On 23 Feb 2003 23:11:19 GMT, oSpam
(BJenni8949) wrote:

Pat - they both look appealing! Let us know which you chose and why you chose
it.


OK. I had already thought to do a 'product review posting'
about both programs. The two programs complement each other
nicely - they do different things for the most part.

But I don't have much time this week and a full 'product
review' of MyGardenJournal really isn't necessary, as the
30-day trial version has *full functionality* so anyone who
is interested can download it and play with it themselves.

MyGardenJournal is a very simple little program, with no
learning curve to speak of, but it has some very appealing
features.

Where is it available? http://www.mygardenjournal.com
How much does it cost? $20 (US dollars)

More details on the website.

Of the two programs, SeedPlanner is the one I really need,
the one that has the *core functionality* I'm looking for,
but I may keep MyGardenJournal too, it's a pure pleasure of
a program.

SeedPlanner definitely does what I want done.

I registered it and received my registration key (the trial
version's functionality is *very* limited). I'm quite
impressed with this program.

Where is it available? http://www.seedplanner.com
How much does it cost? $30 (US)

SeedPlanner is basically two things: a scheduling program
(this is what I especially wanted) plus a database of
growing information for a lot of plants - you download the
database after registering and you can add new plants or new
varieties to it.

In the database, new varieties 'inherit' the growing
information of the parent species, unless you specify
otherwise. New species inherit the growing information of
the parent genus, if included in the database, unless you
specify otherwise. This is a nice feature.

You put in your expected last frost date in spring and first
killing frost date in autumn, btw.

But what does it actually DO?

You first make an inventory of your seeds - and the quantity
you have of each type (some will be an estimate). Pinetree
Garden Seeds lists the quantities in their catalog - some
seedsellers may list them on the seed packet.

Then, for each type of seed, you create sowing plans: this
will include projected dates for when you start the seed
indoors (if indoors), when you set it out, expected maturity
dates, etc. You can print a list of all the dates (by
whatever order you like) or a bar chart. You can have
multiple sowing plans for any type of seed (succession
sowings).

This is what I really wanted: the key function, in my
opinion.

For example, I want to start a few seeds of various Chinese
greens (Brassicas), every week during spring, then stop
through the heat of summer, and start them again in late
summer for fall growing. I have five varieties of Chinese
greens this year. Even just the Chinese greens present a
bit of scheduling work.

All told, I have more than 50 different seed packets on
hand. With multiple (succession) sowings, this is a rather
large scheduling job to do by hand. It will be done nicely
by SeedPlanner.

There's one feature I find disappointing: I had hoped you
could tell it (for example) "I want to start this seed every
two weeks until 50 days (expected time-to-maturity) before
first fall frost date" and it would figure the actual dates
out for you, and make sowing plans accordingly. Evidently
not. You have to make each sowing plan yourself and plug in
the actual dates (which is a pretty quick process). It's
still *very* definitely worth it, IMHO, but it would be
better if you could do this.

I'm going to write to their help desk - it's possible that I
have just missed figuring out how to do this. I don't think
so, though.

I'm going to be able to print out both a list and a timeline
(bar chart) showing me the dates that I need to sow each
seed, set them out, etc. - everything I need to do about the
garden...lovely. Some dates may slip, but that's OK, I
will get the maximum possible yield because I won't be
forgetting things or getting confused about what I've
already done.

This type of scheduling is very suited to 'square foot
gardening' (or a modification thereof) as described by Mel
Bartholomew in his book (see website:
http://www.squarefootgardening.com ). I use a modification
of a lot of Bartholomew's ideas.

The growing info you get when you download SeedPlanner's
whole database is pretty impressive too, plus you can add
growing info for seeds or varieties not included. After a
year or two, this will wind up to be a *very* valuable
resource. (More details about the database are on the
website.)

A possible downside to SeedPlanner is that it *MAY* have a
somewhat steep learning curve for people who haven't ever
worked with database programs before. Maybe not...I can't
really judge this, because I have worked with various
database programs for quite a bit and for a long time, so I
can't mentally get myself back to being an absolute beginner
at it. I got the hang of the program in about two hours
yesterday afternoon.

Like all databases, the work is heavily loaded towards the
front end: entering your data (seed inventory and sowing
plans in this case). Once you have them entered, then the
benefits start.

Cheers,
Pat





--
Pat Meadows
Living in Zone 5, but with a Zone 4 climate (altitude).