PermaplanT

PermaplanT is an app for

• Web: Firefox, Chromium
• Larger mobile devices like tablets: Progressive Web App (PWA) Android 9+

Documentation

Relevant documentation for this initiative can be found in the folder doc.
You can also build and view the documentation in your browser by running the following commands in the projects root folder:

cargo install mdbook mdbook-mermaid
cargo install --git https://github.com/ElektraInitiative/mdbook-generate-summary mdbook-generate-summary
mdbook serve --open

Note that Rust needs to be installed for it to work.

Goals

The overall goals of the app are to enable planning:

1. vital growth of delicious edible crops, while
2. providing a diverse and functioning ecosystem, and
3. creating outdoor living spaces for both animals & humans.

To achieve these goals the app provides, e.g.:

• visual indications for permaculture:
  1. makes sense according to known and easily measurable natural constraints
  2. is practical for the gardener
  3. enhances diversity and supports the ecosystem
• suggestions for:
  • what is seasonal
  • increasing diversity

Main Features

• users have any number of maps
• maps have any number of layers (see below)
• users can work on the same map or on alternatives of layers together
• undo/redo and versions for changes in the map
• copy&paste of selection including succeeding crops across maps
• zoom
• internationalization: English, German
• algorithms for polyculture, considerations of natural constraints and automatic suggestions
• Nextcloud integrations (calender entries, Deck tasks)
• social network features (e.g. notification that someone entered your garden)
• positions and distances relate to the real word, e.g. you can use GPS coordinates
• GIS import/export
• privacy: no tracking, analytics, external JavaScript, fonts, etc.
• differences of versions of the same garden

Layers

In all layers --- except for base --- past, current or future entities might be intermixed. While editing any layer other layers might be displayed or hidden.

• Base¹ (import orthophoto or site plan as base image, define borders, scale, orientation)
• Terrain
• Landscape¹ (height&sketch of permanent structures like walls, ponds, constructions, beds)
• Labels (allows to put text labels, e.g. names for beds)
• Trees (taxa, stem position&height&sketch&type of forest, trees, hedge, bushes etc.)
• Wind (more or less windy places, wind orientation)
• Shadows (more/less sun exposure)
• Infrastructure (outlets, wifi spots, taps, water storage tanks, irrigation systems, ...)
• Hydrology (surface water runoff, natural reservoirs, gullies, rills, ...)
• Soil (pH Values of topsoil, subsoil)
• Paths (ways, fences, stepping stones)
• Habitats (taxa, areas for (wild)life, nesting aids, heaps of stones or leaves, perches)
• Zones (of different visitation frequency)
• Plants¹ (taxa, individual and fields of plants)
• Warnings¹
• Photos (sharing of photo with GPS coordinates and a Nextcloud chats per photo)
• Fertilize
• Todos (creates Deck cards in Nextcloud)
• Drawing (for anything else)

¹ Essential (most used) layers: are more prominently shown than others.

Later Versions

Later features, i.e., out of scope for first version:

• weather data (warnings on frost etc.)
• hints&tips about pest control, fertilizer, care, etc.
• automatic shadow and moisture calculation
• 3D modes (forest garden), contour lines etc.
• timelaps of historic garden development, simulate growth

Non-functional Goals

1. easy to use (aesthetic UI, collaborative use)
2. uptime (robustness, no restarts)
3. performance (serve many concurrent users)