Sunday, February 16, 2014

Database for Practical plants

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The Open Wiki-base for Practical Plants

 Practical Plants is a collaboratively edited encyclopedia and database of information on plants cultivated with a practical intention. Over 7400 plant articles covering edible, medicinal and material uses, propagation and cultivation information, plant associations and polycultures, and everything else you need to know to grow and benefit from practical plants.

 

 Like most gardeners, homesteaders, permaculturalists (and so on) my partner and I have a mountain of books we reference to decide what to plant, where to plant it, what's wrong with it, how to harvest, store and use it, etc, but as much as we love our library it takes a lot of page flipping and book swapping to answer the question "What perennial nitrogen fixer would be at home in that shady spot by the house?" or "What grows well with tomatoes and peas?" or even "What are some good guilds/polycultures containing squashes?". We searched for a website that could do so and provide us with all the information we wanted, but came up empty. Moreover, we were worried by how many websites out there are relying on their users to build a plant database which they then claim exclusive rights over, essentially stealing the data from the community which created it. We think it's crucial that information on growing and using plants is free not only to access, but to edit , share and own, especially when it is created by a community of growers. 

 

 Andru Vallance

 

 

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