gardening toolkit
Simple, appropriate technologies for great garden outcomes
Meeting your environmental goals is easier when you track your progress and use what you learn to improve your practices--and results--over time. The basic cycle of "adaptive co-management" (pardon the jargon) is goal setting, action, monitoring, reflection, and adaptation. This toolkit comes in two parts:
- Part 1: event guides for Doing It Together
- Part 2: how-to guides for tracking environmental resources
Part 1: event guides (6)
Start Here event
Start here to collaboratively create a picture of your place. event guide
Goal setting event
Choose which of your goals you want to measure progress towards. event guide
Choosing how to track your progress event
Chooses how to do the measuring, then design the measuring methodology as an activity (or activities) for many people in the garden to participate in. event guide
Scheduling the season event
Schedule daily and occasional events so that people know exactly how to participate. Depending on your goals and methods, these events may include:
- "Every day in the garden" practices
- Field Day: pole aerial mapping (pre-season & height-of-season)
- Field Day: pole aerial infrared mapping over experimental bed (1, 2 & 3)
- End-of-season reflection day
- Planning for next season day
End-of-season reflection event
Planning for next season event
Part 2: how-to guides (3)
1. Pole aerial mapping guide
Change your perspective! Map your garden plot to plan the season and track changes through the years.
2. Infrared imagery guide
See plants photosynthesizing. Experiment with cultivation methods and see which types of plants thrive.
3. Program tracking guide
Growing tons of food? Diverting compost from the waste stream? Coordinating work among lots of volunteers? If you're tackling these or other programs in your garden, barn.farmingconcrete.org has simple methods that you can use.