Re: garden diary software?

Hi Group,
 
For years I thought this would be a good idea, we are always losing plants around the nursery, so one day I put together a wondrous programme based on "Excel" which tracked them from sowing to selling, recording each time they were potted on, the size of pot, price , how many we had and where they were located. It lasted just under twenty four hours. The problem was that no one could or would input the data:, If  I had to break off doing a job to sell a thyme to a little old lady, I wanted to get back to what I was doing, not mess around turning on the computer to enter a $2 sale and tell it to knock one 9cm pot off the total stock held. The girls said that if they wanted to gaze at a screen all day, they would go and work in a nice comfortable office (as opposed to our shed which has a tin roof and freezes in Winter and bakes in Summer)  and I found that  unless one washed and changed , the key board and mouse became clogged with what ever I had last been  been potting into. It's amazing what will fall off your sleeves though I guess this is less of a problem in California where you wear fewer layers. I suspect that in a non-professional situation, a computer would waste a proportionately greater amount of time
 
Microsoft outlook has a diary which "repeats" from one year to the next and will write a task list along side it. It's very clever but it takes up a lot of disc space and has a load of unwanted  stuff with it. Worse, it won't let me alter anything I have previously entered as it tells me that I haven't got "permission"
 
So now we write everything to do with sowing  on the backs of junk mail which is kept in a loose binder in the potting shed, the theory is that the data is transferred to the computer before the paper becomes pulp.  This has the advantage that the information is recorded instantly rather than half remembered when you turn the machine on at the end of the day. Seeding and sales data are all recorded in excel  (which I have to admit is brilliant, but then I am innumerate and so anything helps) and I am sure it could be persuaded to do a lot more, nevertheless I have known people who have become so obsessed with their computers that they have allowed their nurseries to go bust so we will just have to go on losing the odd plant around the place
 
Happy New Year and may all your computer crashes be little ones.
 
 
Anthony
 
 
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Are you still wasting your time with spam?...
There is a solution!"
 
Protected by GIANT Company's Spam Inspector
The most powerful anti-spam software available.
http://mail.spaminspector.com
 
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 1:13 AM
Subject: Re: garden diary software?

Nan,
 
If you hear of any software, I would be interested as well.  It would be a good way to keep track of all my plant varieties, their blooming times and the various tasks needed to be done in my gardens.
 
Thanks.
 
Linda
Springville Gardens
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index