A Plan By Any Other Name Would Work As Well?

Andrew Shindyapin

Andrew Shindyapin

February 9, 2019
A Plan By Any Other Name Would Work As Well?

You pull out a pad of paper and a pencil to start planning your garden for the year. This is a yearly ritual that begins in January or February because you know the process is a long one. You begin with the current state of the yard. You may be aware that you need the sun/shadow patterns, water source, and the hardiness zone… but what about your yard’s topography (which directs water flow) and the micro-climate? You scrap several pieces of paper, and draw several revisions. Then you need another five to ten sheets because you keep doing research and learn about yet another thing you want to add to the design. You finally have a plan you like, only to come up with a brilliant feature later that would require you to start over with (yet another) blank piece of paper! Or perhaps your child decides to "improve" on the plan with crayons.

You will need to plant a whole ‘nother forest just to replenish all the scrapped designs. Holy Moly! There must be a better way!!!

Hi, I’m Andrew Shindyapin; I’m here to save trees, and provide you with a design tool that won’t take months to nail your design. I am developing a web application that works well on tablets and smartphones, too. The app is based on permaculture design principles and it is called Edible Estate. It will help you observe your yard, design food production systems, and then implement and improve your plan. And if you're wondering what I mean by food systems, some examples include food forests, chicken tractors, aquaponics systems, bees, raised square-foot garden beds, or all of the above! I believe the annual process for designing your edible yard is the observe → plan → improve cycle.

With the Edible Estate app, you will be able to plan food systems that work best for you. Just enter your address, and the app zooms into the aerial photo of your back yard. Design your yard and see it before you grow it, easily moving plants and other features around to achieve the best fit for your yard.

Once you have your design down, it becomes much easier to figure out how to afford it and have the time to do it all in the season. Get perfectly-timed prompts when to plant, prune, and harvest; receive hard-won advice specific to your region. Tap a button to hire an edible landscaper who will make it happen, or do the work yourself in stages, with a community of gardeners to help you stay on track. Experiment with various gardening ideas, then implement the best in your yard. Reduce that flood of food-growing data and knowledge to a timely drip of actionable insight on the next step to tackle.

I'm incredibly excited about offering the app to people passionate about growing their food in their yard, do it simply, and with a computational design tool. Now if you think peaches come from a can, or if all you want to grow a golf course in your backyard, or you hate your computer, the Edible Estate app is not for you. But if you’re passionate about growing food for yourself and your family, I’m taking on alpha users at the lowest price I’ll be offering. There are only a few spots left. Once they’re gone, beta user opportunities will open up. If you’re sick of paper and pencil and you want a garden planning tool that actually uses your yard and not just a generic template, don't delay! Learn more and sign up here.