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iVeggieGarden Review

Reviewed March 2011 by Allen Belkin

iVeggieGarden is an application for iPhone, iTouch and iPad that provides a wealth of gardening information, plus the ability to track what you’ve planted.

It starts with the “Catalog,” a list of vegetable types. Select a type and you see a list of common varieties.  For example, under “Beets”, there are seven varieties. Each has a brief description, plus days to maturity, size and spacing suggestions, heirloom and pollination info, starting and transplanting dates (I’d already entered my climate zone), plus temperature, soil and pH preferences.

A real strength of this app is that you can add your own varieties. The generic information for the vegetable is carried over but can be edited. You can even attach photos, either from the iPhone’s library, or directly from the iPhone camera. I simply used the camera to take a picture of the seed packet, front and back.

To begin tracking your plantings, select a variety from the “Catalog” and add it to “My Garden.”  Enter dates for planting, sprouting, thinning, flowering and harvesting as well as free-form notes. I’ve always had good intentions of writing these dates down, but I rarely do – maybe this year, at the risk of having a very muddy iPhone, I’ll be able to do it!

There are a number of useful reference lists, including a Glossary, Diseases and Pests (with non-chemical control selections).  Individual varieties can be added to a “shopping list,” and lists of Ideas, Gems and Duds.

iVeggieGarden sells for $9.99, a bit high in the app world, but no more than the cost of a few packs of seeds and less than a good gardening book.  For more information, search iTunes or see http://www.iveggiegarden.com.  If you like to combine gardens with gadgets, it’s worth taking a look.

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