What Garden Software?

[Kenneth D. Schillinger]

Hi, My name is Ken, and I have been on this group for a few years but have seldom posted. I am located in the PNW marine zone 8 or 9 depending upon whom you ask. This year my health finally deteriorated to the point where I am no longer able to follow my chosen career (seaman) so I will be spending much more time gardening. As a youngster my family grew all of our family's vegetables for the year and canned them. I am hoping to return to that practice. I am currently fencing in an area roughly 60' X 200' and doing a fall tilling, (unfortunately my Gravley needs attention, but that is another issue). What I would like now is some garden software to help design a garden, taking into account such things as companion planting, and calculate the necessary planting required for probable yield. I would also like to more or less follow organic procedures. To that end all software suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks in advance, Ken.

[Bill]

Hi Ken:

Here is a good place to start:

Kenneth D. Schill> Hi,

[Kenneth D. Schillinger]

Thanks for the idea Bill. I had searched VIA Google already, but was hoping someone would post about a program that had used and were satisfied with. Best, Ken.

[The Guy]

My suggestion is not about software but a different technique. Take a look at squarefootgardening.com it may be easier for you if you have physical limitations. A 60' x 200' garden sounds like a backbreaker to me. I'm into sq. ft. gardening, it's great.

[Kenneth D. Schillinger]

I agree, Square Foot Gardening is great; it's just not where I am heading at this time. Thanks, Ken.

[Frogleg]

The general concensus is that there is no home garden planning or design software worthy of recommendation. This kind of request usually produces the "get some graph paper" answer. You are your own best judge of how much and what you'd like to grow. Any good gardening reference will give you ideas of how much space, water, and light the plants will need. Don't forget to leave space for you to work in.

[patriarch]

Frogleg wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Any chance of talking to your county ag agent, or a local gardening club? Local recommendations might be helpful to somebody either starting out, or moving to a different scale than that with which they are familiar.

Patriarch, grower of way too many cherry tomatoes...

[Bob S.]

I agree with that statement. I looked into several software programs and even bought a few. All were almost worthless. It's better to talk to gardeners in your area to see what grows & what doesn't, then plant as you see best. It sounds like you already know the basics.

Bob S.

[Kenneth D. Schillinger]

A few years ago I looked around the software market and found it lacking; looks like things haven't changed a lot in the interim. Ken.

[Frogleg]

Consider the scope: to be even moderately useful, software would have to include a huge plant database and a considerable range of climatological data. When people ask "how many tomatoes should I plant for a family of 4," my first response is "how well does your family like tomatoes? Do you plan to can or dehydrate what you can't use at once?" And of course, the proper number of zucchini plants per person is 1/2.

Gardening is a vast topic with many variables. No wonder there aren't any simple solutions.

One thing you *can* do is keep your own records. What does well and where; what you particularly like or don't; what's more trouble than it's worth, etc. A plain notebook with planting dates, varieties, yields, etc. will become more and more useful as time goes by.