Cyber Gardening Part II

One of the keys to a successful garden is being organized. You should know what you're growing, where it's been planted, when it should bloom and, in my case, where it's located so you can put on scuba gear and swim down and see it.

If you're a bit of a techno-nerd and you're wondering how you can cyber-up your garden, I've found a solution. If you've got an iPhone or an iTouch you can download the "MyGarden" application for $1.99. It allows users to keep track of everything they've planted in their garden. You can track your plants' light requirements, watering needs, bloom time, planting date, soil requirements and more.

I've become an iPhone application freak lately. I only have a few, but I love browsing through the iTunes application store. Instead of MyGarden, I think I'd get more use from DivePlanner. It's $2.99 and substitues for your dive computer. Once I dive down to the bottom of my back yard, I can start looking for my yellow waterlogged plants.

Cyber Gardening for Kids

While we wait for our seeds to come in, we’re talking to the boys a lot about how plants grow. Our 4 1/2-year-old has been able to explain photosynthesis since he was about 3 years old thanks to his fascination with why some of the leaves fall off the trees in the winter. Granted it’s a child’s explanation, but he gets how it works. It goes something like this “photosynthesis is when the sun gives plants energy and makes green leaves grow and gives us air to breathe. And air is good.” If he sees someone cutting down a tree he gets sad and clutches his chest and claims it’s now harder for him to breathe. Gotta love a kid's flair for the dramatic.

He’s been playing some online computer games about creating gardens too, so he’s starting to understand the whole seed, roots, plant, sun, rain connection. Every time it rains he comments on how it will make our garden grow. This makes me realize that since nothing has been planted yet, it’s just making weeds grow. Here are some great websites with free gardening games that are appropriate for preschoolers:

Disney - Rabbit’s Garden Patch

PBS - Caillou (once you’re in the house, go outside to the garden)

Noggin – Dora’s Magic Garden

Disney – Goofy’s Garden

BBC's Gordon the Garden Gnome

And I would be remiss if I didn't include at least something for the adult cyber-gardening nerd, if there is such a thing. Here is BBC's Virtual Garden creator, available for PC and Mac.