Mother Earth News Garden Planner

[AlienChick]

I am a NEWBIE to gardening and growing my own food.
I first planted a garden last season (after attending an organic garden hand-on seminar at a local farm) and enjoyed it very much.
I planted whatever was given to me at the seminar (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, romaine lettuce, onions, melons, okra, cilantro, basil, butterfly flowers).

I've been bitten by the bug and now want to plant a larger garden and plan it very well.

I just went through the video tutorials of the garden planner from Mother Earth News and am very impressed!

Anyone else using this particular garden planner?? What are your thoughts and any useful tips to share besides what's on their tutorials?

I'm excited! :watering

 

[NwMtGardener]

Hi there, welcome to gardening, AlienChick, you're going to love it! I have not used any actual garden planners, but i think some people here do use them, so hopefully you'll get some feedback from them. Mostly, i think the majority of us use "trial and error!!" i have used reference calculators in thepast, that help me figure out, based on my average last frost date, when to start what seeds. I just printed out some info from one at Johnny's selected seeds: www.johnnyseeds.com and look for the link on the side for calculators.

I think the biggest thing thats going to help you is just investing a lot of time learning about YOUR garden by being out there! Watch how the plants are doing every day in response to what you've done - water, fertilizer, whatever! And if you're checking them every day, you can catch diseases and pests early, when you can still do something about them! And have fun! Dont get distraught over failures, we all have them!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I pretty much agree. When you are starting out, you need to start from somewhere and something like that tuned to your area is a great way to start. But all gardening is local. That does not just mean that someone in Vermont will have different results than me in Arkansas, but that my neighbor down the road might have different results due to a microclimate effect. For example, cold air settles if it is calm so someone in a valley might have a frost before someone on a ridge. Or someone in the valley might do better in a dry year than someone on a ridge. So try something, pay attention, and adjust as necessary.

And welcome to the adventure. It may not always be fun and you may not always be successful, but it is a journey worth taking.

 

[AlienChick]

Thanx!

I'm thinking this is gonna be fun. I understand about the setbacks and minor disappointments since I experienced those in my last garden (but not much).

For me, when I walk outside to the site where I'm planting the majority of veggies, it just looks so overwhelming; but if I plan it on paper first then go out and measure where everything will go, I can do it!
Plus I won't go hog-wild crazy and plant 250 of one thing and have no room for anything else!

Right now I'm going through the gardening catalogs (overwhelming) and looking at what's available.

I also want to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes and have NO CLUE what to do there (so I'm watching videos). I want to plant those in some type of container or cage (I've got a lot of chicken wire).

Another problem we have here (so I've been told) is GROUNDHOGS! I hear they can wreak havoc in a garden. Even tho the garden will have electric netting around it (we have chickens), perhaps some buried chicken wire might also help?

I remember last year when I lived in VA, I lost ALL my romaine lettuce to rabbits. Then I put a fence around the garden and they didn't eat anymore; but the remaining lettuce bolted, so I didn't get any either (it was too late in the season anyway).

Thanx, again, for all your help!!

 

[April Manier]

Welcome, welcome!

Please share your journey with us. I know it will be a grand one!

 

[HunkieDorie23]

Welcome and I am sorry to say there is no cure once infected. Mother nature does send frost, snow and pest to help keep the virus in check but you are now like us "A CARRIER". :tools

 

[StupidBird]

I have had the MEN garden planner for a whole year plus that intro period; my subscription is up soon. I'm having a hard time deciding if I want to renew. It's an incomplete melding of a stripped autocad and a stripped excel; using both programs at work, I keep expecting this garden planner to do more.

What I WANT:

A form where, for example, I plug in that I use "x" weight of carrots per week. It would spit out that in my zip code, I should plant "y" square feet of garden on the following weeks, using method (a-conventional row, b-wide row, c- squarefoot/biointensive), have "z" amount of seed, and apply "r" amount of npk using preselected materials. And when I plot out in the plan an area of vegetable, it'll tell me somehow that I have so much more area to plant to reach goals.

With a month-to-month feedback over the years of harvests, insects, diseases; IPM, rainfall, irrigation, etc.

And with more detailed green manure cropping, protected/all season harvest functions (row covers).

I guess I want it to do EVERYTHING

 

[thistlebloom]

I have had the MEN garden planner for a whole year plus that intro period; my subscription is up soon. I'm having a hard time deciding if I want to renew. It's an incomplete melding of a stripped autocad and a stripped excel; using both programs at work, I keep expecting this garden planner to do more.

What I WANT:

A form where, for example, I plug in that I use "x" weight of carrots per week. It would spit out that in my zip code, I should plant "y" square feet of garden on the following weeks, using method (a-conventional row, b-wide row, c- squarefoot/biointensive), have "z" amount of seed, and apply "r" amount of npk using preselected materials. And when I plot out in the plan an area of vegetable, it'll tell me somehow that I have so much more area to plant to reach goals.

With a month-to-month feedback over the years of harvests, insects, diseases; IPM, rainfall, irrigation, etc.

And with more detailed green manure cropping, protected/all season harvest functions (row covers).

I guess I want it to do EVERYTHING

That would be an excellent planner 'Bird! Could we make it weed too?

 

[NwMtGardener]

I would buy it if it mowed the lawn!!

 

[AlienChick]

Wow!! You guys are SERIOUS!!

[ Thinking . . .] Maybe I should join GA (Gardenholics Anonymous) now.