It never would have occurred to me to purchase software to track my garden. Like you, I find an Excel spreadsheet to be a versatile tool for tracking the information that interests me, and a simple Word document, or file of documents, can contain any quirky info not suitable for a spreadsheet. In addition to the computer-drawn plan, I have a large-scale printout of my new garden plan with a 10' by 10' grid for a visual record of the location of specimens. The grid coordinates go into the spreadsheet, and my husband swears he's going to give me GPS coordinates for the plants. : ) I once had a paper garden journal, but my entries were very sporadic so the result is incomplete, and the journal lacked any organization beyond calendar dates, not very useful for the type of data you are keeping. These days I type far better than I write, such has been my evolution...

USA Today just came out with a slightly different twist in their handling the story. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/01/03/gmo-genetically-modified-organism-facts-cheerios/4302121/ Of particular interest: " FDA is considering two citizen petitions it has received asking the agency to require GMO labeling." And "Why are some people concerned about GMOs? Critics say there are potential health effects (see next question) and environmental concerns surrounding GMOs. One of the supposed benefits of GMOs is that they should result in less herbicide spraying, since some plants have been modified to be herbicide resistant. However, over-reliance on these crops has led to the emergence of "super weeds" that are also more resistant to herbicides, requiring increased spraying, according to a University of Washington study." H.Kuska comment: the U. of Washington study link was given. It is: http://news.cahnrs.wsu.edu/2012/10/01/summary-of-major-findings-and-definitions-of-important-terms/ Of particular interest, to me, is the following: "Today’s major GE crops have increased overall pesticide use by 404 million pounds from 1996 through 2011 (527 million pound increase in herbicides, minus the 123 million pound decrease in insecticides). Overall pesticide use in 2011 was about 20% higher on each acre planted to a GE crop, compared to pesticide use on acres not planted to GE crops." And The biotechnology-seed-pesticide industry’s primary response to the spread of glyphosate-resistant weeds is development of new HT varieties resistant to multiple herbicides, including 2,4-D and dicamba. These older phenoxy herbicides pose markedly greater human health and environmental risks per acre treated than glyphosate. Approval of corn tolerant of 2,4-D is pending, and could lead to an additional 50% increase in herbicide use per acre on 2,4-D HT corn." H.Kuska comment: I could actually cut and paste much of the article, but instead I will simply suggest that everyone read the complete article. However, I will put the conclusion here: "Much new research will be required to translate emerging data on higher exposures to glyphosate and Bt toxins into estimates of human, farm and companion animal, and environmental risks." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ H.Kuska further comment: I feel that the above conclusion is consistent with my personel conclusion that scientists who are opposed to their being GMOs in our food supply generally are opposed to using the general population as beta testers ( beta testers is my term - long term safety studies are still needed is a more common statement). The main concern, as I see it, is what will happen if we are exposed to a continual diet of GMOs for an extended period. Normally included in statements like this is that each type of GMO has to be certified individually. ----------------------------------- 2013 scientific review: Title: "Food health quality of genetically modified crops ��" review of risks and benefits" "However, genetically modified organism are relatively new, as they appeared commercially in the mid 90’s and are poorly addressed by current testing methods [51]. That is why, there is a need for further discussions on risks and benefits of GM crops not only in terms of health, but also in terms of the environmental and socio-economic effects. To obtain more valuable results, the presented factors must be also evaluated in terms of their relative importance under specific conditions. For example, in poor and malnourished societies, “improved nutrition” and “food availability” may be considered a more important aspect of health sustainability than “changes in level of natural toxins” in plants, whereas in rich societies, this relation is likely to be the opposite. A major limitation of this review is the availability of the existing studies, showing results that were often conflicting and rooted in speculations. Thus, further research is needed to obtain more consistent outcome." http://mil-pharm-med.pl/2013/2-6/3.pdf Here is a link that might be useful: USA Today version of story

Thank you for this! Still can’t find an app to fulfill all my needs so creating my own one. Could you maybe expand on how you structured your various tabs in excel? For example your diary tab. Would be a huge help! Thank you!

proudgrma.... I have my garden journals on my hard drive. I use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for each year. I start each year whenever my gardening season starts whether that be going through bulb catalogs and ordering for the spring, or after Christmas when I start seed trading or winter sowing. I use one column for each entry and label it with the date. If I have a project I am working on, I may start a column just for that. It is very casual but I have found it very useful. I try to be very thoughtful of how I record information in the journal, so that I can use the 'search' function. For example, whenever I make a seed order, I label it seed order, so I know that if I type in 'Seed Order' in the Find window, it will bring me to every seed order I have made. When I tried using a hand written book, I would forget to write in it all the time, or I would not remember where I put it, or when I wanted to find some information that I had written before, I would have to know the time I wrote it or look through every page of the book trying to find it. This system works SO much better. I also have a software program on my computer that stores photos. I have found myself using the easy to use area which allows for notations on photos. I take photos when I bring home plants and then list what they are in the photo info section. I take photos of first day of bloom on my plants and label them, then again, I try to take photos when they are finished blooming so I can track how long a bloom period they are giving me. There is also an extensive list of keywords you can assign to each photo so that if you want to bring up all photos of 'shade loving perennials' you can do that. So between the annual spreadsheet, labeling and organizing my garden photos and a main list of all the plants ever planted in the garden, everything I need is in these three documents/programs. If that doesn't seem to fit what you are looking for, then I could suggest a gardening website that allows you to keep a garden journal on it. GW does have a journaling function, and also allows you to keep track of your trade lists and clip postings that you want to keep for reference. Another choice is DG, I think you know what I mean? :-)