• The spreadsheet gardner

    From N_Cook@diverse@tcp.co.uk to uk.rec.gardening on Sun Mar 23 09:15:28 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    Not wishing to show my ignorance, I did not ask her why, what
    use/advantage is there in all that effort in setting them up and then
    updating them. A friend said she used spreadsheets for her home garden
    and an allotment plot.
    --
    Global sea level rise to 2100 from curve-fitted existing altimetry data <http://diverse.4mg.com/slr.htm>
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  • From Spike@aero.spike@mail.com to uk.rec.gardening on Sun Mar 23 09:44:17 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

    Not wishing to show my ignorance, I did not ask her why, what
    use/advantage is there in all that effort in setting them up and then updating them. A friend said she used spreadsheets for her home garden
    and an allotment plot.

    Fascinating, but some context might helprCa
    --
    Spike

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  • From David Entwistle@qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz to uk.rec.gardening on Sun Mar 23 10:18:07 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On Sun, 23 Mar 2025 09:15:28 +0000, N_Cook wrote:

    A friend said she used spreadsheets for her home garden and an allotment plot.

    I use them a bit - force of habit as I used them a lot in my work, but it could be any number of things. Some examples could be:

    To plan a flower garden to maintain blooms throughout a long season.

    How many plants to raise from seed to fill a particular planting area -
    first, second-early, and main crop, potatoes, with their different row
    spacing - that sort of thing - how many Kg of seed pots, of each kind, required to fill the available area.

    A record of crop rotation year-on-year.

    If you are a person that is very organized, you could be planning your
    indoor sowing such that the plants are ready to harden-off and plant out
    as other early crops get lifted and the soil becomes available. Experience
    is just as good as detailed planning (possibly better).

    Here, in the community garden, our lease requires us to maintain a
    manurial account - it should list manure, compost, wood-chip, seaweed,
    blood fish and bone, poultry manure in etc.; produce out. We don't
    actually do it formally, but we do keep an oversight to ensure we are on
    the right side.

    I have to record and report seaweed collections to the Crown Estate
    agents. I record those in spreadsheet.

    I did some work to size the water tanks, based on the shed-roof collection-area and rainfall rates. Also how much water we'd use month-on- month in the polytunnel and garden generally based on transpiration rates.
    It estimates what our mains water requirement will be and what the
    financial cost will be.

    We do have to keep account of income and expenditure.

    We do have to maintain a risk assessment.

    We could do any of the above without a spreadsheet, but it is a tool if
    you are happy to use it.

    Best wishes,
    --
    David Entwistle
    52-#56'02.5"N 4-#31'05.8"W 50m amsl
    Sandy soil
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  • From Janet@nobody@home.com to uk.rec.gardening on Sun Mar 23 13:25:34 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    In article <vron4v$22pj8$2@dont-email.me>,
    qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz says...

    On Sun, 23 Mar 2025 09:15:28 +0000, N_Cook wrote:

    A friend said she used spreadsheets for her home garden and an allotment plot.

    I use them a bit - force of habit as I used them a lot in my work, but it could be any number of things. Some examples could be:


    Stop right there. Just stop.

    Now would be a good time to open a bottle of beer, take
    the bins out, walk the dog.

    You'll feel better soon.

    Janet
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  • From David Entwistle@qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz to uk.rec.gardening on Tue Mar 25 16:05:55 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On Sun, 23 Mar 2025 13:25:34 -0000, Janet wrote:

    Stop right there. Just stop.

    :) I'm happy to report that I'm on the beer right now. Thanks for the
    advice.
    --
    David Entwistle
    52-#56'02.5"N 4-#31'05.8"W 50m amsl
    Sandy soil
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  • From The Natural Philosopher@tnp@invalid.invalid to uk.rec.gardening on Tue Mar 25 16:57:28 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On 25/03/2025 16:05, David Entwistle wrote:
    On Sun, 23 Mar 2025 13:25:34 -0000, Janet wrote:

    Stop right there. Just stop.

    :) I'm happy to report that I'm on the beer right now. Thanks for the
    advice.


    Damn. I could almost join you there.
    --
    How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think.

    Adolf Hitler


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  • From David Entwistle@qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz to uk.rec.gardening on Tue Apr 15 07:51:58 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On Sun, 23 Mar 2025 09:15:28 +0000, N_Cook wrote:

    Not wishing to show my ignorance, I did not ask her why, what
    use/advantage is there in all that effort in setting them up and then updating them. A friend said she used spreadsheets for her home garden
    and an allotment plot.

    At the moment...

    How many courgette plants can I fit in a 1.2m x 3.6m raised bed,
    maintaining 0.9m between plants, but allowing foliage to overhang the side
    of the bed. It depends on what distance you allow, for the root ball,
    between the plant and the edge of the bed (a requirement I haven't seen specified anywhere, but from what I've seen is a lot less extensive than
    the foliage).

    In the end, I'll probably just eyeball it, but it presents an interesting problem, if you like puzzles and it is raining.

    It's not raining at the moment, so I'm off out.

    Best wishes,
    --
    David Entwistle
    52-#56'02.5"N 4-#31'05.8"W 50m amsl
    Sandy soil
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  • From liz@liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid (Liz Tuddenham) to uk.rec.gardening on Tue Apr 15 09:12:13 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    David Entwistle <qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz> wrote:

    On Sun, 23 Mar 2025 09:15:28 +0000, N_Cook wrote:

    Not wishing to show my ignorance, I did not ask her why, what
    use/advantage is there in all that effort in setting them up and then updating them. A friend said she used spreadsheets for her home garden
    and an allotment plot.

    At the moment...

    How many courgette plants can I fit in a 1.2m x 3.6m raised bed,
    maintaining 0.9m between plants, but allowing foliage to overhang the side
    of the bed. It depends on what distance you allow, for the root ball,
    between the plant and the edge of the bed (a requirement I haven't seen specified anywhere, but from what I've seen is a lot less extensive than
    the foliage).

    I created a simple spreadsheet for a friend who did landscape gardening;
    it calculated volumes and weight of material from the dimensions of the
    plot. The inputs could be area or volume, if known, or lengths and
    depth; each one in any common unit. This meant that if she had measured
    the length in feet or metres and the client had specified the depth in
    inches, the spreadsheet would still work.

    As an add-on, it calculated the weight of most common materials of known density and allowed the user to specify alternative densities for
    special materials.

    It was written on a Mac G3 in Claris Works Spreadsheet, which no longer
    runs on modern Macs (but there is an alternative version that will still
    run on a P.C.).
    --
    ~ Liz Tuddenham ~
    (Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
    www.poppyrecords.co.uk
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  • From Janet@nobody@home.com to uk.rec.gardening on Tue Apr 15 11:48:15 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    In article <1ratqb0.1n7j6sqdf5680N%
    liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid>,
    liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid says...

    David Entwistle <qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz> wrote:

    On Sun, 23 Mar 2025 09:15:28 +0000, N_Cook wrote:

    Not wishing to show my ignorance, I did not ask her why, what use/advantage is there in all that effort in setting them up and then updating them. A friend said she used spreadsheets for her home garden and an allotment plot.

    At the moment...

    How many courgette plants can I fit in a 1.2m x 3.6m raised bed, maintaining 0.9m between plants, but allowing foliage to overhang the side of the bed. It depends on what distance you allow, for the root ball, between the plant and the edge of the bed (a requirement I haven't seen specified anywhere, but from what I've seen is a lot less extensive than the foliage).

    I created a simple spreadsheet for a friend who did landscape gardening;
    it calculated volumes and weight of material from the dimensions of the
    plot. The inputs could be area or volume, if known, or lengths and
    depth; each one in any common unit. This meant that if she had measured
    the length in feet or metres and the client had specified the depth in inches, the spreadsheet would still work.

    As an add-on, it calculated the weight of most common materials of known density and allowed the user to specify alternative densities for
    special materials.

    I can hear Tony McCormack turning in his grave and
    laughing his socks off.

    Janet
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  • From David Rance@david@SPAMOFF.invalid to uk.rec.gardening on Tue Apr 15 13:44:23 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On 15/04/2025 11:48, Janet wrote:
    In article <1ratqb0.1n7j6sqdf5680N%
    liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid>,
    liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid says...

    David Entwistle <qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz> wrote:

    On Sun, 23 Mar 2025 09:15:28 +0000, N_Cook wrote:

    Not wishing to show my ignorance, I did not ask her why, what
    use/advantage is there in all that effort in setting them up and then
    updating them. A friend said she used spreadsheets for her home garden >>>> and an allotment plot.

    At the moment...

    How many courgette plants can I fit in a 1.2m x 3.6m raised bed,
    maintaining 0.9m between plants, but allowing foliage to overhang the side >>> of the bed. It depends on what distance you allow, for the root ball,
    between the plant and the edge of the bed (a requirement I haven't seen
    specified anywhere, but from what I've seen is a lot less extensive than >>> the foliage).

    I created a simple spreadsheet for a friend who did landscape gardening;
    it calculated volumes and weight of material from the dimensions of the
    plot. The inputs could be area or volume, if known, or lengths and
    depth; each one in any common unit. This meant that if she had measured
    the length in feet or metres and the client had specified the depth in
    inches, the spreadsheet would still work.

    As an add-on, it calculated the weight of most common materials of known
    density and allowed the user to specify alternative densities for
    special materials.

    I can hear Tony McCormack turning in his grave and
    laughing his socks off.

    Janet

    Me too! ;-)

    David
    --
    David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK

    =============================================
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  • From David Entwistle@qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz to uk.rec.gardening on Wed Apr 16 08:08:42 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On Tue, 15 Apr 2025 07:51:58 -0000 (UTC), David Entwistle wrote:

    How many courgette plants can I fit in a 1.2m x 3.6m raised bed,
    maintaining 0.9m between plants, but allowing foliage to overhang the
    side of the bed. It depends on what distance you allow, for the root
    ball, between the plant and the edge of the bed (a requirement I haven't
    seen specified anywhere, but from what I've seen is a lot less extensive
    than the foliage).

    After a bit of spread sheeting and trigonometry, on a white board, it
    looks to be five plants. I'll be giving each plant a 0.6 x 0.6 x 0.45m station, dug out and half filled with compost before replacing the soil. There'll be just over 0.9m between plants. That'll need just over 0.4
    cubic metres of compost - I'll get down there and measure my compost
    bin... ;o)
    --
    David Entwistle
    52-#56'02.5"N 4-#31'05.8"W 50m amsl
    Sandy soil
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  • From David Entwistle@qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz to uk.rec.gardening on Wed Apr 16 08:44:43 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On Tue, 15 Apr 2025 09:12:13 +0100, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

    As an add-on, it calculated the weight of most common materials of known density and allowed the user to specify alternative densities for
    special materials.

    Very good. I wrote something to calculate the gravel requirement for 25m
    of french drain. I'd never dug a drain before, so had no feel for it.
    --
    David Entwistle
    52-#56'02.5"N 4-#31'05.8"W 50m amsl
    Sandy soil
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  • From Bill Davy@Bill@XchelSys.co.uk to uk.rec.gardening on Wed Apr 16 15:41:09 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On 16/04/2025 09:08, David Entwistle wrote:
    On Tue, 15 Apr 2025 07:51:58 -0000 (UTC), David Entwistle wrote:

    How many courgette plants can I fit in a 1.2m x 3.6m raised bed,
    maintaining 0.9m between plants, but allowing foliage to overhang the
    side of the bed. It depends on what distance you allow, for the root
    ball, between the plant and the edge of the bed (a requirement I haven't
    seen specified anywhere, but from what I've seen is a lot less extensive
    than the foliage).

    After a bit of spread sheeting and trigonometry, on a white board, it
    looks to be five plants. I'll be giving each plant a 0.6 x 0.6 x 0.45m station, dug out and half filled with compost before replacing the soil. There'll be just over 0.9m between plants. That'll need just over 0.4
    cubic metres of compost - I'll get down there and measure my compost
    bin... ;o)


    I had a similar problem. There is at least one other dimension.
    Consider height.
    Looked at Black Forest F1. Did not work for me, and expensive.
    Tromba drCOAlbenga is reliable though.

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  • From nmm@nmm@wheeler.UUCP (Nick Maclaren) to uk.rec.gardening on Wed Apr 16 17:41:39 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    In article <vtl36u$36pg5$1@dont-email.me>,
    David Entwistle <qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz> wrote:
    On Sun, 23 Mar 2025 09:15:28 +0000, N_Cook wrote:

    Not wishing to show my ignorance, I did not ask her why, what
    use/advantage is there in all that effort in setting them up and then
    updating them. A friend said she used spreadsheets for her home garden
    and an allotment plot.

    At the moment...

    How many courgette plants can I fit in a 1.2m x 3.6m raised bed,
    maintaining 0.9m between plants, but allowing foliage to overhang the side >of the bed. It depends on what distance you allow, for the root ball, >between the plant and the edge of the bed (a requirement I haven't seen >specified anywhere, but from what I've seen is a lot less extensive than
    the foliage).

    In the end, I'll probably just eyeball it, but it presents an interesting >problem, if you like puzzles and it is raining.

    While you COULD program a spreadsheet to do that, it's the sort
    of calculation that I would do mentally and most people should be
    able to do using pencil and paper. Depending on how you want to
    lay them out, either 6 or 8.


    Regards,
    Nick Maclaren.
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  • From nmm@nmm@wheeler.UUCP (Nick Maclaren) to uk.rec.gardening on Wed Apr 16 17:44:57 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    In article <vtnoia$1o3i9$1@dont-email.me>,
    David Entwistle <qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz> wrote:
    On Tue, 15 Apr 2025 07:51:58 -0000 (UTC), David Entwistle wrote:

    How many courgette plants can I fit in a 1.2m x 3.6m raised bed,
    maintaining 0.9m between plants, but allowing foliage to overhang the
    side of the bed. It depends on what distance you allow, for the root
    ball, between the plant and the edge of the bed (a requirement I haven't
    seen specified anywhere, but from what I've seen is a lot less extensive
    than the foliage).

    After a bit of spread sheeting and trigonometry, on a white board, it
    looks to be five plants. I'll be giving each plant a 0.6 x 0.6 x 0.45m >station, dug out and half filled with compost before replacing the soil. >There'll be just over 0.9m between plants. That'll need just over 0.4
    cubic metres of compost - I'll get down there and measure my compost
    bin... ;o)

    You are allowing more for the roots than I would. But that's just
    a matter of judgement.


    Regards,
    Nick Maclaren.
    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From David Entwistle@qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz to uk.rec.gardening on Thu Apr 17 08:52:03 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On Wed, 16 Apr 2025 17:44:57 -0000 (UTC), Nick Maclaren wrote:

    You are allowing more for the roots than I would. But that's just a
    matter of judgement.

    Thanks. Most likely bad-judgement in my case. I was reading The Grower's Guide, but it treats marrows and courgettes together. I hadn't paid enough attention to the distinction.

    My thinking is now:

    Root ball radius (cm) - number of plants in bed

    19 - 9
    20 - 8
    23 - 7
    27 - 6
    28 - 5

    Anyhow, it is sunny now...
    --
    David Entwistle
    52-#56'02.5"N 4-#31'05.8"W 50m amsl
    Sandy soil
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  • From David Entwistle@qnivq.ragjvfgyr@ogvagrearg.pbz to uk.rec.gardening on Thu Apr 17 10:19:18 2025
    From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

    On Thu, 17 Apr 2025 08:52:03 -0000 (UTC), David Entwistle wrote:

    My thinking is now:

    Root ball radius (cm) - number of plants in bed

    19 - 9 20 - 8 23 - 7 27 - 6 28 - 5

    The nine plant solution doesn't work, but the eight plant is perfect.
    0.21m root ball radius and plants on an equilateral grid. :)
    --
    David Entwistle
    52-#56'02.5"N 4-#31'05.8"W 50m amsl
    Sandy soil
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