|
By George Boyhan
University of Georgia
Many people enjoy both gardening and playing around with a
computer. The two hobbies can be a great combination. Keeping
track of what’s going on in your garden is an important way to
avoid future problems and document your successes.
Modern computers offer record-keeping capabilities that are both
text and graphic. This can be great fun. Not only can you keep
track of your gardening efforts. You can keep pictures of changes
in your garden, too. And you can keep all of it within same file.
Many great programs can be used to keep your garden records.
Programs like Microsoft Works or AppleWorks record your efforts
and store your pictures, too.
Keep records of your planting dates, varieties, crop rotation and
fertilization. Make note of any problems or mistakes so you can
make changes in the future. Don’t forget to note your successes,
too — which vegetables did well and which didn’t.
Picture this
Modern computers can really shine when you include graphical
information. An inexpensive digital camera can add pictures to
document exactly what was happening at any time in your garden.
If you’re having a problem, a picture e-mailed to an experienced
gardener or your county extension agent can help them help you.
You can even sketch out a diagram of your garden with dimensions
and information about what you’ve planted and where. This can
help you plan for following crops or to plan a multiyear rotation.
You don’t need an expensive graphics or drawing program for this.
Most word processors and spreadsheet programs offer some kind of
graphics capabilities.
Here’s an interesting way to use your computer and printer in
your garden. Buy peel-off labels you can print from your
computer. Print out the name of the crop, variety and planting
date and put them on your planting stake.
No postage
You can print this information on a postcard that you can put in
a Mason jar (to keep it from getting wet) and place at the head
of each row. Perforated postcards especially designed for
computer printers are at department and office supply stores.
If you really want to get serious about keeping track of your
garden, you might want to log onto the Internet and download
weather and rainfall data to add to the information you collect.
You might even want to get a PDA (personal digital assistant) and
jot down information while you’re out in the garden.
Using a computer to help you garden can expand your enjoyment of
gardening, especially if you’re a technophile. The information
you record will help as you plan future plantings. It will let
you look back at your gardening successes, too, and reduce the
number of failures.
(George Boyhan is an Extension Service horticulturist with the
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.)
