Ok this has nothing to do with gardening and everything to do with total cuteness! This is a video of Bailey after our latest blizzard jumping around our front yard. Most people have kids that trample on that nice, smooth, pristine new snow covered front yard, but I have a 2 yr old lab mix that decorates mine =)
Now back to Gardening! I wanted to point out this website that I found last year Grow Veg and I have totally fallen in love with it. It's a garden planner, but it's the BEST one I've ever seen. Did I mention it's FREE?! You start with a grid where you plan your beds which can be square, rectangle, round or oval (Yes, it sounds very 'typical' at this point, but hang on!). They have a wide selection of vegetables to chose from that you click on and place in your beds. You can even plant 2 plants in the same spot - radishes with lettuce, for example. They recently put in "Square Foot Gardening" abilities which is a tremendous help for those of us following that type of gardening since it takes the guesswork out of how many plants will fit into a square. It has a separate list of all the plants that you have 'placed' in your garden in a list where you can add notes (either next to each vegetable/fruit or below in a bigger 'Notes' area). You input your zip code so it knows what your first and last freeze dates are so it can tell you when to get started! It tells you how many of each plant you are planning on growing (so you know how many to sow!), when to sow your seeds indoors, when you can sow outdoors or transplant outdoors and when to harvest.
Here is a pic of what my plan for this year looks like (so far) along with my 'plant list'. If you click on the pictures you will be able to see the tabs on top. One of their 'main' page with tutorial videos to get you started in using the plan, my 2nd tab is my actual 'grid' garden, and by clicking on "plant list" on the grid plan, it brings up my 3rd tab which is my plant/note list.
Because it saves your plans on their site, when you go to put together your second year, it uses your prior years plans to assist you in rotating your crops. When you click on a veggie/fruit, it will highlight where that plant or one in it's group was planted in the prior 5 years. The darker the highlight, that means it was planted later then the lighter highlights and you will want to avoid those areas. Since I have a small gardening area, this was a problem for me. But since I plan on continuing to expand my garden, I'm hoping one day to have a set up that will work with rotating my crops.
They also have a blog with very interesting articles, and areas for comment beneath each article. The 2 authors are VERY good at answering any questions that are asked. I recommend this site very highly!
Happy Gardening!!
Now back to Gardening! I wanted to point out this website that I found last year Grow Veg and I have totally fallen in love with it. It's a garden planner, but it's the BEST one I've ever seen. Did I mention it's FREE?! You start with a grid where you plan your beds which can be square, rectangle, round or oval (Yes, it sounds very 'typical' at this point, but hang on!). They have a wide selection of vegetables to chose from that you click on and place in your beds. You can even plant 2 plants in the same spot - radishes with lettuce, for example. They recently put in "Square Foot Gardening" abilities which is a tremendous help for those of us following that type of gardening since it takes the guesswork out of how many plants will fit into a square. It has a separate list of all the plants that you have 'placed' in your garden in a list where you can add notes (either next to each vegetable/fruit or below in a bigger 'Notes' area). You input your zip code so it knows what your first and last freeze dates are so it can tell you when to get started! It tells you how many of each plant you are planning on growing (so you know how many to sow!), when to sow your seeds indoors, when you can sow outdoors or transplant outdoors and when to harvest.
Here is a pic of what my plan for this year looks like (so far) along with my 'plant list'. If you click on the pictures you will be able to see the tabs on top. One of their 'main' page with tutorial videos to get you started in using the plan, my 2nd tab is my actual 'grid' garden, and by clicking on "plant list" on the grid plan, it brings up my 3rd tab which is my plant/note list.
Because it saves your plans on their site, when you go to put together your second year, it uses your prior years plans to assist you in rotating your crops. When you click on a veggie/fruit, it will highlight where that plant or one in it's group was planted in the prior 5 years. The darker the highlight, that means it was planted later then the lighter highlights and you will want to avoid those areas. Since I have a small gardening area, this was a problem for me. But since I plan on continuing to expand my garden, I'm hoping one day to have a set up that will work with rotating my crops.
They also have a blog with very interesting articles, and areas for comment beneath each article. The 2 authors are VERY good at answering any questions that are asked. I recommend this site very highly!
Happy Gardening!!
Kim, thanks for the heads up on the gardening site! I plant all the perennials in the yard and maintain them and the shrubs and vines. Joe does the vegetable garden & fruit trees. Click on my tab labeled Flower Power. Sounds fair? It isn't...I do all the housework! I'm headed over to the site now...thanks again...:)JP
ReplyDeleteSounds like Joe has all the fun!!! haha You're flowers are beautiful! When my columbines bloom this year I'll be taking pics. They're a different variety from the ones you have.
ReplyDeleteI hope the site helps you. It beats the heck out of the graph paper I've used over the years :)