In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

Pressing a little keyring-sized scanner gadget would cause the lost
handfork to announce its whereabouts. Ideally, the locator-bleep could
be retro-fitted to favourite old brown tools. Further product
development opportunity; how not to lose the keyring-sized scanner in
the garden. The frugal gardener in me says "tie it on string round
neck".

In my case that is followed some considerable time later by someone
else coming up to be and saying "WILL you shut your damn bleeper up?"
and me saying "What bleeper?"

No, no...it's coming to me now.. each garden tool is programmed with
its own phone number. When the spade gets lost, you just call it from
your mobile phone, and make it ring......

It will shortly be mandatory (seriously), but it will be used to
track what you are doing, as evidence for locking you up on
unspecified charges and for targeting your home with huge amounts
of spam selling even gimmickier gardening tat.

Yes, I really DO mean that all items will come with an active RFID
tag, which is effectively the same technology. You have been warned,
so please call me Emmanuel Goldstein.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

spirk wrote:
Hi my name is Evan

Hello Evan.

Your idea is a good idea but as many have said, after over 20 years at
a desk with every possilbe immaginable desktop publishing devices,
autocad, pictures and words manipulators, and all the admin and
communication all totally virtual, I cannot but agree that I garden and
do a two year gardening course to precisely get out of the office, get
out of the bleeping machinery that has now made me look grey, tired and
numb.

I'll answer your questions, but if you could look into your device to
be used in garden centres and gardening shops perhaps, where I'd
immagine people would enjoy the quick references when the labels are
missing or the staff is on a break behind the sheds. Also you'll have
better luck with the gardening centres chains than individual
gardeners.

What is your biggest problem with gardening and the gardening process?

For me it's heavy stuff to carry.

What is the hardest thing to remember when gardening?

Have I brought some milk? Seriously, there's nothing 'hard' to
remember. There's lots of "oops, shouldn't have done that, will do
differently next year" perhaps but nothing to get a headache about.
There's nothing better than gardening, isn't it boys?! g

Do you document plants as they grow?

No. I document plants as I plant them and write my ideas down on a
special note book. But I don't go around in my white coat taking notes.


How do you remember what plants you planted?

It's written in my special note book, full of dried flowers, pictures,
drawings and lots of doodles. Also it's pretty obvious where I've
planted something. Generally the plant has grown and I can see what it
is.

What are the most common things you need to remember when taking care
of a garden, ie nutrition, type of fertilizer, ect.

That's the whole process Evan! Everything - we think of everything,
from the tools we have to when the sun's gonna shine, from when we need
to plant something to when we're going to harvest.

What are the most important things you need to do before starting to
plant seeds for your garden?

Make a cuppa tea. Seriously ... Indoor seeds: seed compost,
vermiculite, clean pots and seeds. Outdoor seeds: fine tilth by
racking, moist ground, sand, seeds obviously and a nice cuppa
afterwards.

Are there different ways you need to treat plants that you grow outside
then in a greenhouse?

Yes. It's totally different. Greenhouse requires good ventilation,
shade and sun as necessary, humidity control, P&D control, watering
devices - outside, well, where does one start?! Pest and diseases, OM,
neighbouring plants, slugs etc...

Thanks for your time, this will really help me out.

I hope so. Don't hesitate to ask more specific questions. I can see
where you're getting at but you must find out for yourself what you
need to know for your data. Good luck.

"spirk" wrote ((snip))
I would really appreciate any answers to the following questions, and
any comments about my idea

What is your biggest problem with gardening and the gardening process?

Back ache

What is the hardest thing to remember when gardening?

What day of the week it is. :-)

Do you document plants as they grow?

No, noted when planted and what crop we get at the end so we can compare
varieties etc.

How do you remember what plants you planted?

Big wooden labels and Dymo. Also our "Allotment Book" in which we note all
plantings, dates, amounts, varieties etc.

What are the most common things you need to remember when taking care
of a garden, ie nutrition, type of fertilizer, ect.

The individual plants requirements, i.e. pH, moisture, sun/shade, temp
range, soil type, .....

What are the most important things you need to do before starting to
plant seeds for your garden?

Save them or buy them. Then decide where they are to go in the 4 year
rotation.

Are there different ways you need to treat plants that you grow outside
then in a greenhouse?

Ones in a greenhouse rely totally on you for everything, those outside
don't, unless they are in pots.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:
No, no...it's coming to me now.. each garden tool is programmed with
its own phone number. When the spade gets lost, you just call it from
your mobile phone, and make it ring......

It will shortly be mandatory (seriously), but it will be used to
track what you are doing, as evidence for locking you up on
unspecified charges and for targeting your home with huge amounts
of spam selling even gimmickier gardening tat.

Yes, I really DO mean that all items will come with an active RFID
tag, which is effectively the same technology. You have been warned,
so please call me Emmanuel Goldstein.

Have you seen google earth? In Central Park, you can see individual
people. On Arran, the resolution from the satellite camera is still
pretty poor so you can't actually distinguish our house. However, John
zoomed in on Glasgow where the resolution was so good he could not only
see his work building, but his office window, and his vehicle in the car
park. Big Brother is already with us.

Yesterday, a friend was showing me her new superduper juicer (made in
Korea, with an American accent), which actually speaks aloud as you
operate it. "I have a fibre blockage and need to reverse. Press my red
button now."

Janet.

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

It will shortly be mandatory (seriously), but it will be used to
track what you are doing, as evidence for locking you up on
unspecified charges and for targeting your home with huge amounts
of spam selling even gimmickier gardening tat.

Yes, I really DO mean that all items will come with an active RFID
tag, which is effectively the same technology. You have been warned,
so please call me Emmanuel Goldstein.


Hmmm. Now about those super-duper magnets...

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

The message
from Rusty Hinge 2 contains these words:

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

It will shortly be mandatory (seriously), but it will be used to
track what you are doing, as evidence for locking you up on
unspecified charges and for targeting your home with huge amounts
of spam selling even gimmickier gardening tat.

Yes, I really DO mean that all items will come with an active RFID
tag, which is effectively the same technology. You have been warned,
so please call me Emmanuel Goldstein.


Hmmm. Now about those super-duper magnets...

So that's where my filling went last week.

Janet.

The message
from Janet Baraclough contains these words:
The message
from Rusty Hinge 2 contains these words:
The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

It will shortly be mandatory (seriously), but it will be used to
track what you are doing, as evidence for locking you up on
unspecified charges and for targeting your home with huge amounts
of spam selling even gimmickier gardening tat.

Yes, I really DO mean that all items will come with an active RFID
tag, which is effectively the same technology. You have been warned,
so please call me Emmanuel Goldstein.


Hmmm. Now about those super-duper magnets...

So that's where my filling went last week.


I put them all in my filling cabinet.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

The message
from Rusty Hinge 2 contains these words:

The message
from Janet Baraclough contains these words:

The message
from Rusty Hinge 2 contains these words:

Hmmm. Now about those super-duper magnets...

So that's where my filling went last week.


I put them all in my filling cabinet.

I expect you're saving them up to make aeroplanes with, for when
Blair liberates Iran from the tyranny of being an uncontrollable
nuclear power hellbent on hogging the world's oil supplies for its own
selfish needs.

Janet.

"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message
k...
The message
from Janet Baraclough contains these words:
The message
from Rusty Hinge 2 contains these
words:
The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

It will shortly be mandatory (seriously), but it will be used to
track what you are doing, as evidence for locking you up on
unspecified charges and for targeting your home with huge amounts
of spam selling even gimmickier gardening tat.

Yes, I really DO mean that all items will come with an active RFID
tag, which is effectively the same technology. You have been warned,
so please call me Emmanuel Goldstein.


Hmmm. Now about those super-duper magnets...

So that's where my filling went last week.


I put them all in my filling cabinet.

Is that different to a dustbin?

Alan


--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

"spirk" wrote in message
...

Hi my name is Evan and I am a design student trying to come up with a
product to help beginner to expert gardeners with the process of
growing plants, fruits in a garden or greenhouse. It would be best to
explain my idea by giving you an example of how you could use it.

The user opens up the box to find the Hand held device with a color LCD
touch screen, seeds for several different plants, earphones and location
markers with embedded RFID chips. The handheld device would also have a
docking station to connect to a computer. The idea is that when the
user starts planting fruits, flowers, ect. They would then place a
RFID in the ground right with the seed.(An RFID is a chip that stores
information you enter, and then can retrieve the information later
wirelessly.)

The user would input what plant he just put the RFID chip next to.
Now when the user ever comes back to that plant he waves his device
over the plant and up pops a history of the plant, how to take care of
it, the history of the users interaction with that plant, ect. The
device would also be able to play mp3 files, which would allow the user
to hook up to the internet and download instructional lessons, different
methods of planting, care, ect. The device could even give visual
references for the user.

This idea is just not limited to outdoor use. You could use the system
for greenhouses, or even inside the house with “smart pots.” Maybe you
have smart pots that have RFID integrated chips. The main thing I want
to concentrate on is building this idea into an entire system for home
gardening.

I would really appreciate any answers to the following questions, and
any comments about my idea

What is your biggest problem with gardening and the gardening process?

What is the hardest thing to remember when gardening?

Do you document plants as they grow?

How do you remember what plants you planted?

What are the most common things you need to remember when taking care
of a garden, ie nutrition, type of fertilizer, ect.

What are the most important things you need to do before starting to
plant seeds for your garden?

Are there different ways you need to treat plants that you grow outside
then in a greenhouse?

Thanks for your time, this will really help me out.
spirk

Sorry Spirk but I find lolly sticks do the job just as well :~)
Jenny