A LITTLE EXPERT HELP IN THE GARDEN
A Review of Expert Vegetable Gardening
by Lee Seats
It is always nice to have a little "expert assistance" and I have found Expert Vegetable gardening to be both helpful and affordable. I usually expect software in this price range to be of marginal quality and usefulness, but Expert Software has produced a high quality, very usable product at a true value price.
There are many features form charting of harvest times to a list of
recipes
for your garden products, but the core of it all is the plant and
pest
databases. There are more than 100 plants (many with 2 or three
varieties)
organized in an easy to use and versatile database. The pest database
lists over
75 of the most common garden enemies. Both databases are rich in
information
on each entry. The plant database effectively uses a cardfile
metaphor. Each
entry has a card for each of the following: Basic Information, Soil
Facts,
Growing, Varieties and Nutrition. Both the plant and pest databases
have a
full color picture for each entry. I was pleasantly surprised to
discover that
both databases are expandable. You can make your own entries and
even import
pictures for the entries. I had some fun with this feature. I made
an entry
under pests for the family cat complete with picture and comical
comments under
the varies fields. My wife had a good laugh when she later
accidentally ran
across this new "pest".
What I think really sets this program apart from many "how to" titles
is the
smooth integration of the features. If you want to identify a pest
you have the
choice of searching the entire list or only those that are likely to
infest the
plants that you have chosen for your garden. If you choose a
vegetable from you
garden and open the recipe book you can select to see only recipes
that use
that item. There is a glossary that can be accessed directly, but
there are
also hypertext links to it in the database text. The only area that I
think they
missed a good place for integration is the planner. As implemented
the garden
planner is a simple calender that allows you to attach notes to each
date. I
would like to see something of a template created from your selected
garden
with indications of the date ranges for planting and harvesting.
You'll not find yourself spending more time figuring out the program
than using
it. The manual is small, but very well written. The help system
features
pictures of the program screens that allow you to point to a button
or text
area and get help on that item. If you should need technical
assistance it is
free except for toll charges. I called the technical support number
(not that I
needed help, just to check on them), and had no trouble getting
through. I was
on hold for about one minute and spoke with a very nice tech. He
didn't even
get mad at me for wasting his time!
The software itself seems to be as bug free as I wish my garden was. I have a knack for locating glitches in programs, but try as I might I found none. It is good to see software that not only has useful features but runs smoothly and doesn't waste your time by making you work around the rough edges.
Expert Vegetable Gardening is one of those programs that grows on
you. (Bad
pun intended!) I found the more I use it the more I like it. I'm not
normally
the type to a lot of planning, but I have the spring garden already
planned
before the fall harvest is over. My wife tends to do all of her
planning on
paper, but she has been looking over my shoulder with what I
recognize as the
"when can I use the program" look. I think with a little help from
the
"Expert" our garden planning will be an enjoyable family activity.
Multimedia Cafe Scorecard
| Product: |
Expert Vegetable Gardening |
| Company: |
Expert Software
|
| Cost: |
$14.95 |
System Requirements:
Microsoft Windows 3.1 (in enhanced mode), 4 MB RAM,
mouse, 4 MB available hard drive space and
a VGA or higher graphics display.
A printer installed under Windows is optional.
Breakdown:
Educational Value 4
Concept 5
Depth 5
Interface 5
Overall Score:
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