FAQ

General Questions


What is OpenFarm?

OpenFarm is a website where you learn how to grow things.

We use user-created guides that detail how to grow a wide variety of crops so you can decide what the best way of growing a something is.

Think of it as recipes for awesome plants in your yard, greenhouse, windowsill, or anywhere.

Can I help you?

Short answer: Yes!

Long answer: Development is quick and constantly changing. We're pushing things at least a couple of times a week, and for that reason, anything that changes is up for debate and re-consideration.

Right now the focus of the project is on guide creation (Growing Guides). However, for that to work properly, we need real plant data(Crops).

If you're interested in helping out, reach out to us on in Slack or on GitHub.

Who makes OpenFarm?

You!

Seriously, OpenFarm is only possible because users are creating guides, tracking their gardens, and writing the actual software.

If you're interested in helping out with any of these things, join our slack room, or say hi: hi@openfarm.cc.

But we've also got a fairly large group of regular contributors who have done more than their fair share. Have a look at our about page to learn more about these wonderful people.

How can I contact you?

Currently most day-to-day discussion happens in our Slack group which anyone is free to join. You can add yourself by joining it.

A couple of us hang out on #farmbot and #openfarm on IRC, though it's not very active. A bot to ping things back and forth is being thought about, but if you want to take initiative, please do!

If you don't believe in Slack's ability to destroy e-mail (don't worry, we don't either), you can also send us a quick e-mail at hi@openfarm.cc.

A couple of us hang out on #openfarm on freenode, though it's not very active. A bot for pinging has been discussed.

How is this related to Farmbot?

Only in that some of us work on both projects. Farmbot will eventually use the OpenFarm API, but the two projects are very distinct.

This also goes for the Slack channel.

Reach out to Rory (rory@farmbot.io) to find out more about Farmbot



Development Questions


How can I contribute code?

  1. Fork the repo.
  2. Fix stuff, write features, unit tests(!).
  3. Send pull request to master.

Not sure where to help? Take a look at the Issue Tracker. It is advisable to let others know your intent to implement a feautre before starting, as it lets other contributors focus their efforts elsewhere.

Want to see the big picture? We have a project roadmap for that!

Is there an issue tracker?

We're primarily using github issues and milestones to keep track of things.

Previous issues: #61



Growing Questions


What are soil types?

“Soil is the mixture of minerals, organic matter, gases, liquids, and the myriad of organisms that together support plant life. It is a natural body that exists as part of the pedosphere and which performs four important functions: it is a medium for plant growth; it is a means of water storage, supply and purification; it is a modifier of the atmosphere; and it is a habitat for organisms that take part in decomposition of organic matter and the creation of a habitat for new organisms.” - Wikipedia

Do plants repeat annually?

We'll get back to you on that one!