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*ack*, i'm an idiot
Jul. 11th, 2013 12:19(yes, i know it's a bad word, but i want to beat myself up, so there.)
filled in a survey for growstuff.org [1], but didn't record my answers. i wasn't sure what i need most from the site to actually use it more than sporadically when i happen to think about it. when i first heard about it from the *poing*, i was excited; it seemed like a great idea. but when i started using it, that excitement faded [2]. after thinking about why, i decided that the one thing i want them to work most on is "plant other crops", which is not part of the mission statement as i understand it, but at least it was present in the survey, so i don't feel entirely out of line. because while foodstuffs are important to me, an open-source food growing database would be fab, and i really would love to own a piece of land so i can make an attempt at permaculture, and some semblance of self-sufficiency again, at this point (and probably forever), i am not just growing food, but i love trees, shrubs, flowers, fibre, and dye plants as well, and i am just not gonna use a site that allows me to only plant one type of stuff in the online representation of my garden. considering my limited number of spoons, even though it's an extremely worthwhile project, i don't see myself participating if i need to stick to food -- if i even could just add non-food crops (without database information) that might be good enough, not sure.
i have some further vague dissatisfaction about the site, and i'm not sure why. i find it hard to find anything. i noticed some of you are there as well, but i am just not gonna comb the whole list of members each time i log on; there seems to be no general search. i am not interested in searching only for members geographically near me (i can already find those in a variety of ways); i want to find the internet people i know, and learn about their gardening endeavours. even if i find you, i can't "follow" any of you people. there seem to be no notifications for replies to any posts/comments i made, which is pretty much a non-starter; i can't keep track of that stuff in my head. without communication, i am also unlikely to participate. oh, i am piranha over there.
i can't add a crop easily. i can't find the right crop some of the time (naming issues), and cultivars seem non-existent. i have photos of all my plants, but i can't simply link to them -- this is yet another place that wants me to upload images to flickr. i'll gladly share my images and i'd even put them into the public domain if it's for a good purpose such as building an open database of plant information, but it's just one more thing where the web either fractures into too many pieces or becomes too dependent on a single source -- i do not want that one site to be flickr, nor do i want it to be each project's individual server, but a site of my choosing. yes, i realize, APIs. *grump*.
i answered "don't care" to some items i would actually be interested in some time in the future, like swapping seeds / seedlings. as it stands, that can't happen across borders, and no members seem to be near me, so i discarded it entirely for now. if the site gains some more features, i might advertise it at the local farmers' markets, which could be useful.
i don't remember what happened with my folia attempt; i think it was a combination of site not being well developed yet plus sickness. i should maybe check it out again, but these days i feel generally less inclined towards proprietary systems.
[1] from the wiki: Growstuff is a social website for food gardeners to track their crops and harvests, connect and share with friends, learn from each other, and trade produce, seeds and other garden-related produce and supplies.
[2] lest anyone involved with growstuff thinks that i am unjustly criticizing a start-up, i am just whinging, not blaming growstuff. as far as i can see they're looking ok for a start-up, they've in fact just asked me what i want, and i have no philosophical complaints. just curmudgeonly, tired me not "clicking" with a new place.
filled in a survey for growstuff.org [1], but didn't record my answers. i wasn't sure what i need most from the site to actually use it more than sporadically when i happen to think about it. when i first heard about it from the *poing*, i was excited; it seemed like a great idea. but when i started using it, that excitement faded [2]. after thinking about why, i decided that the one thing i want them to work most on is "plant other crops", which is not part of the mission statement as i understand it, but at least it was present in the survey, so i don't feel entirely out of line. because while foodstuffs are important to me, an open-source food growing database would be fab, and i really would love to own a piece of land so i can make an attempt at permaculture, and some semblance of self-sufficiency again, at this point (and probably forever), i am not just growing food, but i love trees, shrubs, flowers, fibre, and dye plants as well, and i am just not gonna use a site that allows me to only plant one type of stuff in the online representation of my garden. considering my limited number of spoons, even though it's an extremely worthwhile project, i don't see myself participating if i need to stick to food -- if i even could just add non-food crops (without database information) that might be good enough, not sure.
i have some further vague dissatisfaction about the site, and i'm not sure why. i find it hard to find anything. i noticed some of you are there as well, but i am just not gonna comb the whole list of members each time i log on; there seems to be no general search. i am not interested in searching only for members geographically near me (i can already find those in a variety of ways); i want to find the internet people i know, and learn about their gardening endeavours. even if i find you, i can't "follow" any of you people. there seem to be no notifications for replies to any posts/comments i made, which is pretty much a non-starter; i can't keep track of that stuff in my head. without communication, i am also unlikely to participate. oh, i am piranha over there.
i can't add a crop easily. i can't find the right crop some of the time (naming issues), and cultivars seem non-existent. i have photos of all my plants, but i can't simply link to them -- this is yet another place that wants me to upload images to flickr. i'll gladly share my images and i'd even put them into the public domain if it's for a good purpose such as building an open database of plant information, but it's just one more thing where the web either fractures into too many pieces or becomes too dependent on a single source -- i do not want that one site to be flickr, nor do i want it to be each project's individual server, but a site of my choosing. yes, i realize, APIs. *grump*.
i answered "don't care" to some items i would actually be interested in some time in the future, like swapping seeds / seedlings. as it stands, that can't happen across borders, and no members seem to be near me, so i discarded it entirely for now. if the site gains some more features, i might advertise it at the local farmers' markets, which could be useful.
i don't remember what happened with my folia attempt; i think it was a combination of site not being well developed yet plus sickness. i should maybe check it out again, but these days i feel generally less inclined towards proprietary systems.
[1] from the wiki: Growstuff is a social website for food gardeners to track their crops and harvests, connect and share with friends, learn from each other, and trade produce, seeds and other garden-related produce and supplies.
[2] lest anyone involved with growstuff thinks that i am unjustly criticizing a start-up, i am just whinging, not blaming growstuff. as far as i can see they're looking ok for a start-up, they've in fact just asked me what i want, and i have no philosophical complaints. just curmudgeonly, tired me not "clicking" with a new place.