MAIN IDEA
- An interactive map in 'QGIS' with field mapping in 'Qfield', for mapping and design of a Permaculture site.

Workflow overview 
-   integrate data layers
    - desktop preparation (QGIS)
        - imported layers from an existing dataset, such as NextGIS, 'Ausmap plugin' (if you're in Australia) or a custom dataset built in QGIS
            - hybrid sat imagery 
            - contour lines
            - soil type
            - climate zone
            - water eg. Mains, groundwater 
            - power eg. Transmission lines
    - mobile field mapping (Qfield, synced with 'Qfield Plugin' in QGIS)
        - drawing tool (Qfield and QGIS):
        - GPS (internal/external rugged Bluetooth GNSS receiver)
            - motion mapping 
            - points 
            - polygons
            - lines
            - distance + area measurements 
            - freehand
        - multimedia, geotagged (Qfield)
            - photos
            - audio
            - video
            - text annotations
            - other
                - 3D objects
    - label tool (in QGIS)
        - layer icon interactive 'buttons' -> databases, multimedia 
        - infrastructure/object 
            - linked into an infrastructure/object database 
                - eg. Buildings, water tanks, PVs, swales, Zai pits, paths, biochar kilns (Kon-Tiki 'Essential' or Flame Cap 'Corrugated Box' Panel Kiln) etc.
                - DIY (appropedia.org)
                - commercial/OTS products 
            - can add objects from the field (Qfield) into the database (database training)
        - plant species
            - linked into plant databases eg. PFAF, Permapeople 

            - could also use AI plant recognition during mapping ('Plantnet' integration)
    - wild energies on the site
        - freehand tool
    - cartography template overlay
        - (check QGIS plugins)
        - title
        - northing
        - scale
        - info
        - legend
            - Auto add of icons to the legend 
            - integrated with 'label tool' eg. Global icon change on map with newly selected icon/object in databases (plugin)
- other features
        - multilingual
        - support for Bluetooth GNSS receiver
        - cross-platform: Android/iOS/macOS/Windows/Linux
        - various import/export formats for GIS desktop software 
        - jpg, PNG export
        - C footprint (regenfarmer)
        - 3D visualization (QGIS, regenfarmer)
        - hololens AR

My conclusion 
- plenty of software out there, some specific to Permaculture eg. SAGE, Permapeople 'Garden Planner'
- fuck all with mapping and design integration

-why reinvent the wheel with a standalone software platform when the Qfield (with free tier)/QGIS platform has a brilliant and supportive open source community and plugins can be built as needed (with Python) to mod the workflow?
- some very urban landscape planning software with mainly ornamental plants (not very useful)
- iScape for android has potential with AI plant recognition
- 'Plants for a Future' and 'Permapeople' both have great plant databases
- Failing that, I've imported a Mediterranean food forest plant spreadsheet (XSLX) from PFAF into QGIS as a spreadsheet layer and 'Attribution table' (using the 'Spreadsheet import' plugin)
- I can make new vector layers and label from copied plant name cells from the above table
- I can map out infrastructure not obvious on the Google Earth hybrid sat data from the 'Ausmap plugin'
- I can import XML icon datasets via 'Style Manager', 'QGIS Hub' and 'QGIS shared resources' plugins
- I can select the desired icon for a given vector layer

So, the overall tech stack is:
- android (or iOS) smartphone with 'Qfield' (onboard GPS can be used but with less accuracy than a dedicated bluetooth GNSS unit, preferably rugged)
- Ubuntu (or windows/Mac OS) laptop with 'QGIS' and plugins (there are more than 2000 of them, mostly free with some paid)
- 'Food forest plants for Mediterranean Conditions' book (from PFAF, for Med/semi-arid climate zones) (or other food forest books eg.arid, temperate, sub-tropical, tropical etc.) for cross referencing with the spreadsheet 
- Clip studio
    - additional design work on the main map but probably don't need since QGIS has free drawing and annotation capabilities 
    - useful for additional drawings/sketches, which could be linked to icons on the main map

What do you think? Please use the form on the 'Contact' page for any feedback or possible collaboration.