You may notice along the bottom of the screen there is a tab labeled "Succession Planting". This is a quick view: You can see each of the crop to the left, and to the right is a bar representing the growing life of that variety. Labels such as DS for "Direct Seed", T for "Transplant", F for "Foliar Feeding", SD for "Side Dress" etc., make it easy to keep track of the schedule for each variety. Further, all of these labels are hyperlinked to my Microsoft OneNote notebook, where each crop has a separate page to track observations, notations, harvesting statistics, information gleened from the web, pages scanned from my favourite gardening books and magazines, etc. For instance, if you click on the "SD" for my Kestrel Beets, it will take you directly to the OneNote page like this: You will notice at the right hand side are tabs for all of the varieties that I grow so that I can enter information about specific crops such as planting date, germination rates, harvest dates and quantities, etc. I can also attach photos, link to my blog posts, etc. Further, each tab has links to favourite recipes (captured from online sources mostly) and notations about taste, quality, etc. Then, to tie it all together, I enter all of that information into a Microsoft Project project, and assign myself as a resource. Each of these items is given a task with a date assigned according to the chart above. Then, I will receive via email a weekly "to-do" list. What I am trying to show is that the information is out there and it can be organized. My setup has been the result of hundreds of hours of research, organizing and cross referencing. This is necessary for me because I have a young family, a very large garden, and I run a family-friends CSA. I need to know when to plant something so that it arrives at a specific time, and I need something to tell me when to do it because when the season arrives, I don't have time to figure it out. Even if I could find software to do this for me, I don't know if I would want it. The research and compilation of this system has allowed me to learn more than I ever could by just punching in some numbers and letting the computer do the work. If they say the best way to garden is to get your hands dirty, the best way to plan your garden is to get your virtual hands dirty.

Maybe I came off as a total newbie from my post---not to say that I'm experienced though. I grew 6 shares on around 3,000 sq ft last Fall and this year I have 12 shares on a third of an acre plus I'm adding another 6 for a short Summer vegetable share. I spent last year and this year working on succession planting and I believe I have a pretty good calander worked out. I have done a whole lot of research online, read books, and attended a new farmer's workshop and believe I have some good systems in place. I am not doing straight row cropping. Instead I'm growing on 30"-wide raised beds. So for carrots and lettuce I can get 3 rows per bed and two rows of bush beans and beets. I am using a system similar to what Eliot Coleman recommends. The leaves are being used as mulch and the horse manure is being aged the recommended 180 days. I am also using some purchased compost, but the cost is really high. Soil testing is guiding my amending and fertilizing, although I have grown in this soil for the last 7 years. I have some infrastructure holes, but also a foundation. As far as growing trasplants, the Fall season is easier to manage. After getting seeds germinated inside, I put them outside in low tunnels covered with shade cloth. Direct seeded items like beans are planted near drip tape to aid in germination. Carrots, of course, require special attention. I have designs for a washing station which I plan to modify a bit. http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/cool_tools/wash_stations1 Working out an efficient system for getting shares ready is crucial. Thanks Lucy, three harvest days seems like the way to go. Along with a helper, we spend between 1.5-2 hrs harvesting and preparing 7 shares. We pack the shares straight into iced coolers early in the morning and leave them in the shade until they are picked up(by next Spring I want to build a cool-bot cooler). So 15-20 shares would take a few hours, 3 days a week. Fortunately we don't have to deliver, because we are in the city. I could not afford to deliver for sure. Marketing has not been a problem so far. Again we are in the city and have had plenty of demand. As long as I keep producing the product I am now, I believe people will come back next year and recommend me to others. My biggest fear is not being able to deliver what I promise. And the biggest hurdle I see is labor. I plan on making the main job of the work share folks harvesting and getting shares ready as well as transplanting into the field. University of Texas at Dallas is close by and we have plenty of independent garden stores in the area. I envision environmentally-conscious or vegetarian college students doing workshares, with maybe 2 friends working for and spliting one share. I notice that most CSA's use interns, work shares or volunteers for much of their labor. For weed control on the large crops I may use some plastic mulch---although for the time involed I could just lay hay or leaves. Again, I know this will be a challenge, but I think it can be done. 50 shares is the lowest number I can go. Before finding out I was getting laid off, I had planned to work up to around 20 shares this Fall---a tall order with a full-time job. Instead of getting another job and postponing what I really want to do, I have decided to go for it. I know the job is physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding at times. Then again, working for someone in an office is much worse in my mind. I am really lucky to have so much in place to do this in the first place. Could you recommend or share farm planning software? My wife is doing the books with Quicken. Thanks, Pete http://www.facebook.com/pages/Farmer-Pete-Red-Wheelbarrow-Farm/198942070148079

I'm not a pro, but here's my two cents..........I switched six years ago after twenty years with PC. For me, the change has been wonderful. My down-time dropped to zero instantly and has stayed there. No hardware or software troubles and no bugs from the beginning until now....and I'm up and running 24/7/365. Of course I've had to learn new programs and aps but at least the machine doesn't fight me all the time like my PC's always did. Thing just sits here and runs. In response to the "Macs are expensive" argument so often encountered, I would like to say this: I used to bring in computer-techs twice year, on average, to straighten out my PC stuff. Not having to do that anymore has essentially paid for the machine at this point...and those service-dollars spent don't include the annoyance and aggravation and lost work-time that accompanied the issues. Your hot-button appears to be your particular kind of work...which I am not familiar with. Since it's important to you, I would advise finding an Apple Store and taking some of your stuff on disk or flash-drive with you. All their machines will be there up and running all the time. Let them show you how the iMac would work with your stuff and you can decide based on your actual experience. I do have several professional friends who are compelled to work with programs that only run on Windows. Those folks run Windows on their Macs via parallels and run their proprietary programs that way. However, except for those programs, they leave Windows off and run everything else with the Mac's OS. As far as "learning curve", you'll be amazed at what you can do within hours. In my case, having no previous experience, I was surfing within 45 minutes of the box arriving at the door. I was comfortable within days; confident in a week; proficient in a couple of weeks. And I was absolutely paranoid in the beginning because of all my PC hassles over the years. My advice would be don't worry about the learning curve. I have little doubt things will flow very naturally for you. At this point, I have many family members and friends who have made the switch and they've all said the same thing about that.

Étoile de Portugal its Rose bush created by french botanist Henri Cayeux, then responsible for the Royal Palace Botanic Garden of Lisbon. His meticulous work resulted in five rose bushes: “Belle Portugaise” and “Étoile de Portugal” in 1903; Amateur Lopes, Lusitania and Palmira Feijao in 1905. Unfortunately, with the exception of Belle Portugaise, they all disappeared in Portugal. Could you please tell me if you are aware of any roseries that sell to Étoile du Portugal to bring this plant back to my country? I thank you infinitely. Miguel d’Jorge