Seeking FREE Garden Planning Tool
August 30, 2022 6:58 AM Subscribe
I'm starting to plan things out for my community garden plot next year; I'm looking for a free tool to plan things out; it can be as basic as a spreadsheet that calculates dates for me. Any recommendations? (I already know about the GrowVeg app, and I've run out the free trial period.)
i wanted to step things up with succession planting next year. and trying to maximize the space. I already know what I'm growing - I'm really just looking to figure out some dates, and how much space to give things. When should I give up on the peas and replace those spots with kale? How often should I re-seed carrots for succession planting? How much space should I give the runner beans? That kind of thing.
Because this is just for a 4x4 plot in a community garden, I'd like to avoid subscription fees. It also means a lot of the freeware or free-trial things have bells and whistles I will never use (no, I don't need a tool that will let me design a spot for a gazebo). The GrowVeg app would have been IDEAL, but I used it in a free trial THIS year, and it's not letting me use it again without subscribing.
If it's a spreadsheet kind of thing - I'd LOVE to find one that also tells you when a particular plant is over and done. I'm a little too tender-hearted to say "okay, you've stopped putting out produce, out you go" and rip things up; there is a cherry tomato bush in my plot right now that I could probably pull, but I feel too bad doing it "just in case" it rallies and gives me a couple more fruits. If I had more of a guideline for "nope, there's no way those peas will give you any more after this date, rip 'em out so you can plant the kale" or whatever, that would help.
Failing that - if someone who knows how to maybe walk me through planning that on my own, with a copy of an almanac and a piece of paper, I'm all ears there too.
i wanted to step things up with succession planting next year. and trying to maximize the space. I already know what I'm growing - I'm really just looking to figure out some dates, and how much space to give things. When should I give up on the peas and replace those spots with kale? How often should I re-seed carrots for succession planting? How much space should I give the runner beans? That kind of thing.
Because this is just for a 4x4 plot in a community garden, I'd like to avoid subscription fees. It also means a lot of the freeware or free-trial things have bells and whistles I will never use (no, I don't need a tool that will let me design a spot for a gazebo). The GrowVeg app would have been IDEAL, but I used it in a free trial THIS year, and it's not letting me use it again without subscribing.
If it's a spreadsheet kind of thing - I'd LOVE to find one that also tells you when a particular plant is over and done. I'm a little too tender-hearted to say "okay, you've stopped putting out produce, out you go" and rip things up; there is a cherry tomato bush in my plot right now that I could probably pull, but I feel too bad doing it "just in case" it rallies and gives me a couple more fruits. If I had more of a guideline for "nope, there's no way those peas will give you any more after this date, rip 'em out so you can plant the kale" or whatever, that would help.
Failing that - if someone who knows how to maybe walk me through planning that on my own, with a copy of an almanac and a piece of paper, I'm all ears there too.
Oh! The other set of questions you have are reliably answered by the Johnny’s seed catalog, though you might need to read both the paper and online versions. Time to maturity, spacing (multiply row by plant spacing to get actual square inches per plant), optimum temperature for seed germination, recommendation for or against starting in trays. Mine just flopped open to a succession planting program for lettuces.
Sometimes a different seed catalog will have better details, but once you’ve ordered from one you’ll get all the catalogs for a bit, even the ones irrelevant to your climate.
posted by clew at 9:15 AM on August 30, 2022
Sometimes a different seed catalog will have better details, but once you’ve ordered from one you’ll get all the catalogs for a bit, even the ones irrelevant to your climate.
posted by clew at 9:15 AM on August 30, 2022
Response by poster: Clew: I'm gonna memail you some follow-up questions, if you have a minute?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:44 AM on August 30, 2022
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:44 AM on August 30, 2022
Best answer: Check out your local cooperative extension. They've already made this for you, with specific details relevant to your location. It's usually called something like a "first and last planning guide" (example). In my experience these volunteers live to serve you. I have been astonished and how quickly and thoroughly my local office has responded to emails.
posted by veery at 9:49 AM on August 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by veery at 9:49 AM on August 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
This book has a lot of pre-planned garden maps in it. It's been a while since I read it, but I think it does exactly what you're looking for.
posted by aniola at 10:43 AM on August 30, 2022
posted by aniola at 10:43 AM on August 30, 2022
Or if you want an encyclopedia for your 4x4 plot, The New Vegetable Growers Handbook by Frank Tozer covers each garden plant start to finish.
posted by aniola at 10:52 AM on August 30, 2022
posted by aniola at 10:52 AM on August 30, 2022
I’d go with Square Foot Gardening. There’s spacing info on the website without buying the book. It will give you plenty of options for your plot.
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 4:35 PM on August 30, 2022
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 4:35 PM on August 30, 2022
A good local nursery should have a lot of helpful info like this, too!
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 4:38 PM on August 30, 2022
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 4:38 PM on August 30, 2022
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Mostly people use spreadsheets, some paper and whiteboard calendars, and there’s one guy who swears he just looks at the veg very carefully as he weeds them every day. I used Sheets for our group project beds.
You’ve identified that your real problem might not be the planning, though - if you hate pulling plants up before they’re dead, succession planting will be hard! And you know there’s nothing short of death ruling out one more handful of cherry tomatoes.
But you also know winter is coming, and if you look at your fall greens and think about how deep their roots have to be to weather the blast, you know they need planting without competition now. Or you could plant them late, then you’ll know by next year.
posted by clew at 8:55 AM on August 30, 2022