Q. Is there a good computerized vegetable garden planner out on the Web?
A. There are many vegetable garden planners out on the Web. The issue is that while many of them claim to be free, many only offer a trial period of use. After that, users might find themselves subscribed to a magazine or have to pay to continue to use, print or save the planner. Many seed companies are now offering these type of garden planners on a limited trial basis.
Some examples include:
GrowVeg.com– Users can register for a 30-day free trial but once it is over, users must subscribe to continue accessing the garden plans that were produced. Subscriptions cost $25 a year.
Mother Earth News Garden Planner – http://gardenplanner.motherearthnews.com/gardenplanner/gardenplanner.html
Territorial Seed – A very nice planner that has a 30-day free trial. (www.territorialseed.com)
Jung Seed– There is a very long list of terms and conditions for use and subscriptions to this very slick garden planner (http://gardenplanner.jungseed.com/default).
LandShare Colorado – The site offers a sophisticated planner targeted toward CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) and more intensive gardening techniques. They mention a subscription but don’t mention if there is any cost. (www.landshareco.org)
Some vegetable garden planners appear to be free and don’t require the user to give out a lot of personal information – or be lured into subscribing to any service or magazine.
One has to give credit to Gardener’s Supply for offering a very nice free vegetable gardening planner with no apparent strings attached –available at Gardeners.com.
Vegetable Gardening Online – www.vegetable-gardening-online.com/planning-a-garden-layout.html
– It is a simple planner with an attached help guide.
Fymx – The garden planner appears to be a free download, similar to downloading some of the “free” antivirus programs. (http://vegetable-garden-design.fyxm.net) Good for 45 days.
Plangarden.com – The site offers a free 45-day download of its very slick garden planner. (www.plangarden.com/download.php)
It seems as if there are plenty of “free” online computerized vegetable garden planners available to consumers on the Internet. However, it appears that many might come with strings attached, so check out the terms and conditions of any offer carefully.
I might also add that my wife, Ms. Frugal, really doesn’t like computers that well. So she makes maps and keeps gardening records yearly the old fashioned way – on paper in a gardening journal. So much for fancy databases.
