Garden Planning


Garden Calendar

I started looking through my seed catalog to plan what to plant and when to order seeds. Now where did I put all those notes I made on last year’s gardens?

Enjoy,

David Proctor
Urban Soil Farmer/Rancher


Software For Garden Planning

by David Proctor


January 9, 2025

Urban Farm Lifestyle Magazine    Published Weekly


Looking for my notes is exactly what I was doing right after sitting down with my new seed catalog.

I had those notes and spare seed packets with me all last summer and into fall.

I think I took them out and placed them in my storage unit, but not sure.

I took notes on each raised bed, with where each crop was planted, and even had diagrams.

This is a little frustrating to have to go into my storage unit in the cold, but no way around it.

This made me think about an article I read in my ACRES USA magazine, November 2024, “Timing Every Seeding.”

I went back and looked at the article again and it was an interview with cofounders Paul and Edwin Dysinger and their crop planning software “Seedtime.”

I went on the Seedtime website and signed up for the free version of the software.

Once I figured out my zone and frost dates, I was able to select some seed types, and the calendar was populated on when to plant, cultivate, transplant, and harvest.

Seedtime Calendar

Seedtime Calendar

Last year I tried to plant, maintain, and harvest four raised beds in Oriental, and four raised beds at the Horse Rescue.

Almost all the plants were started from seeds ordered from the Southern Exposure Seed Catalog.

Southern Expose also has a garden planner with layouts, plants, planting times, and the ordering of seeds.

This does come with a subscription rate of $35/year with autorenewal or $50/year.

This is cheaper than Seedtime’s subscription rate except you can use their calendars on the free version.

Raised Bed Gardens - Oriental, NC
Raised Bed Gardens – Oriental, NC
Raised Bed Gardens - Reelsboro, NC
Raised Bed Gardens – Reelsboro, NC

I want to be upfront; I am not a gardener.

When I was a kid, my family had a garden that had tomatoes, green beans, carrots, leaf lettuce, and radishes.

I would prepare for the garden by turning over the soil in an area designated for the garden in the back corner of the backyard.

Plant the seeds and or starter plants, then it was my job to water and keep the weeds out.

We planted in late May and finished with the garden on or around the first of September.

This was in Springfield, Missouri.

Much different climate than eastern North Carolina where gardening goes through the winter.

Back to the software, which I think is nice and does save some time researching the internet for the same information but the seed catalog basically had all the same information in it!

Except for my notes, now where did I put those notes and pictures I took of the plants?

With Seedtime, you can keep journals and load pictures of your plants.

This software has a lot of features beyond what I have described but they cost a monthly or yearly subscription.

I am just trying out the free version which can also be accessed with an app on your phone.

I have trouble getting away from old habits of using pencil, paper, and a camera, which do not have a subscription fee.

Now where did I put my notes on the gardens??


Check It Out!

Seedtime Garden Planning App Review – Easy to Use and Free 7:20
Circle City Seeds

Quick Tip

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange


Bibliography:

“Timing Every Seeding.” Acres USA, Nov. 2024, pp. 28–31.

“Seedtime Garden Planning App Review – Easy to Use and Free.” YouTube, Circle City Seeds, 26 Mar. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9DX7OcEEMY.

“Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Saving the Past for the Future.” Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, 3 Jan. 2025, www.southernexposure.com/products/free-2025-catalog-and-garden-guide/.




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