Simulated greenhouse monitoring dashboard built with Blazor Server and EF Core.
GardenSense is a Blazor-based project that simulates an intelligent environment control system for home gardens or small-scale greenhouses. It was inspired by a conversation with an acquaintance who was exploring the idea of using Raspberry Pi sensors and relays to control temperature and lighting in their garden setup.
While that collaboration never quite took off — due to time and budget constraints — I decided to carry the project forward and build it out as a standalone system. This version simulates real-world functionality using realistic generated data, letting me explore smart environmental controls, data visualization, and full-stack architecture without relying on hardware.
The result is a dashboard that tracks temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and light levels per garden zone, with simulated controls for heaters, fans, and grow lights. It’s a fun, meaningful project that blends environmental technology, software engineering, and personal curiosity.
- Blazor Server (.NET 8)
- Entity Framework Core with SQLite
- **Bootstrap 5 UI ** with responsive layout
- Custom sensor simulation service
- Future: Charting with ChartJS.Blazor or Blazorise
- 📍 Zone Management -- Define garden zones and locations
- 🧪 Sensor Simulation — Generate realistic temperature, humidity, light, and soil moisture data
- 📊 History Viewer — Browse time-series data for each zone
- 🖥️ Admin Dashboard — Clean landing page with contextual navigation
- 🔧 Fully database-driven with async EF Core operations
- Simulates real-world control logic with realistic sensor variance
- Built for growth: future plans include GPIO mockups, actuator toggling, and charting
- Clean architecture with separation of concerns (Services, Pages, Data, Models)
(Coming soon as the UI is built out.)
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| Project scaffolded | ✅ Complete |
| Zone CRUD (EF + Blazor) | ✅ Complete |
| Sensor simulation service | ✅ Working |
| Historical data view | ✅ Live |
| Dashboard splash screen | ✅ Styled |
| Control toggles (GPIO UI) | 🔜 Next phase |
| Data visualization (charts) | 🔜 Planned |
GardenSense is equal parts web app, simulated control system, and proof of concept. It shows:
- How a full-stack .NET app handles live data
- What real-world monitoring might look like before hardware is attached
It also reflects my interests — clean design, useful tools, and the intersection of software + physical environments.
Joel Southall
greatlynxdesigns.com
GitHub · LinkedIn