3 ms·

Thanks for this great comment! I agree with you and this is partly why I started this platform: We need to get away from anecdotal, someone famous said it work

Thanks for this great comment! I agree with you and this is partly why I started this platform: We need to get away from anecdotal, someone famous said it works, so it works kind of thinking to socially verified approach: If many people in my area with a similar soil type have grown this specific plant successfully then I have high chances too. But there is no such platform for that kind of info. YET! Happy to chat more!

dbingham 6y ago
The problem comes when that plant is non-native and not in that region. Why is it growing so well? Is it because it's unavailable to the insects and micro-organisms in that region, and thus not contributing to the natural environment any better than lawn? A platform for sharing anecdotes is still providing anecdotes. What we need is research.
- roboben 6y ago
  not sharing purely anecdotes but getting it verified by many others is almost as good as scientific research for growing plants in my opinion. What do you think about Wikipedia? I think they did a great job of creating something which is not based on science but still has a high trust factor and usefulness for people.
  - ShamelessC 6y ago
    Not who you're replying to, but I think the culture you build around contributing will determine whether or not these "anecdotes" are trustworthy or not. It's probably pretty easy to fall into the trap of "we dont have many contributors, so any contributions are welcome", but what I'd _really_ like to see is a requirement that attempts are made to take measurements and pictures throughout the growth process.
    - roboben 6y ago
      That sounds great and exactly what I want to see too! Combined with exact dates and you could "calculate" "real" growing times!
- roboben 6y ago
  I would love to chat more with you about this, if you're into it, please ping me at hello at permapeople org! thanks again!

dbingham 6y ago

The problem comes when that plant is non-native and not in that region. Why is it growing so well? Is it because it's unavailable to the insects and micro-organisms in that region, and thus not contributing to the natural environment any better than lawn? A platform for sharing anecdotes is still providing anecdotes. What we need is research.

roboben 6y ago
not sharing purely anecdotes but getting it verified by many others is almost as good as scientific research for growing plants in my opinion. What do you think about Wikipedia? I think they did a great job of creating something which is not based on science but still has a high trust factor and usefulness for people.
- ShamelessC 6y ago
  Not who you're replying to, but I think the culture you build around contributing will determine whether or not these "anecdotes" are trustworthy or not. It's probably pretty easy to fall into the trap of "we dont have many contributors, so any contributions are welcome", but what I'd _really_ like to see is a requirement that attempts are made to take measurements and pictures throughout the growth process.
  - roboben 6y ago
    That sounds great and exactly what I want to see too! Combined with exact dates and you could "calculate" "real" growing times!
roboben 6y ago
I would love to chat more with you about this, if you're into it, please ping me at hello at permapeople org! thanks again!