as well!

As exciting as it is to launch a new product here on Daily Grommet, for us, it gets even better when we get to see how the world reacts to these innovative ideas and passionate entrepreneurial stories. For our partners, a Grommet launch is just the beginning of some well deserved attention.

We’ve recently shared that several of our Grommet partners had entered in the Mission: Small Business challenge— a program sponsored by Chase and LivingSocial to help small businesses across the US by awarding up to 12 individual $250,000 Grants (you can see all 12 winning companies here). Many of you helped us rock the vote and spread the word for these great companies (thank you!) and today we are happy to share some exciting news!

Grommet partner Vinnibag reached out to us with some very exciting news -- they won a Mission Small Business grant!  Out of 70,000 companies this mother and daughter duo is one of the 12 companies being awarded a $250,000 grant. We were pretty fired up for  them and had to ask them some details about their experience:

What were you thinking when you got the news that you were a winner?

I love this question. I was driving home to San Francisco and my mom (Elizabeth Scarbrough, CEO of Ellessco LLC) called and asked if I was in a "safe area" to listen to some news. When she said "I just got a fed-ex package...I think we just won Mission: Small Business" I started screaming "What? What?" and then started to cry... I cry a little just talking about it because it was such an amazing feeling. So to answer your question, I was thinking a mixture of "what, what" and then shock, and appreciation. We worked really hard on the grant application. And our qualifying 250 votes did not come easily. After that, we just sent out all the positive energy we could, and put it in fate's hands. I still can't believe it.

-How will this grant help shape your business? Future plans?

The Chase Bank and Living Social grant will help us increase capacity and will help tremendously with new product development. We have multiple products in the pipeline that will follow VinniBag's tradition of innovation, social/ecological sustainability, and USA production. As far as what these products are ... stay tuned! :)

-What did you take away from this Mission Small Business experience?

Oh wow, so much. Hope, gratitude, faith, respect.... I could go on and on. But what really stands out is myelevated appreciation for the community of small businesses in America. This opportunity gave us (small businesses) a platform to connect with friends, family, and strangers and to "meet" each other. I was overwhelmed with how many requests I personally received, and how many small businesses I believed deserved to win as well. It was fun to be involved in a contest where you wanted to vote for your competitor.

-Any other thoughts?

Yes, we want to thank our friends, family, customers, vendors, fellow small business owners, and everyone else that has encouraged us every step of the way. The highs and lows of owning a business are inevitable, and we would never have been able to make it this far without them. Also a big THANK YOU to Chase Bank and Living Social for creating this program, and awarding us money to grow.

 A big congrats again to our Grommet partner and stay tuned, we'll be sure to share the new products they roll out with next!

Our relationships with our Grommet partners lasts well beyond launch day. We want to see their businesses expand, grow and thrive and are eager to help them succeed. We've recently learned that several of our Grommet partners have entered in Mission: Small Business -- a program sponsored by Chase and LivingSocial to help small businesses across the US by awarding up to 12 individual $250,000 Grants. Now THAT sounds like an opportunity for growth!

To become a finalist, each business will need to gain 250 votes  before June 30th -- no simple feat. We'd love to help them boost up their numbers, so what do you say Grommet community? Can we take a couple minutes and vote for these guys?

To help support our Grommet partners:

1. Visit Mission Small Business

2. Log in with Facebook

3. Search for business names: Malpaca, Allurements, Jon Wye, Back to the Roots, YAK Apparel and Bottlehood (then just click support)

Are you a small business who has also entered this contest? Feel free to leave your business name below and let others know you'd love a vote.

Good luck to all of the participants!

You can learn more about the  Grommets mentioned above by visiting our original feature of Malpaca, Allurements, Jon Wye, Back to the Roots, YAK Apparel and BottleHood on Daily Grommet.