Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: Gordon on December 17, 2006, 19:03:25
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Hi All
I Was wondering if their is a piece of software available to help you plan your plots and keep a record of where you planted things the previous season.
Thanks Gordon
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I use Brain 1.0, which isn't very reliable, so I also use the Utility PencilAndPaper 3.1.
I'm more interested in finding software that will do all the digging. i've always used Me 1.0, but it's hopelessly outdated and crashes all the time.
Maybe these would be of help ?
http://www.theliquidateher.com/garden-windows.html
http://www.keirg.freeserve.co.uk/diary/tech/calendar.htm
http://www.keirg.freeserve.co.uk/diary/tech/jobcldr.htm
http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/
http://www.e-gnome.com/Veg_Calendar.asp
http://www.thevga.co.uk/new/welcome.cgi
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Hi All
I Was wondering if their is a piece of software available to help you plan your plots and keep a record of where you planted things the previous season.
Thanks Gordon
a spreadsheet is all you need
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LOL@RT
well, I trialled several computer-based planting and sowing guides last year ::)
For sowing, planting and harvesting notes, I use a spreadsheet. The fancy software was just too time-consuming! :-[ :P
For crop rotation, something very basic?
Taking a tip from jennym, I bought several offcuts of 2" x 12" batten each about 18" long, and wrote in veg family names e.g. 'Autumn Onion', 'Squash', 'Leek', 'Roots', 'Spuds', 'Beans', 'Salads', 'Toms' etc. in permanent marker.
I bash the appropriate peg(s) in at the end of each bed when it's planted up, and replace it when the next crop is planted.
That way the peg always shows the current crop, or the last crop, so I don't plant in the same place twice and can pick the best bed for the next crop :)
Little labels for varieties within the families when I'm running trials :)
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I don't have any software but I have used "word" to plan my plot and am going to take it from there.
I have a rectangular plot "word worksheet"
I am using raised beds "Insert table (1 row 1 column) per raised bed"
To run along side that I have an excel doc that tells me (hopefully if works to plan) what is in which bed and where I bought it from.
May not help but could e-mail a copy of mine.
Gary
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;) Gordan I'd go with the glow. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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I just use a vector drawing package, (Don't laugh supersprout) or the vector part of any bitmap editor. They usually handle layers, so you can have a layer for every month (or whatever period you choose), and text, so you can draw boxes representing your beds, then write in them what's where etc. They seem ideally suited for this kind of work. The trouble with ready-made packages, so I've heard, is that you can never emulate exactly, your own plot. As for Word, I find it's just too bloated and slow to be of much use for anything these days. There are some free downloads of vector graphics programs available. I can post some links if you're interested.
Below is the basic template I start with every year (with embellishments), and like gary, a text editor runs alongside it with the diary and detailed notes.
Geoff.
(http://static.flickr.com/142/325262345_aa046dd5f8_o.jpg)
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Sorreeee - screwed up the page formatting with that ::)
admin here,
Hope you don't mind, resized the picture!
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http://www.wys-systems.demon.co.uk/plotcrop/ (http://www.wys-systems.demon.co.uk/plotcrop/)
Never tried it though
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The brain as previously stated is as good as any. Pen & paper too. Alternatively you could copy what your neighbours are doing if it seems to work for them. Just ask them first if there are any downsides to the formations & rotations they plant. ;)
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Those are Big Row Markers Supersprout..... or did you mean 1/2" timber!!!!
;D
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I usally use the digi cam .Stand back start at bottom of plot and take pics 3 or 4 usually covers the plot ... Then keep em on puter and backed up on a cd ...
Saves a lot of typing I fiind ...
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Those are Big Row Markers Supersprout..... or did you mean 1/2" timber!!!!
;D
erm yep dad, half-inch! :P ;)
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I go along with the other advice here - Word and Excel more than cater for your needs. I must admit that I use Visio to do some fancy diagrams, but that's just icing on the cake.
In a rush of enthusiasm, I've bought two specialist software programs. Geoff Hamilton's 3D Garden Designer and The Vegetable Gardener's Almanac. Great fun, both of them, but ultimately more trouble than they're worth. I abandoned both of them as regular means of monitoring progress and planning the next set of crops.
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Thinking of myself as a person who works in a methodical manner (don't laugh ...), and been involved in design at a professional level, I endorse the comments re excel and pencil and paper. I make a list on excel, with additional columns for planting times (week numbers helps for sorting), cropping times, and comments etc.
I think a couple of members made planting calculators available, perhaps try the files section ...
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Those are Big Row Markers Supersprout..... or did you mean 1/2" timber!!!!
;D
erm yep dad, half-inch! :P ;)
Found the pic! like this:
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That's them jenny, one of the best tips ever! ;D ;D ;D
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People might not realise you can sort spreadsheet data by columns: e.g. if your columns include variety, bed, year, you could sort the data to show what's in which beds this year (sort by year then bed) or what has been in a particular bed over several years (sort by bed then year).
Mind you I thought the Vegetable Gardeners Alamanac software looked pretty good and have been on the verge of buying it.
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That's them jenny, one of the best tips ever! ;D ;D ;D
I do similar, using remnants of wood out of our machine shop which otherwise end up in the skip. I cut them about 9 inches long and after using them as markers, they can be reused as kindling ...
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I'll have to knock some of those markers up before the big open day in June!
::)
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Growmore, talking of the digicam, if you get one of those cheapo mini-tripods, lash it onto a longish cane and screw your cam to it, then hold it up in the air you can get a sort of aerial view of the whole plot in one pic, using the shutter delay. Might need a few shots before you get an acceptable one but it does work. ;D
Geoff.
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What i have done is create a scale drawing of my plot and trying to work out where things should go.
Main problem is that i want to grow too much and dont have the room for all of it. ;)
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What i have done is create a scale drawing of my plot and trying to work out where things should go.
Main problem is that i want to grow too much and dont have the room for all of it. ;)
;DI know what that feels like!
When I cleared my plot this year, I thought I had LOADS of empty space, plenty of room for everything I thought.....except now it's all laid out and ready to go, I realise I can only squeeze in a few rows of maincrop potatoes, I'll have to grow my squash with the sweetcorn as there will be no separate room, and I don't know where I can fit in the melons and watermelons I wanted to grow!....it's a great problem to have though, I can't wait to get going.... ;D
I'm planning to take a photo a week to add to my new posh gardening journal (mentioned on Christmas present thread, brilliant present) that I'm going to use for recording rotation plans and future crops, at the moment it's all on bits of A4 paper....and has been revised many. many times!
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When you want to expand just give us a shout Deb...
;D
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When you want to expand just give us a shout Deb...
;D
Ooh, don't tempt me......... ;D ;D ;D
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I have already been warned by the powers that be, no more expansion ;)
June 2006
(http://backyard.8m.net/garden%20veg/04.06.06/veg_0008.JPG)
August 2006
(http://backyard.8m.net/garden%20veg/08.08.06/IMG_5318.jpg)
Um....End of August 2006
(http://backyard.8m.net/garden%20veg/28.08.06/28.08.06_0001.JPG)
As you can see it has been expanded on a number of occasions, but that is it, no more........although i can plant some fruit bushes and trees around different areas of the garden.
;)
Its fun this gardening.
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going up, next ?, I can just see some lettucy type things growing in planters hanging off the back fence now :D
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Here's an idea i had to plan the veggie plot.
Easy to setup using Excel.
(http://backyard.8m.net/New%20Folder/veg%20plot%20excel.jpg)
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Hi everyone!
me and my mum do that on excel, we're not too good at it though ???
could do with a bit of advice chris! :-\
thanks
man of the land
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What i did, was to adjust the size of the cells so they are quite small.
This allows you to change the location of each veg and makes it easy to colour code the plots.