Spring has sprung and gardening is in full force for me and many others. I noticed on Facebook recently that a lot more people than usual were setting up raised beds. I have a raised bed garden that I started 3 years ago. I’ve had the typical summer vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and green peppers in pots for years, so the raised beds have allowed me to explore other plants and techniques for keeping pests away.
There are a lot of deer around where I live and I’ve looked at different ways to deter them. One of the most successful ones from what I can tell has been planting strong smelling herbs around my vegetable plants. I have mint, oregano, dill, and basil in there right now. Last year I was able to successfully grow spaghetti squash and edamame—corn not so much. This year’s focus is more on protecting the plants that I know have been successful. Dill and basil are good paired with cucumbers and tomatoes to keep the nasty worms and other pests away.
A garden provides a constant opportunity for learning. There is a sense of gratification after it rains and the plants have grown inches in one night, but on the other hand, it is hard when a plant doesn’t thrive for whatever reason. One of the biggest challenges for me is the ability to identify the difference between new sprouts and weeds. Thankfully, there is an app for that called Picture This. I use the free version and click through the various prompts to get to the camera setting right now, but I think this is one of those apps that is actually useful enough to purchase the pro version.
Picture This allows you to take a picture of a plant and it will identify it. Sometimes it may only provide a generic term for a family of plants, but it’s enough to differentiate between weeds and plants I want to keep. This app is helpful to anyone, but it is particular useful for people who are visually impaired, because the risk of accidentally pulling a perfectly good plant is much greater. This is another example of how mainstream technologies can be used to benefit people with disabilities by enabling them to have more control over their environment. Picture This is the only plant identifier app that I have personal experience with, but based on a google search, there are a number of others that are better or worse, depending on what kind of phone you have.
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