I have been spending a lot of time working on this year's garden planning. So far, I have gone through all of my seeds & updated my list, ordered all of the seeds that I "NEED" with the exception of seed potatoes and onion plants. The varieties and sources for them have been selected. All I have to do now is order them. Do you believe that I have 171 different varieties of seeds??
I have also created a new Excel workbook. This workbook includes a sheet with all of my veggie seed varieties, source of seed, how many days, age of seed, quantity and gardening costs. The second sheet has all of the dates for germinating & planting, how much we need and how many of each veggie will be planted where. The third sheet has all of the herbs & flower information. The fourth sheet is for the weekly harvests. This sheet adds everything up and calculates the value of the harvests. I am in the process of adding additional sheets to this workbook which will include details of each variety which links to the first sheet. I will probably add sheets with the garden layouts to the workbook also. Putting all this together takes a lot of time. But, it's much better then having the information in several different places. It will also make my life much easier when things get going in the garden. It may sound a little nerdy....but, I just love doing it!
I do have preliminary layouts for the plots and home garden done. Right now they are done in pencil on graph paper. You would think that I would have them done on the computer. But, I really like having them on paper. That way, I can change things and also take the paper with me to the plots....just in case I forget what I had planned.
This year I am adjusting the starting dates to many of the veggies for two reasons. One, last year I thought I was going to go crazy with all of the tomato, pepper and eggplant starts. The plants got so big so fast. I grow these for myself and four other people. Two, with the Community Garden moving. I really don't want the plants too big too early. At this point, it's anyone's guess when the ground will be ready over there.
So, what kind of garden planning are you doing???
Exciting stuff, and just the kick in the behind that I needed to get out of my funk this strange winter has had me in! I think I'll start flipping through the catalogs and making lists tonight, it's my favorite part of the whole process, oh the possiblilities LOL!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a great planner....but, I'll start spring pepper and tomato seeds tomorrow. Here in Central FL, the seedlings can go in the ground at the end of Feb. No rest for the weary. :)
ReplyDeleteErin, Planning the garden is really exciting and full of hope and promise. I think that this weird winter weather is affecting all of us. Now get some garden planning done!
ReplyDeleteMelissa, The gardening never ends. I would go crazy if I didn't plan all of this!
Oh my are you organized! I am from the 'throw it in the ground, if it grows eat it' school. Maybe you could market your spreadsheet.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I thought *I* was the nerdy one with my spreadsheets! ;-) Sounds like you are really organized.
ReplyDeleteI got the bulk of my seed orders in this week. I'm sure I'll find a few things I need later, but I hope I've got most of it done. I do my plots on the computer, then print them out to take with me to the garden(s). Nothing fancy, just a row by row guide. It really comes in handy when labels disappear from the garden!
I have a nerdy love of spreadsheets too, although I have to yet to realise their full gardening potential..... That is a huge variety of plants! I'm looking at my seed tin now feeling slightly inadequate (but impressed at yours nonetheless...).
ReplyDeleteWe love your idea of using software to plan out your garden, expenses and harvest. I must say...... (coughing here) we are not that organized.
ReplyDeleteWe are they type of people that just goes for it, lol.
After last years ups and downs with the gardening, my husband and I have sat down and talked about our objectives. We decided to expand out to more above ground garden boxes and we will be placing fence and cameras on the property(thats because we have 20 somethings that destroyed part of our garden).
We have seeds that we harvested, dried and froze for the new year. Last weekend, we purchase additional seeds along with materials. We are ready, just waiting for the weather and timing.
171 varieties!!!! Oh, I admire your energy - and organization! We are trying to figure out how to keep the deer out of our garden. Until we do, it'll just be a tiny garden for us.
ReplyDeleteI love that you have 171 varieties of seed — the more people grow them, the better biodiversity! Will you post what you're planning to grow?
ReplyDeleteOh, my. You are very nerdly (compliment) in your use of the computer and all it can do to help the garden out. Hubby started an Excel spreadsheet for me to track the produce I get, but I would love to do more. I know enough to be a little dangerous with Excel, but not even close to what is possible. I love having the ability to go back and look what I did after a year or two. I'm not organized enough to even know where I keep the info if I didn't do it on the computer. Could you show what you do on the computer? Maybe how you have it set up, the info you have, etc? It's always nice to see what other people are doing. Thanks for all the info!
ReplyDelete~~Lori
Jane, I don't think my spreadsheet is good enough to market. But, hey it's an idea :)
ReplyDeleteDave, I really need to come up with an easy layout for my plantings. "The Italian" has already done them for me on CAD. But, that doesn't work with MS Office. I'd love to see yours!
Liz, It's amazing what one can do with spreadsheets. I'm not planning on planting everything I have. I have just accumulated so many different varieties between free gifts of seeds etc.
Sandy, I started out with a simple spreadsheet and then another sheet and another etc. So, I decided to put them all together. It's really handy to have everything all in one place.
Liz, I am planning to do a post on what I am going to plant this year. I think that I will do it in a few posts though.
Lori, I'll have to come up with a way to show different parts of the workbook. I know that you can share google docs on Blogger. I have no idea how to share Excel though. It is different.
We've sent off our seed orders and some have even arrived. I need to start thinking of perennials for the new borders too.
ReplyDeleteYou know you could print out your computer plans - we have one pinned up on our shed noticeboard.
I use an Excel spreadsheet for my seed planting and one for my inventory. I also use Excel for the garden plan. It never occurred to me to link them into a workbook. Genius!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm still trying to finalize my orders for Southern Exposure and Fedco.
Sue, Once I know exactly how many plots we are getting, I can finalize my plans and put them on the computer. As of today, we have two plots side by side. We are on the waiting list for a 3rd one since the new plots are 10 feet shorter. I should know soon and that will make planning a lot easier.
ReplyDeleteEd, My goal is to get all of the information in one workbook. It's coming along.....but, still a work in progress
We are making plans as well, mostly just getting prepared with the seed we need. You are far more organized and I love the idea of creating a workbook revolving around seed, seed sources, and other information.
ReplyDeleteHoly cow! I thought I was a decent planner b/c I sketched out some new layouts for the veg garden and cleaned out my seeds...but you amaze me! Good job!!!
ReplyDeleteMr.H, I have been using a workbook for 4 years now. It started out very simple and I just keep trying to improve it every year. The big job this year will be getting all of the detail veggie information on separate sheets. I am working on the tomatoes first. Once you have a workbook, you can just save it and change the name for the next year. I also save them on disks...just in case.
ReplyDeleteDorothy, If I didn't have all this info it would take me a lot longer to plan and order seeds. Once you get started it makes life a lot easier
Yeah, spreadsheets are the ideal tool for plotting - both mapping and cataloguing/sorting. Oddly some people appear to resent this - but hey, when you don't like a job, blame to tool! Keep on plotting, Robin!
ReplyDeleteps To share your work on your blog you need to save each spreadsheet as a picture (with a jpg extension - paste it into Paint ans save with type jpg) and then upload like any photo.
ReplyDeleteMal, I agree that spreadsheets are perfect for gardening. There is so much you can do with them. I know that you can upload an Excel spreadsheet into Google docs and convert it. I have never tried it though. I'm not sure if google has all of the functions that Excel has. I guess I will give it a try and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteHooray for Excel! I've been doing my garden on Excel for years. Here's a neat thing about it: If you want to lay out your garden in a 6 inch square grid pattern for ease of calculating row spacing and such, or just to see how it would look, click on the box in the top left corner so it selects the entire sheet, then set the row height to 12, enter, and then set the column width to 1.57, and enter, and you will have a small grid pattern on your screen that can be used for 6 inch increments for your garden. To represent your garden area, go two rows down and two rows over (just so you're not on the border) and click the cursor in that cell. I suggest counting off the spaces using your arrows on your keyboard first so you can mark all four of your borders. When you get to the size of your plot, type in an X or some other character in each corner of your plot as a visual aid for the next step. Now click it and hold it and highlight the area that would be the size of your garden. Then on the line format in the menu, click on the drop down that has all the lines showing and that will cause it to print the 6 inch grid spacing when you go to print the sheet. The beauty of this is that when you set your page setup to 70% of normal size, you can create plots on your screen that will fit on a sheet of regular paper. The longest dimension on my garden is 40 feet, and this grid works and prints just fine for that. The line format can be used to create particular characteristics such as dotted lines for closely planted seeds, or round larger dots for actual plants. Using this feature in conjunction with the grid, you can work it out so you can see how your garden will look. This method would also be good for tracking crop rotation. I love using Excel for just about everything.
ReplyDeleteThanks a whole bunch VP!! This will save me a great deal of time! Now that you did all the work!
ReplyDeleteI like the graph paper approach myself, but.... have to say using Excel might be the next step. Happy Planning - Dave
ReplyDeleteDavid, Excel is a great tool to keep track of the garden. I'm going to keep my layouts on paper for now. But, also start working with Excel to do them. Once we know how many plots we are going to have, everything will be in the Excel workbook. We have done layouts on CAD in the past. But, it does not work with MS Office. My goal is to be able to have all the information in one place.
ReplyDeleteI also use a spreadsheet with multiple worksheets to do my garden harvests & egg collection tallys and it also does the pricing out of the production and does an annual income statement showing the value of production to the costs I incur for purchased supplies. I updated mine on New Year's day and am already using it for the new year.
ReplyDeleteMy garden plans are completed, the annual seed and supplies orders have been placed, and the first of the orders has already arrived. I have an order to do for my donations to the Giving Garden - but I purposefully waited to do it separately as it is truly a donation and not part of my garden production. I have the Giving Garden planned out for the year as well and the order list of items developed - indicating what I am providing and what the group needs to obtain from other volunteers/donators. Our winter has been much more like normal this year (hurrah!) so our temps have hovering around mid to upper 40's during the day and at or around freezing at night. Makes it possible to do some tidy up tasks in the garden on the weekends, so I am taking advantage of it and getting a few things done while I can. Our project this year (yes we have to have one every year it seems) is to begin some selected removal of trees from our property. Only have so much in the budget but hope to get enough done in February to noticeably improve the sun exposure of the side garden in 2012.
Laura, The workbook really makes things a lot easier to keep track of everything. The detailed descriptions and notes on all of the different seeds is going to take a lot of time to put together. A lot of that info is in my head. I am going to work on one category at a time and add it to the workbook when I have some extra time.
ReplyDeleteWe have had an extemely mild winter so far. It was 60 yesterday! That's just crazy! I am going to leave the cold frames open for a few days to give them a good airing out! Our weather is supposed to turn more seasonable in a few days.
oh my 121 different seed type! You are an inspiration! I need to get start planning my garden!
ReplyDeleteI keep all my seeds in a spreadsheet too. I have the year all of them were bought. Every time I place a seed order it gets added to. Sometimes the year just gets updated (like for carrots or spinach that I order new every year). A few times I take seed off that I still have. I took the Greek Oregano seed off, but haven't tossed the seed yet. I figure after I have a couple plants of that I never need to sow seed again. I also get rid of the tomato variates (and a few others, but tomatoes are the typical) that didn't do well in the garden. I ought to just toss the seed, but nope. I hold on too long.
ReplyDeleteMrsP, I actually have more then 200 different varieties of seeds when I count the flower & herb seeds. Now, get going on planning your garden!
ReplyDeleteDaphne, I don't know how I would keep track of all of the seeds and dates if they weren't on a spreadsheet. I also have a hard time tossing seeds that I am not going to use again. I try to give them away and do eventually toss them when they get too old.
Robin looks like both of us are in the same groove right now. Just ordered all my seed yesterday. No where near as many as you. I actually have 2 tomato seed and 2 pepper seed planted in the aero garden to see just what they do.
ReplyDeleteMy Excel program is next. Right now I am working on my food costs chart for my personal challenge of reducing the cost of eating yet eating good.
hmm, feeling grossly inadequate with only 55 varieties... lol
ReplyDelete