Techy Tuesday — Organizing a Garden

I often joke…tongue and cheek, of course…that my life as a stay at home mom is a lot like the life of Scarlett O’Hara trying to take care of Tara without the luxury of “help”.  I am the cook, house cleaner, chauffeur, mechanic, nurse, butler, gardener, not to mention CFO and at times, the wet nurse.

This is not meant as a complaint, but more just an observation.  I do a lot of different things none of which I really know all that much about.  The most applicable training for this was probably my time in the nonprofit world.  I ran a quarter of a million dollar program with only one full time employee, ME.  During this time, I learned how to “make things happen” on a shoe string budget and only “general knowledge” of my responsibilities.  Let’s just say I could not have done it without Google.

I learned that organization is the key.  Not just putting my spices in alphabetical order, although that helps, but having all of the information that I might possibly need at hand at all times.  Now, working moms, here is the key…..you must juggle this without a desk.

Enter Laptop.

This is how it all began.  But, it has evolved into a finely tuned system complete with smartphone and smartbook.  Yes, that is my answer.  These are not toys but tools for any respectable and organized mom.  You may quote me on that.  I do tend to favor Apple products, but this organization can be accomplished…generally…with a PC brand too.

So, get excited for Techy Tuesday.  Every Tuesday I will post ideas about how to use technology to get organized and keep all the balls of motherhood in the air and still be cool, calm and collected.

This week I have been organizing my garden.

Challenges:

• Oklahoma is HOT
• I have a lot of shade
• My dog and my children like to dig
• I can never remember what I did five minutes ago much less when I watered last

Benefits:

• I *heart* fresh produce
• I love to share the joys (i.e. successes) of gardening with my children
• Gardening gives me something to do during the HOURS we spend outside in the before mentioned HEAT

So, here is what I am doing to “get organized”.

I made database on Bento for my Garden.  This allows me to keep track of what I have planted, how it is doing, growing instructions, etc.  From this information I can:

• Pick up other ingredients to pick up for a specific recipe based on what is ready to harvest.
• Keep a running record of what I have success with growing.
• Reference any special care information at any time and any place, via iPhone.

Created a diagram of my garden to design, reference, and keep for future ideas.  I used this template to create the one below in Word, but you can also use Photoshop or similar program. 

I use the calender function in iPhoto to keep track of what my garden, flowerbeds and yard look like during various seasons of the year.

1. Assuming the date is correctly set on your digital camera, it will be saved in iPhoto along with your image.
2. Add a “description” by highlighting all applicable pictures via >photos  >batch change (i.e. “yard and garden”)
3. Search your iPhoto Gallery for the designated description.
4. Sort by date via >View >Sort Photos >By Date

VOILA!!!!  You have all of your Yard and Garden Photo’s sorted by date so you can determine what you were successful with and what you might want to change.

These are a few ways I use technology to organize and learn more about caring for our yard and garden beyond the obvious research and reading blogs about others success and tips.  I hope this inspires you to get out and get dirty….then come in, wash up, and get organized.