With Spring coming, I now spend more time on my computer than ever. I use Internet resources for planning my garden, finding new sources for seed, and exchanging information and advice on gardening.
A recent request on the Usenet regarding gardening software drew a large number of responses. Although no gardening or landscape software appears to have all the bells and whistles that a gardener may want, 3D Landscape design software seems to be the hands down winner.
Wanting a less expensive alternative, through www.shareware.com, I simply entered "garden" into the search field. I was able to find two excellent shareware programs that provide the gardener with a database and journal/planting schedule.
Many sites on the Internet offer glimpses into gardens throughout the world. Some of my favorite sites include The Virtual Garden, The Ardent Gardener, and the Garden Centre. All of these sites offer an expansive array of gardening information, beautiful pictures and up to date techniques.
Some commercial sites offer on-line ordering, on-line support and help. Didn't get your favorite catalog this year? Well, most seed companies don't have their entire catalog on-line but you can request one on-line. Once you have your catalog and determine what you want, on-line order forms from companies like Johnny's Selected Seeds and Burpee are available. Fill out the form, click on send and they have your order! Just think, the long wait for your seeds to arrive has just been cut in half!
Territorial seed company and The Cooks Garden both which offer a varied selection of mainly vegetable plants do have their entire catalogs on-line. Heirloom and hard-to-find selections make these companies a gardener's paradise.
California Rare Fruit growers http://www.crfg.org/ has a general interest in all aspects of fruit growing with a primary focus on semitropical fruits and uncommon fruits and vegetables. With a similar growing season that tends to have long hot summers and mild winters, this is a wonderful source of information on plants that will thrive in our area.
Many of us have activities not classified as normal "gardening". People interested in building or maintaining ponds will find numerous sites dedicated to the "ponder". Plans for bridges, filtering systems and waterfalls are free for the downloading. One Usenet group rec.ponds is an open forum for people wanting to discuss their watery hobby.
For the greenhouse gardener, good sites to start from would include Pipe Dreams Hydroponics, Practical Hydroponics on-line and Inter Urban Water Farms. Here, free plans for homemade systems and discussion forums can be found. For people who want to stay current on hydroponics, a list server will deliver information directly to your e-mail. To subscribe simply send an e-mail to hydro-request@lists.best.com with the word subscribe in the subject line. You will get an e-mail to confirm your request. Confirm, then sit back and wait, daily e-mail will keep you up to date with happenings in the hydroponics world.
Beekeepers have multiple sites available also. Information on how to begin beekeeping, medicating hives, and honey collecting is available. The beekeeper's Usenet group is sci.agricultural.beekeeping. Some interesting sites for beginners include The Beekeeping Home Page and Beekeeping. Another good source is to subscribe to Apis-L list server which provides you with the best of the Bee-L list server ( this helps to get rid of off topic articles).
The best advice I often see on the web is to go see a local nurseryman or to find a local club or group and join up. After all, unless the plants, ponds and bees survive and produce in our heat, what good are they? We're fortunate to have a good extension service, several excellent nurseries and other experts in our area.
Alt.gardens
http://pathfinder.com/@@@tSLgwUAYYJAPJq@/vg/
http://www.trine.com/GardenNet/ArdentGardener/
http://www.territorial-seed.com/
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Beekeeping/homepage.htm
http://www.birkey.com/BLB/Beekeeping/index.html
http://www.viasub.net/IUWF/3.html
http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/
Susan Wehe
swehe@ix.netcom.com
http://www.netcom.com/~swehe/family.html
Susan Wehe is a member of the Seguin Internet Club and a regular
contributor to the Internet Beat column. She is a member of the
Marion ISD Technology Task Force.
This article and all previous articles published in this column,
are available in the Internet at the following address:
http://lonestar.texas.net/~weersjt/club/home.html,
which is the Seguin Internet Club's web site hosted by Seguin
Web Design.
The present article is the first of two parts devoted to the topic of gardening and the Net. If interested in sharing your Internet experience with the community, contact Internet Beat column coordinator, Gloria Rivera, who is also one of the three organizers of the Seguin Internet Club.
The next meeting of the Seguin Internet Club will take place on Saturday March 8 at Century 21 D&D, at 10 am. For more information, contact Jerry Weers, weersjt@texas.net; Gloria Rivera, riverag@connecti.com, 303-4764; or Alton Hierholzer, altonh@connecti.com, 303-9260.