17 Comments
User's avatar
Mika's avatar

It’s an exciting time of year! How awesome that you were able to use ChatGPT to build the spreadsheet of your dreams. ☺️

Expand full comment
Hannah Swierstra's avatar

It's very handy sometimes!

Expand full comment
Sophie S.'s avatar

That must've felt so good to get it all done. The spreadsheet looks cool, I have something similar in notion but never actually used it 🤷‍♀️ the fluffy caterpillars look cool, very nice of you to let them have some kale and lavender 🪻

Expand full comment
Hannah Swierstra's avatar

The caterpillars are so cool! I’m now spotting others in the garden and around - they’re pretty hardy wee things.

Expand full comment
Tanya Ralph's avatar

What a lovely essay , beautiful to read. I love your spreadsheet and thank you for letting the caterpillars 🐛 eat your kale!

Expand full comment
Hannah Swierstra's avatar

Thank you Tanya - the spreadsheet has made life so much easier & how could you turf out those beautiful furry caterpillars?

Expand full comment
Bronwen Leigh's avatar

One day I will get back to growing some of my own veggies - following your progress is encouraging me - but for now I’m at capacity. Of course if I win the Omaze Cotswolds house which has a greenhouse - I’ll be definitely growing my own :)

Expand full comment
Hannah Swierstra's avatar

I’d never entered a maze draw until last month with the Scottish house and I thought … you know what, that’d be alright! Good luck 😉

Expand full comment
Bronwen Leigh's avatar

It was amazing that house. Such stunning scenery and all that land too. I’ve not seen many of their houses I wouldn’t want to win. I mean even if you just have it a while and sell it 🤷🏼‍♀️

Expand full comment
Hannah Swierstra's avatar

That's true, they are all pretty stunning.

Expand full comment
Linda Slow Growing in Scotland's avatar

I have a garden journal where I record my progress, lack of progress, what worked and what didn't. Am very against inviting AI further into my life than it is already, so if I do a planting spreadsheet I do it ineptly by hand. It is inept, but I find if I visualise it first I can get it in the structure I want. Or this year - D T Brown has a great planning/growing record that you can fill out in the middle of its paper catalogue.

Expand full comment
Hannah Swierstra's avatar

I do also ineptly scribble things down, although it’s often across several notebooks & pieces of paper! Recording it here is also quite helpful. The spreadsheet has been really helpful for me, it’s probably not something I’d have done without AI but it’s not for everyone. I’ll check out the D T Brown catalogue, thank you.

Expand full comment
Lesley's avatar

It’s all looking like you’ve made great progress. Loving the spreadsheet idea for seed propagation! I repeat my errors every year (sowing too early or too late) and despite all my lists, learn nothing.

Expand full comment
Hannah Swierstra's avatar

It’s good to keep a record of the lessons we didn’t learn!! Sowing late is usually my biggest error & then I never seem to be able to manage succession planting and find that however far apart I sow my radishes they’re still all ready at the same time … well unless I leave them 2 months apart!!

Expand full comment
Lesley's avatar

My other gardening vice is growing things too close together. Born of cramming as much into the polycrub pots as possible, now that I’m starting to plant up the extra beds my brain doesn’t seem to register the concept of more space..

Expand full comment
Hannah Swierstra's avatar

Same, it’s all about cramming in as much as possible!

Expand full comment
Lesley's avatar

Same on the radish front 😫

Expand full comment