Mother Earth News’ new online Vegetable Garden Planner helps users create customized garden plans based on their local climate, desired crops and rotations within the garden.
Knowing the best times to plant each crop is one of the trickiest aspects of food gardening. The Planner first determines someone’s local average spring and fall frost date by matching that user’s ZIP code to data from the nearest of almost 5,000 weather stations in the United States and Canada. Users then draw their garden layout and click to place the crops where they want to grow them. Once the crop is selected, the Planner indicates when to sow seeds (indoors or out) or set out transplants, and gardeners can opt to receive e-mail reminders every two weeks listing which crops it’s time to plant.
“This remarkable planner is truly going to make food gardening much simpler for both beginners and experienced gardeners. Plus, it’s fun to see your garden plan beautifully organized right on your computer screen — with NO weeds!” says Mother Earth News Editor in Chief Cheryl Long.