I made permaculture software

Hi everyone,

My name is Joel Sullivan. I'm a certified permaculture designer, and I decided to make something that I believe is truly useful for the permaculture community. I made permaculture software that goes through the whole process, from design to management. I've hesitant to post here because I don't want this to come across wrong or be off putting.

Here's the story

I live in a suburb in Southern Ontario. I have a background in video editing an I know my way around programming to some extent. I discovered permaculture in early 2019. Since then I've been hooked on learning all about it. I've purchased a bunch of books, taken two PDC's, I even got to work on some permaculture video projects, which were incredibly rewarding.

But I've felt limited in what I can do. I want to help heal this planet. I want to make positive change. Then I had an idea. What if I made a program that could help other permaculture practitioners do what they do and make it in a way that helped new people learn and made permaculture more accessible for people who have never heard of it before.

So, I've spent the last year making the EarthWise design tool.

It's already mostly done and will be going out to beta testers very soon.

It's more than a garden planner. You can create zones, sectors, add different elements like plants, whole crops, ponds, livestock, water flows, structures, and a bunch more.

It has project/site calculators like household needs, water budget, energy systems, compost production, etc.

It also has analytics that show charts and data based on what you place in your design. Like your expected yields, energy and water balance, Total system needs and yields, and conflict detection.

And it also has an automated calendar that tracks when you should harvest, plant or prune plants. animal rotation and things like that.

I have a Kickstarter live right now and it's over 34% funded

The funds will all be going int refining and finishing the software and launching it to the public.

I'm planning to make it a one time purchase because I'm not a big fan of subscription fees.
This is something I really believe in and I want to make it something truly useful for the the permaculture community.

I'm open and hoping for any feedback and would greatly appreciate any support.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

- Joel

Hello Joel,

I am interested in supporting your Kickstarter for your permaculture software.  I like that it can reside on local hardware and not require a subscription.  Every subscription is another database waiting to be hacked and have your personal info published on the dark web.  Details of one's home and life-support systems are a bad idea to make available to the world via hackers.  Therefore your approach is best for those who want to be self-sufficient and secure in their own properties.  Thank you for developing this software.

I am also interested in retaining your services if you're accepting work beyond your software development activities.  I've been learning permaculture for years, but am currently overwhelmed with too many details and no view of the proverbial forest.

RSVP herein to discuss next steps; as I vaguely recall, permies.com discourages business transactions in this forum.

Joel this is an awesome project. I see a huge potential for this sort of software. This is the sort of thing I would like to use in the office to help us work-in permaculture design alongside the architectural process.

Can you speak to how you establish a site to work with? In many of the areas I work in, GIS is not updated to regularly reflect current plot ownership or geometry. Is this a beginner-friendly tool or does someone need to have some background in landscape/permaculture design?