The Gardener's Computer Companion

Rating:
Summary: The only book on using a computer in gardening.
Review: A former boss once said, "Computers can never be used for gardening, they are just too black and white." True, a garden is often all the colors between black and white. However, a computer can still be very useful for many of our gardening activities. The book is a compilation of the ways in which you can use a computer in planning and tracking the myriad of things we like to do in the garden.

While professional landscapers already use computers on an advanced level, the approach in the book is more basic, to fit the needs of the gardening enthusiast. Some of the chapters are derived from presentations given to the landscape industry, talks delivered at gardening conferences, computer activities in the horticulture courses that I teach and countless messages on various online forums, with appropriate pruning and weeding to fit in a comfortable book.

The companion CD-ROM contains a variety of software that you can use for gardening activities. Some of the programs, such as personal information managers (PIMs), are not specifically gardening software. Yet you will see in the book how many gardeners use such generic software to perform a wide range of activities in their gardening.

Brief Contents

Chapter 1 - What? A Computer in the Garden?

Chapter 2 - Software: The Computer's Recipe

Chapter 3 - Hardware: The Computer Toolshed

Chapter 4 - Gardening by Wire

Chapter 5 - Gardening Around the World

Chapter 6 - Growing Your Gardening Knowledge

Chapter 7 - The Garden Information Manager

Chapter 8 - Gardening References

Chapter 9 - Plan(t) a Computer Garden

Chapter 10 - Creating Your Electronic Garden

Chapter 11 - Garden Design Toolkits

Chapter 12 - Your Computer in the Garden

Chapter 13 - What's the Weather Like?

Chapter 14 - Automating Your Garden

Chapter 15 - Publishing on the World Wide Web

Chapter 16 - Growing Your Own Software

Appendix A - White Pages Directory

Appendix B - Gardener's Internet Yellow Pages

Rating:
Summary: A basic computer primer light on the garden.
Review: A third of this book is devoted to basic computer concepts that can be learned elsewhere(and better). The garden part is a collection of freeware, shareware, and sample programs many DOS based. Not worth the money

Rating:
Summary: An accompanying CD-ROM includes more than 60 programs
Review: Bob Boufford's The Gardener's Computer Companion combines gardening and home computing to offer the reader everything necessary to convert their personal computer into a powerful gardening resource. From designing and planning a garden, to automating a watering system, to finding gardening products and information on the World Wide Web. The Gardener's Computer Companion's informative text is superbly enhanced with an accompanying CD-ROM that includes more than 60 programs, such as software for Landscape design, planning and garden simulating; reference databases of plants, herbs, flowers, and chemicals; garden-related games and stories; garden calculators and cataloging programs; planners, journals, organizers and useful computer utilities. If you have a garden and a computer, then you need The Gardener's Computer Companion.

Rating:
Summary: Better than a Felko
Review: My wife gave me a copy of this book for the holidays. I've never seen anything like it and I love it. Kudos to author Bob Boufford. Beautifully designed and very well written but the CD is to die for. I spent most of yesterday evening and today playing with the software on the CD (too cold to go outside <grin>) and the wife is ready to kill me. Love the wind chimes!

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable read but very simplistic.
Review: The author glosses over the computer use of applications which he recommends. A book written for this level of computer user should be written cook book style: First, perform this step; then perform this step; then . . . .

PLease note that this rating applies to the book, only. I purchased it used from Discount Books and would give that vendor five stars for their service.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable read but very simplistic.
Review: This book is an in-depth exploration of the vast possibilities available to the person who wants the ultimate garden gadget: the home computer. But it doesn't actually let you DO anything. It tells you the difference between hardware and software, how to buy a computer, what the parts of a computer are (ie, keyboard, mouse, modem), what an operating system is, what a spreadsheet is, the questions to ask when looking for software, and a lot of other stuff. It introduces the www on page 86. The included CD-ROM contains 60 shareware and freeware programs that do not allow you to print or save whatever you may design, and in some cases only allow you to explore the possibilities of design on a set imaginary property, not your own. You can get a decent feel for a broad range of software options without buying 60 different programs, but if you are already reading this and have heard of Google, it is a waste of [$$$] (cover price) and 95 cubic inches of paper. A great gift for the recently retired gardner with some money and land and no idea how to use a computer.

Rating:
Summary: If you have never touched a computer before...
Review: This book is an in-depth exploration of the vast possibilities available to the person who wants the ultimate garden gadget: the home computer. But it doesn't actually let you DO anything. It tells you the difference between hardware and software, how to buy a computer, what the parts of a computer are (ie, keyboard, mouse, modem), what an operating system is, what a spreadsheet is, the questions to ask when looking for software, and a lot of other stuff. It introduces the www on page 86. The included CD-ROM contains 60 shareware and freeware programs that do not allow you to print or save whatever you may design, and in some cases only allow you to explore the possibilities of design on a set imaginary property, not your own. You can get a decent feel for a broad range of software options without buying 60 different programs, but if you are already reading this and have heard of Google, it is a waste of [$$$] (cover price) and 95 cubic inches of paper. A great gift for the recently retired gardner with some money and land and no idea how to use a computer.

Rating:
Summary: This book is for novices!!!
Review: This book was a big disappointment really had very little what i was looking for. Programs didn't work right. Loaded Gcc-pdf on the computer and that went fine but it ask for a password that was no where in the book to be found so it will not open. The book is written like it is for people that have never run a computer or been on the internet.

Rating:
Summary: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
Review: Whether you are a computer professional or computer neophyte, if you want to learn how a computer can help you become a better gardener, The Gardener's Computer Companion is the book for you. Author Bob Boufford's use of gardening analogies to explain technical topics, such as how computers work, are clever and enjoyable. While the knowledgeable computer user may be bored by some of the chapters, he/she will find the index of gardening Internet sites, as well as the discussion on Internet providers and services useful.

Unfortunately, this book may naively lead the computer neophyte into believing that designing your garden on the computer is child's play and a computer will solve all of your gardening problems. While a computer is a wonderful tool and the Internet is a fabulous source of information, life isn't so simple. Many computer aided software packages are difficult to learn and, no software or Internet site can replace the knowledge one acquires from years of hands on gardening. He also neglects to point out the tremendous number of hours it sometimes takes to resolve computer glitches, not to mention the headaches involved with sophisticated projects like monitoring your garden with a video camera. Remember the old axiom, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

Nevertheless, this book is enjoyable and informative. It provides practical advice regarding how the average person can become a better gardener with help from their computer. It also provides a glimpse of what is possible, although perhaps not practical.

Rating:
Summary: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
Review: Whether you are a computer professional or computer neophyte, if you want to learn how a computer can help you become a better gardener, The Gardener's Computer Companion is the book for you. Author Bob Boufford's use of gardening analogies to explain technical topics, such as how computers work, are clever and enjoyable. While the knowledgeable computer user may be bored by some of the chapters, he/she will find the index of gardening Internet sites, as well as the discussion on Internet providers and services useful.

Unfortunately, this book may naively lead the computer neophyte into believing that designing your garden on the computer is child's play and a computer will solve all of your gardening problems. While a computer is a wonderful tool and the Internet is a fabulous source of information, life isn't so simple. Many computer aided software packages are difficult to learn and, no software or Internet site can replace the knowledge one acquires from years of hands on gardening. He also neglects to point out the tremendous number of hours it sometimes takes to resolve computer glitches, not to mention the headaches involved with sophisticated projects like monitoring your garden with a video camera. Remember the old axiom, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

Nevertheless, this book is enjoyable and informative. It provides practical advice regarding how the average person can become a better gardener with help from their computer. It also provides a glimpse of what is possible, although perhaps not practical.