If you use Apple's Bento database program, here's a free template that you can use to track your vegetable and fruit garden.
If you want to improve your garden each year, you need a way to keep track of what you did and the results you received. To make this easier, I created a vegetable tracking template for Apple Bento (database software) which allows me to do the following:
- Record when I planted (Date sown, date transplanted)
- Record what vegetable types and varieties I planted
- Record how it was planted (traditional bed, raised bed, clay pot, hydroponic etc.)
- Record where in my garden I planted them (aids in creating your rotation schedule)
- Automatically calculate the anticipated harvest date based on the variety's estimated days to maturity.
- Automatically calculate the actual days to maturity based on your first harvest date.
- Record the yield in ounces, pounds and automatically calculate the pounds per plant
- Record ratings of the variety on taste, appearance etc. using a 5 star rating system
- Provide a space for comments on disease/pests etc.
- Provide a space to keep a photo of the variety
I'm providing this template to my readers for free. If you currently use Bento, this is a no brainer; just download the attached zip file and import the template into Bento.
If you own a Mac but don't currently own Bento, you'll need to buy Bento first in order to use the template. Bento version 3 is available from the Apple Store for $49.
To use the template, download the below Zip file:
Download Vegetable Garden Tracker from PlanterTomato.com.bentoTemplate
If you don't own Bento, you can create a similar tracking system using an Excel spreadsheet, but it will not be as convenient or easy to use. I'm attaching an Excel spreadsheet that has the column headings for the data I am tracking in Bento which will help you create your own tracking system if you choose to do so. The file is below:
Very jealous PC user over here! This sounds like great stuff Mark. I wish I could try it out. :-( Good tracking is something I have struggled with for a couple years now.
Next I'm going to search your site for the best plant marking technique. That's one I haven't figured out yet either!
Posted by: Julianne Idleman | 08/07/2010 at 05:05 PM
Hi Julianne:
You can create a similar tracking system using Windows Excel spreadsheet but it will not be as convenient -- no search feature, no drop down menus pre-populated with vegetable types, locations, no stars icons for flavor, texture ratings etc., etc.
I exported the column headings from Bento to an Excel spreadsheet and add this to the original blog posting. This will give you some idea of what I was tracking. You would need to create your own calculation in Excel to make it work. Hopw this helps.
-Mark
Posted by: H. Mark Delman | 08/08/2010 at 01:15 PM
Thanks for the information. That was really great having Apple Bento as a plant in your garden.
Posted by: vegetable garden | 09/06/2010 at 04:27 PM
Nice work!
One other option if you want a social version of Bento is to join MyFolia.com - we're essentially the world's largest garden tracking community. Most of our garden tracking features are completely free, and advanced features are on a "pay what you think they are worth" system.
Mark - I'd love to give you a review account so you can try out all of our features, get in touch if you are interested :)
Our tour page has a brief rundown of features: http://myfolia.com/tour
- Nic (Creator and Founder)
Posted by: Myfolia | 09/11/2010 at 02:54 AM
Hi Nic:
Im happy to give MyFolia a try. You can send any relevant ID and Password information to my e-mail address: [email protected].
Based on some spelling variations versus US English, I suspect you are based in the UK. Is that correct?
-Mark
Posted by: H. Mark Delman | 09/12/2010 at 06:39 AM
Can you start a garden on top of a preexisting garden?
Posted by: new york mortgage | 09/27/2010 at 08:51 PM
If you mean, can you put a vegetable garden into a space that formerly had a flower garden etc., the answer is yes. However, the soil may be very depleted or the ph level (acid/basic) may not be optimal. I recommend using a soil testing service to get a good understanding of what soil amendments need to be added. You test can test in the Fal or the Spring. Heres a link to a posting on what you get from a professional service: http://www.plantertomato.com/2010/04/professional-soil-testing.html
Posted by: H. Mark Delman | 09/28/2010 at 05:33 AM
How can I start a vegetable garden?
Posted by: new york mortgage | 09/28/2010 at 09:15 PM
Heres an abbreviated answer. To start a vegetable garden you need to do the following:
1) Decide what types of vegetables you would ideally like to grow (What do you like to eat)
2) Check to see if your climate will allow you to grow them. (For example, if you want to grow sweet corn with a maturity of 110 days, you have a better chance of achieving this in a temperate or warm geography than in a place like Maine which has a short growing season. In Maine, you need to either choose a different variety of corn or not grow it at all) Search on line for Last Frost Date. Youll find sites that allow you to check your last and first frost dates. These dates determine the length of your growing season.
3) Choose a site on your property and again see if it receives the
number of hours of sun required to grow your veggies. Crops like tomatoes need a lot of sun -- a minimum of 7 hours and 10-12 is ideal. If your garden patch is shady, you can only grow low light veggies.
4) Check your soil using a professional soil testing service and determine if you need to adjust the PH or add compost etc.
5) Plant during the right season. You can find this information online or in books. For example, you plant potatoes, cabbage, peas and other cool season crops in the early spring. Tomatoes and squash are hot weather crops that get planted later in the year. If this is your first year growing vegetables, it will be easier to buy seedlings at your local garden store or home center than trying to start from seeds.
Theres a lot of detail to each step listed above, more than I can cover in a comment. As a next step you might buy a book from Amazon or take a class on
gardening. You can find local classes by doing a Google search on Vegetable Gardening + [name of your town] . You should find something. Generally, these classes are about 3 hours long and cost about $25. It will help.
Posted by: H. Mark Delman | 09/29/2010 at 06:24 AM
You would need to create your own calculation in Excel to make it work.
Posted by: ClubPenguinCheats | 06/15/2011 at 11:07 PM
The way I have my program set up you would use Excel to add up yields for all types of vegetables. In other words, many pounds of tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and cabbage did I grow. But within a particular vegetable type, I have fields set up for individual harvests. If I harvest 10 pounds of tomatoes on Monday, I enter that into a field called harvest #1. If a week later, I harvest another 5 pounds of tomatoes, I enter that into a field called Harvest #2 etc. I have something like 10 harvest fields set up in the template. In Bento, there is a field called Calculation that allows you to sum various fields. I use this to calculate the grand total of all harvests for a specific veggie type.
Posted by: H. Mark Delman | 06/16/2011 at 08:16 AM