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1995-03-26
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The Seed Program (tm)
Version 1.1
Michael Wolter
4271 Carlisle Rd.
Gardners PA, 17324
Copyright (c) 1995 by Michael Wolter
All rights reserved
Copyright and Disclaimer
The Seed Program is copyrighted 1995 by Michael Wolter. All
rights reserved. It is not public domain nor free software.
Non-registered users are granted a limited license to use this
product on a trial basis. If you intend to use The Seed Program
on a regular basis, you are expected to register. For information
on registration, refer to Appendix A in this manual or the
ORDER.FRM file on disk.
A registered user is granted a single-user license to use
this program on any one machine at any one time. A registered
user is permitted to make a copy of the program for backup
purposes only. Distribution of the registered version of the
program is not permitted under any conditions. The shareware or
evaluation version of the program may be copied and distributed
without restriction as long as all the original files are
included and are not modified in any way.
Trial Users of The Seed Program must accept this disclaimer of
warranty:
The Shareware evaluation (trial use) version is provided AS
IS. The author makes no warranty of any kind, expressed or
implied, including without limitation, any warranties of
merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.
Registered Users of The Seed Program must accept this
disclaimer of warranty:
The author warrants the physical disk(s) provided with
registered versions to be free of defects in materials and
workmanship for a period of ninety days from the date of
registration. If the author receives notification within the
warranty period of defects in materials or workmanship, and such
notification is determined by the author to be correct, the
author will replace the defective disk(s).
The entire and exclusive liability and remedy for breach of
this Limited Warranty shall be limited to replacement of
defective diskette(s) and shall not include or extend to any
claim for or right to recover any other damages, including
not limited to, loss of profit, data, or use of the software, or
special, incidental, or consequential damages or other similar
claims, even if the author has been specifically advised of the
possibility of such damages. In no event will the author's
liability for any damages to you or any other person ever exceed
the lower of suggested list price or actual price paid for the
license to use the software, regardless of any form of the claim.
The author specifically disclaims all other warranties,
express or implied, including but not limited to, any implied
warranty of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular
purpose.
ii
1. Introduction .............................................. 1
1.1 Program Description ................................ 1
1.2 Differences Between the Evaluation and Registered
Versions .......................................... 1
1.3 System Requirements ................................ 1
1.4 Installing the Program .............................. 2
2. Using The Seed Program .................................... 3
2.1 Fields and Records .................................. 3
2.2 Crop Records and Seed Records ...................... 3
2.3 Setting the Frost Dates ............................ 3
2.4 Starting a New Year ................................ 3
3. Components of the Program ................................ 5
3.1 Menus and List Boxes ................................ 5
3.2 Function Keys and Online Help ...................... 5
3.3 Entering New Seed Records .......................... 6
3.4 Modify Existing Seeds .............................. 6
3.5 View Growing Hints .................................. 6
3.6 Planting Schedule .................................. 7
3.7 Inventory Report .................................... 8
3.8 Exiting From Seeds .................................. 9
4. Setup Program Options .................................... 9
4.1 Entering Frost Dates ................................ 9
4.2 Program Settings ................................... 10
4.3 Packing the Seeds Database ......................... 10
5. The Seed Data Entry Screen ............................... 10
5.1 Crop Name ......................................... 11
5.2 Variety Name ....................................... 11
5.3 Seed Source ....................................... 11
5.4 Number of Seeds ................................... 11
5.5 Reorder Amount ..................................... 11
5.6 Year Packed For ................................... 12
5.7 Planting Times ..................................... 12
5.8 Growing Hints ..................................... 13
5.9 Edit Notes ......................................... 13
5.10 Days to Germinate ................................. 14
5.11 Days to Maturity ................................. 14
5.12 Plant Spacing - In Row ........................... 15
5.13 Plant Spacing - After Thinning ................... 15
5.14 Plant Spacing - Between Rows ..................... 15
5.15 Plant Spacing - Intensive Spacing ................. 15
5.16 Planting Depth ................................... 16
6. Contacting the Author ................................... 17
7. Registering the Program ................................. 17
Appendix A: Seed Program Registration Form ................. 18
iii
1. Introduction
1.1 Program Description
The Seed Program is a database system for garden seeds. Use
it to help organize your seeds -- keep track of what seeds you
have purchased, where they are from, how old they are or what
seeds you need to buy. The program will print a planting
schedule for the seeds you have entered, so you know exactly when
and how to plant all of your seeds. The database includes
extensive information for a wide variety of vegetable and herb
seeds. Available information includes proper planting procedure,
care for the crop, organic methods of combating pests and
diseases, and the proper harvest and storage of the crop. The
Seed Program can also serve as a garden journal for you to enter
notes about your experiences with specific varieties of garden
crops. In addition to the planting schedule, a variety of
reports are available to allow you to access the information
supplied with the program or the information that you enter. In
general, reports can be displayed on the screen, sent to your
printer or sent to a file on disk. The Seed Program is designed
to be easy to use, for gardeners with any level of computer
experience. Context sensitive help is available throughout the
program.
1.2 Differences Between the Evaluation and Registered Versions
Registered users of The Seed Program receive an upgrade to
the latest version of the program that includes the full crop
information database. The evaluation version contains only a
subset of crop information. The registered version also features
the ability to modify the crop information database directly, so
that changes will be reflected in any new seed records that are
created. Entirely new crop records can also be created by users
of the registered version. The registered version of The Seed
Program does not display the registration screen that is shown
for several seconds as the user exits from the evaluation
version. When the registered version of the program is purchased
and installed, no information that has already been entered in
the evaluation version is overwritten. Any seed information that
has already been entered is preserved exactly as it is.
1.3 System Requirements
The Seed Program requires approximately 350K of available
memory and MS-DOS version 3.1 or higher to run. Because of the
large number of program, data and index files that the program
must have open to run properly, the program requires that the
"files" setting in the config.sys file be set to 32 or higher.
To check your "files" setting, use the following MS-DOS command:
type \config.sys
1
If your system does not have a config.sys file, you may
create one by entering the following commands:
copy con \config.sys
files=32
<Control-Z>
(Note: "<Control-Z>" is entered by holding down the <Ctrl>
key and pressing the letter "Z" then releasing both keys and
pressing <Return>.)
You may also use "Edit" or your favorite text editor to
create or modify your config.sys file.
1.4 Installing the Program
It is recommended that you place all files for The Seed
Program in a "C:\SEED" directory, or some other unique
subdirectory on your hard disk. Consult your MS-DOS manual for
instructions on creating subdirectories. Files in ".ZIP" or
other archive files should be extracted using the proper utility
program. Use the "cd" command to set your default directory to
"\seed" or wherever you installed the Seed Program files:
cd \seed
The program should then be run by typing "seed" to execute
the "seed.bat" file:
seed
2
2. Using The Seed Program
2.1 Fields and Records
In explaining the use of The Seed Program in this
documentation, two general database terms are widely used:
"fields" and "records". A field is a single piece of information
stored in a standard way. The planting depth of a seed,
represented as a number of inches, is a piece of information that
the program stores for every crop in the database. This value is
an example of a field. A record is made up of a collection of
fields. A seed information record contains a number of different
fields, including variety name, seed source, year purchased and
many more.
2.2 Crop Records and Seed Records
The Seed Program's database is divided into two types of
database records. Crop Information records contain general
information on a type of garden crop, such as beans or tomatoes.
The program comes with this information already in place for a
variety of different garden crops. Seed records contain
information on a particular seed variety that the user has
purchased and entered in the program. Seed varieties such as
"Brandywine Tomatoes" or "Dragon Lingerie Beans" are examples of
possible seed records. When first installed, the program
contains no seed records, since there is no way to know what
particular seed varieties the user has purchased. When you enter
a new seed packet into the program, most of the information from
the crop information database is copied from the crop information
database to the seed record. The "growing hints" (text
information relating to the crop) is not copied into the seed
record in order to conserve disk space, but all other information
is copied to the seed record and may be modified without changing
the original crop information record.
2.3 Setting the Frost Dates
One of the first things you should do when starting to use
The Seed Program is to set the correct last and first frost dates
for your particular area. See the section called "Entering Frost
Dates" below for detailed instructions. The program is shipped
with the proper frost dates for the author's home in South
Central Pennsylvania, but your region's dates will probably be
different.
2.4 Starting a New Year
The Seed Program will automatically check the system date
when the program is started, and will detect when the current
year is different from the years associated with the planting
dates in its database. When the year changes, the program will
3
prompt you for whether you want to update the seed planting dates
for the new calendar year. You may select "yes" to make the
changes or "no" to postpone the planting date update. It is
helpful to make sure that the MS-DOS system date is set
accurately.
4
3. Components of the Program
3.1 Menus and List Boxes
The Seed Program is menu oriented and designed to be easy to
use. The main menu is displayed when the program is first run.
Most of the major tasks that the program can perform are
displayed on this menu. Use the up and down cursor arrow keys to
select one of the commands from this menu. The selected command
is highlighted. A line of text at the bottom of the screen gives
a more detailed description of the function that is performed by
the selected command. Press the <Return> key to execute the
selected option. As a shortcut, you may also press the first
letter of a menu command to execute that command. Pressing the
<End> key on the PC keyboard (usually above the cursor arrow
keys) will take you immediately to the last command in the menu.
The "Setup Program" option on the main menu displays a sub-
menu with a set of program options. This menu works in the same
way. This sub-menu contains the option to select a color or
monochrome monitor and contains the option for setting your local
last frost and first frost dates. These dates are essential for
the program to be able to print a planting schedule that is
tailored to your particular climate, so this is one of the first
things that you will want to do when running The Seed Program.
Certain parts of the program require you to make a choice
from a list of options. When you enter a new seed record, for
example, you must choose from a list of available crop records
(or choose "unlisted," the last option.) The crop names are
presented in the form of a list box that behaves much the same as
a menu. Unlike a menu, the list box typically contains more
options that will fit on the screen at once. You can use the
arrow keys to highlight your choice, press the first letter of
the option you want, use the <PageUp> and <PageDown> keys to move
through the list a screen at a time, or use the <Home> and <End>
keys to move to the very top and the very bottom of the list.
When you have highlighted the option you want, just press the
<Return> key to select it.
3.2 Function Keys and Online Help
Certain commands are applicable throughout the entire
program, and are made accessible by use of the function keys.
The bottom line of the screen is reserved to show what function
keys are currently active and what function they perform. This
list of function keys will change depending on what screen or
menu is currently being displayed.
An example of a function key that may be used from any part
of the program is the help key, <F1>. The Seed Program features
5
context sensitive help. This means that when you press the help
key, you will be given information that relates to the particular
part of the program that you are currently running. If you are
in the process of printing a report listing all of the seeds in
your database, for example, pressing F1 will display information
concerning your options in this part of the program. Help will
explain the things that you are seeing on the screen at that
moment. This makes the program much easier to use, and makes
this detailed documentation unnecessary, in many cases.
3.3 Entering New Seed Records
The first option on the main menu is for creating new seed
records. When you select this option, a list of available crops
is displayed on the screen in a list box. Use the up or down
cursor arrow keys to highlight the type of seeds that you are
going to enter. Press the first letter of the crop name you
are looking for to move the highlight bar to the first crop name
starting with that letter. You may also press the <Home> key to
move to the first crop on the list, or the <End> key to select
the last entry in the list.
Press the <Esc> key to return to the main menu if you do not
wish to enter a new Seed record or if you have finished entering
new seeds. If the crop type that you are entering does not
appear on the list, press the <End> key to select "(not listed)"
-- the last item on the list.
Selecting the proper crop name from this list will
serve to copy the appropriate crop information into the Seed
record that you are creating. Information such as planting
times, seed planting depth, and spacing will be set to standard
values for the crop you are entering, but may be changed to other
values if you wish.
3.4 Modify Existing Seeds
Use the up or down cursor arrow keys to select the Seed
record that you wish to view or modify. You may also use <Page
Up>, <Page Down>, <Home> and <End> to move around in the list, or
press the first letter of the name of the crop you are looking
for.
Note that only existing Seed records that you have already
entered are displayed in this list. To enter a new Seed record,
use the "Enter New Seeds" option on the main menu.
Press the <Esc> key to return to the main menu when you are
finished.
3.5 View Growing Hints
6
This option of the program provides a short cut for viewing
the growing hints in the Seed Program's crop information
database. This is the information that is usually available when
you have entered a seed record for a particular crop. This
option from the main menu will allow you to view the growing
hints without actually entering a seed record for that crop.
Select the crop you wish to view from the list displayed on
the screen. Use the up and down cursor arrow keys to highlight
the name of the crop you want. You may also press the <Page Up>
and <Page Down> keys to move through the list more quickly, or
simply press the first letter of the name of the crop that you
are looking for. Press <Return> once you have selected the crop
you want. Press the <Esc> key to return to the main menu.
3.6 Planting Schedule
This main menu option will print your planting schedule.
Your schedule will list, week by week, the seed records that you
have indicated to have included.
This screen allows you to specify a number of options for
the planting schedule. The first option allows you to indicate
whether your planting schedule should include only plant names or
plant names with full planting information, such as the depth
the seeds should be planted and the proper spacing. Use the
right and left cursor arrow keys to select the type of schedule
that you wish to have printed or displayed, and press <Return>.
The second option allows you to indicate where the planting
schedule should be sent -- to the screen, the printer, or a file.
If you choose to have the schedule sent to the screen, the
schedule will be generated and displayed in a window similar to
the help windows that appear in the program when you press <F1>.
You will be able to use the <PageUp> and <PageDown> keys to
scroll up and down through it. Selecting the "Printer" option
will send the schedule to your PC's printer. The "File" option
will send the schedule to a DOS text file named SCHEDULE.RPT,
this will usually be located in your \SEED directory. The text
file can be loaded into your word processor or other software.
Use the right and left cursor arrow keys to select the
proper destination for your schedule.
Next you must indicate the starting and ending dates for the
schedule. If you only want to have a schedule for a single
month, or the planting season is part way over, you may use this
option to limit the schedule to a particular time of year. Be
sure to enter dates for the current year, or no information will
appear in the schedule. Enter the dates that you want to appear
on you planting schedule, or press <Return> to accept the default
7
dates that are displayed.
When you press <Return> after entering an end date, the
program will generate your planting schedule and send it to the
destination you have chosen (screen, printer or file). This may
take several seconds if you have entered many seed records in the
program.
The program has gone through all of the seed records that
you have entered. Wherever you have indicated that you want a
planting date to be printed on your schedule, the program has
calculated the appropriate date and sorted these "planting
events" by date for this schedule. A "planting event" could be
an indoor planting, an outdoor transplanting, or a direct outdoor
planting date in the spring or fall. Note that the only planting
events displayed are those that fall between the start and end
dates that you indicate when you generate the schedule.
If the schedule is blank, there are a number of possible
causes. Have you entered and saved any seed records in the
program? Select "Modify Existing Seeds" from the main menu to
check. Have you marked a "Y" in the "Appear on Schedule" field
of the seed entry screen? When you select a crop from the Seed
Program's database, the program will automatically place a "Y" in
this field for the recommended planting times. If you enter a
seed record that is not in The Seed Program's crop database, you
will need to enter the planting times and place a "Y" in the
"Appear on Schedule" field in order to have those crops show up
on your schedule. Finally check the start and end dates that
appear on the screen when you generate the report. If there are
no planting events that occur between these two dates, then the
planting schedule will not contain any information.
If you have chosen to send the schedule to the screen, a
window appears with the schedule data. Use the <Page Up> and
<Page Down> keys to show the different weeks and months that are
included in the schedule. Press the <F10> function key to
return to the main menu when you are done examining the
schedule. To print the schedule, select "Planting Schedule"
again from the main menu, and indicate that the schedule should
be sent to the printer rather than the screen.
3.7 Inventory Report
This main menu command will print an inventory listing of the
seed records that you have entered in the program. This report
will usually show the crop name, seed variety, seed source and
the year that the seed was bought or packaged for.
The first option allows you to specify which seed records
you wish to have included in the inventory list. The first
choice, "All Seeds" will include all of the seeds you have
8
entered, regardless of whether or not you have included a number
in the optional "Number of Seeds" field at the top right corner
of the seed data entry screen. The second choice "# Seeds > 0"
will cause the inventory report to include only the seed records
that have a number greater than zero in the "Number of Seeds"
field. The last option will direct the program to list seeds on
your inventory report only if the number of seeds entered is less
than the "Reorder Number" that also appears on the seed record
entry screen. Use the right and left arrow keys to highlight the
type of report that you want and press the <Return> key.
The second option allows you to indicate where you want to
have your inventory report sent. You may view the inventory list
on the screen, print it, or send it to a file named "invent.rpt"
in the "\seed" directory on your disk (or whatever directory you
have installed The Seed Program in).
If you choose to send the inventory report to the screen, a
window appears that allows you to view your seed inventory list.
This will either be the entire list of all the seeds in your
database, or some subset of the total database, depending on the
choices you make while generating the report. Use the <Page Up>
and <Page Down> keys to display the contents of the inventory
report, one screen at a time. Press the <F10> function key to
return to the main menu when you are through examining the
report. To print the report, choose "Inventory Report" again
from the main menu and select the option to send the report to
the printer instead of the screen.
3.8 Exiting From Seeds
The last option on the main menu will allow you to exit from
the program and return to MS-DOS. In the evaluation version of
the program, a reminder to register is displayed for
approximately four seconds and you are offered an opportunity to
print the registration form. The author apologizes for this bit
of nagging, but this software is made possible solely through the
support of registered users and it is necessary to remind users
of the evaluation version of the importance of registering the
software.
4. Setup Program Options
The options on this sub-menu allow you to change various
program settings that affect the behavior of the program.
4.1 Entering Frost Dates
The frost dates are probably the most important program
setting. This screen allows you to tell the program the length
and timing of your growing season. The last and first frost
dates for your particular area will be used for the calculation
9
of all planting dates for the seeds that you enter into the
program. This, in turn, determines where in your planting
schedule all of your seeds will appear.
For the last spring frost enter the average date of the
last time in the spring that you have an overnight frost. The
best date to use for your particular geographic location would be
one that you have determined yourself based on a few years of
keeping track of frosts. If you have not made note of this
information, or are new to your area, ask nearby gardeners or
consult garden books or gardening articles in a local paper. In
the United States, you may contact your local County Extension
Office for this information.
For the first frost date, enter the date of the average
first fall frost for your location. This will be the time of
year that you most often see the first damage to tender crops
such as tomatoes and peppers. This date is used mostly in the
calculation of fall planting dates.
4.2 Program Settings
This option on the setup menu allows you to change two
program settings that affect the appearance of screens and menus.
The first option allows you to indicate whether you have a color
or monochrome (single color) monitor on your computer. The
program is set to display screens and menus in color by default.
The second option allows menu help messages to be set on or
off. These messages appear at the bottom of each menu that the
program displays, and reminds you which keys can be used to
select an option from a menu. When you first install the
program, the help messages are set "on." Once you become
familiar with the program and the keys that are used to navigate
the menus, you may turn these messages off here.
4.3 Packing the Seeds Database
This is a database maintenance option that allows you to
recover disk space from deleted seed records in your seeds
database. The pack option should only be run occasionally, after
a number of seed records have been deleted. It is entirely
optional, and will not change the information that is displayed
by the program.
5. The Seed Data Entry Screen
The seed data entry screen is displayed when you choose the
main menu options to create a new seed record or to modify an
existing record. Use the up and down cursor arrow keys or the
<Return> key to move from one field on this screen to another.
Press the <F10> function key to save any changes you have made
10
and return to the previous menu. The last line on the screen
indicates the other function keys that may be used at this point.
5.1 Crop Name
The first field on the screen is the crop name field. If
you have created the seed record by selecting the name of a crop
from the program's crop database, the name of that crop will
appear in this field. You may change the name that appears in
this field by typing a new crop name in, but if the name you
enter does not appear in the program's crop database, there will
be no growing hints to view for this seed record. If you have
chosen an unlisted crop, you simply type the name of the crop in
this field.
5.2 Variety Name
Enter the name of a particular variety of seeds in this
field. For example, "Red Sails" is a variety of Lettuce. This
field may be left blank if the variety is unknown or if the seeds
are not for a named variety. The variety name is capitalized
after entry.
5.3 Seed Source
Enter the name of the source that you obtained the seeds
from. This may be the company that packaged the seeds, the mail
order company that the seeds were ordered from, or just the name
of the person who gave you the seeds. The name is capitalized
after entry.
5.4 Number of Seeds
This is an optional field in which you may enter the number
of seeds you have, or the number of packets you have for this
variety. If you do not want to bother even making a rough
estimate of the number of seeds that you have, just leave this
field empty.
This number can be used along with the reorder amount (the
following field) to obtain a list of the seeds that you need to
buy or reorder. This option of the inventory report will list
all of the seed varieties for which the number in the "Seeds:"
field is less than the number in the "Reorder:" field.
5.5 Reorder Amount
This optional field contains the "reorder amount." An
option of the seed inventory report will allow you to produce a
list of seed varieties for which the reorder amount is higher
than the seed count. This field may be left blank.
11
5.6 Year Packed For
Enter the year that the seeds were packed for. This
information will help you keep track of the age of your seeds, so
you will know which seeds should be used up soon, and which seeds
should probably be replaced, because they are too old. The year
entered in this field will usually be the current year, so the
program will automatically place the current system year in this
field. If you need to enter a different year, simply type the
new year over the current year and it will be replaced.
5.7 Planting Times
The fields in this section of the screen are used to record
the planting times for the seed you are entering. The four rows
represent four types of seed planting that are most often used
for various crops: Spring Inside (used for seeds that are
started indoors and later transplanted), Transplant (for the date
that plants are transplanted out in the garden after having been
started indoors), Spring Outside (for seeds that are planted
directly outside), and Fall Outside (for seeds that are planted
in the fall or late summer rather than the spring or late
winter). The first three of these planting times are associated
with the last frost date in the spring. The Fall Outside
planting line is associated with the first frost date that occurs
in the fall.
Each of these four planting times have three fields of
database information that are associated with it. The "B/A
Frost" field indicates whether the seed should be planted before
or after the frost date. The "Weeks B/A Frost" field stores the
number of weeks before or after the frost date that the seed
should be planted. When you enter information in these two
fields, the program uses this information, along with the frost
dates you have entered through the "Setup Program" option, to
calculate the correct planting date. This date is always a
Sunday, since the planting schedule is organized on a weekly
basis. Planting dates are always approximate, and will change
slightly from year to year depending on the weather, so the
planting week provides the correct level of detail. The third
field "Appear on Schedule" indicates whether the current seed
variety should actually be printed on the schedule for the date
displayed.
For most crops, all four lines are not used. An example may
be helpful: tomatoes are typically started indoors and later
transplanted into the garden. For tomatoes, the first two
planting date lines would be used: "Spring Inside" and
"Transplant." Tomatoes, needing a long growing season, cannot be
planted directly outdoors in most climates, and definitely cannot
be grown as a fall crop, so the third and fourth lines would be
left blank. Carrots are not started indoors and transplanted
12
because of their long tap root, so the first two lines would be
left blank. Carrots can be plated as either a spring or fall
crop, so the third and fourth lines could both be used for
carrots.
When you create a new seed record and select a crop name
from the list, recommended planting times and dates from the crop
database are automatically provided. This information can be
changed as you enter the seed record, and the registered version
of the program allows the crop information database itself to be
modified. The planting times provided with the program are
intended only as general advice, since gardeners often have
strong individual preferences. Some gardeners start growing
their tomatoes just a few weeks before planting so that young,
actively growing plants can be placed out in the garden. Other
gardeners start tomatoes during the winter and transplant them
several times indoors in order to have large, robust plants to
transplant into the garden when the weather warms. Such
gardeners will want to customize The Seed Program by modifying
the planting dates. The suggested planting dates that come with
the program will be most useful to beginning gardeners, or to
gardeners trying out new crops.
5.8 Growing Hints
The growing hints are advice for planting, growing and
harvesting a crop. The hints take the form of text, stored in
the crop information database and are displayed in a window
similar the windows used for on-line help.
Enter a "Y" in the "View Growing Hints" field in order to
view the growing hints for the current crop. If the crop you
have entered does not match any crop the program's crop database,
there will be no growing hints to view. This may be the case if
you did not select a crop when first entering these seeds, or if
you changed the name of the crop after selecting it. You may
also view the growing hints by pressing the <F5> function key
from the Seed information screen.
Use the <Page Down> key to display successive screens of
text, and the <Page Up> key to go back to view previous screens.
The up and down cursor arrow keys will move the text display one
line at a time. Press the <F10> function key to return to the
seed information screen.
5.9 Edit Notes
Enter a "Y" in the "Edit Notes" field to view or make
changes to your notes for this particular seed record. You may
also edit your notes by pressing the <F6> function key from the
seed information screen.
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Use this screen to record any information about this
particular packet of seeds. Use your notes to keep track of when
you planted the seeds, how good the germination rate was, how the
crop performed, when you harvested the crop or how well you liked
its flavor. Any information you wish to remember in connection
with these seeds may be entered here.
From the notes screen you may use the up and down arrow keys
to move the cursor up and down a line at a time, or the right and
left arrow keys to move right and left a single character at a
time. Holding down the control key while you press the right or
left arrow keys will move the cursor a word at a time. A number
of other text editing commands are available. These are
summarized in the following table::
Home Move to the beginning of the current line
End Move to the end of the current line
Return Move to the beginning of the next line
Control-Home Move to the first line of the current screen
Control-End Move to the last line of the current screen
PageUp Move to the previous screen
PageDown Move to the following screen
Control-PageUp Move to the beginning of your notes
Control-PageDn Move to the end of your notes
Tab Insert a tab
Delete Delete the character the cursor is positioned on
Backspace Delete the character to the left of the cursor
Control-Y Delete the current line
Control-T Delete the word to the right of the cursor
Control-B Reformat the current paragraph
Insert Toggle between insert and overwrite modes
F10 Save changes and exit
Escape Discard changes and exit
Note that pressing the <Esc> key will exit from the notes
screen and throw away any changes you have made since entering
the edit notes screen! Press <F10> to exit from the edit screen
and save your changes.
5.10 Days to Germinate
This field holds the average number of days it takes this
type of seed to germinate -- to start growing and appear above
the surface of the soil.
5.11 Days to Maturity
This field stores the number of days to maturity for a seed
variety. The days to maturity is usually indicated in seed
catalogs or on seed packets. In most cases, this will be the
number of days between the time that the seed is planted in the
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soil and the time when the plant or its fruits reach harvestable
size. This information is useful in planning planting times and,
in areas with a short growing season, is useful in deciding
whether some crops are appropriate for your area.
For certain crops that are almost always planted indoors for
later transplanting, such as tomatoes and peppers, the "days to
maturity" number that is recorded is the number of days from the
time the transplant is planted in the garden until the time of
the first harvest. Most seed catalogs follow this convention.
5.12 Plant Spacing - In Row
This field shows the distance apart (in inches) that seeds
should be planted when they are being planted in traditional
rows. In many cases, this distance will be closer than the final
separation distance of the full grown plants, and the plants will
need to be thinned after they have begun to grow.
5.13 Plant Spacing - After Thinning
This is the distance that should separate full grown plants
grown in traditional rows. This spacing will give the plants
sufficient room to grow when they have reached full size. Many
crops are traditionally planted closer together when the seed is
first placed in the soil, and later "thinned" to the proper
distance by some plants being pulled out and discarded. This
procedure of planting seeds close together and later thinning
prevents gaps from appearing if some seeds fail to germinate.
5.14 Plant Spacing - Between Rows
The distance (in inches) that should separate rows of a
crop, when it is being grown in traditional rows (as opposed to
"wide beds"). This distance should be sufficient to accommodate
the size of the fully grown plants. In some cases, you may want
to adjust this distance to take into account the width of a
rototiller or other method of cultivation.
5.15 Plant Spacing - Intensive Spacing
These two fields ("Plants / Sq. Feet") are used to show the
proper plant spacing when using "intensive" or "wide bed" growing
techniques, rather than the traditional single rows. This style
of gardening is also sometimes called "square foot gardening."
The idea of this gardening method is that traditional single
rows are designed more for commercial agriculture than for the
home gardener. Traditional single rows and spacing may leave
room for tractors and other mechanical equipment. The gardener
who will be cultivating with nothing more cumbersome than a hoe
can successfully plant crops much closer together. This leads to
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a more efficient use of space (more produce from the same sized
bed), less weeding and less watering.
Usually, this spacing is expressed in a certain number of
plants per square foot. In such a case, the first field shows
the number of plants that can be grown in a single square foot.
Some bulky crops, such as some squash, will require more than a
single square foot, in which case a "1" is entered in the first
field and the second field is used to indicate the number of
square feet that are needed for a single plant.
5.16 Planting Depth
This field shows the proper planting depth for seeds in
inches. This should be considered an average planting depth.
Gardeners may wish to plant seeds deeper in warm, dry weather to
conserve moisture.
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6. Contacting the Author
You may contact the author of The Seed Program via e-mail at
the following internet address: "wolter@dickinson.edu"
You may also contact the author by writing to the following
address:
Michael Wolter
4271 Carlisle Rd.
Gardners, PA 17324
We encourage you to contact us with any questions, comments
or suggestions that you might have.
7. Registering the Program
Registered users receive an upgrade to the latest version of
the program. The registered version includes additional crop
information records and the ability to make changes to the crop
database, in addition to the ability to maintain the seed
database in the evaluation version. No seed information that has
already been entered in the evaluation version will be
overwritten when installing the upgrade to the registered
version. Register today, by mailing in the form on the following
page.
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Appendix A: Seed Program Registration Form
-------------------------------------------
Date: _____________ Ref No: SP-110-3200
Name: ___________________________________________
Address: ___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Phone: ___________________________________________
Disk Size: [ ] 5.25" [ ] 3.5" DD [ ] 3.5" HD
Payment by: [ ] Check [ ] Money Order
Where did you learn about the Seed Program?
_____________________________________________________
What type of PC do you use? _________________________
Do you use Microsoft Windows? [ ] Yes [ ] No
Do you have any comments or suggestions concerning The Seed
Program?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Registration Fee $25.00
Shipping & Handling $ 3.00
-----------------------------
Total $28.00
(Canada and Mexico add $2.00, other countries add $4.00)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Mail this form with your payment to the author:
Michael Wolter
4271 Carlisle Rd.
Gardners, PA 17324-8930
USA
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