1. SOW: A PLANTING CALENDAR
ABSTRACT:
The SOW application (app) was developed as a garden-planning calendar that gardeners could have at their fingertips. The concept was born from one of the most popular
publications given out at our horticulture programs: The Alabama Vegetable Gardener. The app, available on both iOS and Android, was launched in March 2014 and is
designed to tell a gardener the optimum time to plant each crop. Upon downloading the app, users are asked to select their county from a menu, thus customizing the app
for each individual user as Alabama has 4 distinct growing climates. Once your region is set, the app tells you every vegetable you could plant on the current date. In
addition to planting time, SOW also provides fertilization recommendations, recommended varieties, and other special considerations for each crop. SOW was downloaded
2,750 times in 2014; 500 of those downloads coming from Europe. Additionally, 40 states have requested that their region be included in future versions. While it is currently
only available in Alabama, plans are in place to make it available to the entire Southeast by 2016.
CONCLUSIONS AND UPDATES:
Based on downloads in the first year (Table 1.), SOW is a successful app. There
were 2.750 downloads with no promotion of the app. With 40 other states
requesting SOW be available for their region (top 4 state requests shown in Table
2.), and over 500 downloads in other countries, the most coming from the United
Kingdom (Table 3.) we can ascertain the app has wide-reaching appeal. New
updates for the app are expected by the end of March 2015 which will allow the
user to select a planting date in the future, as well as ask a question directly to a
local Extension Agent.
RESULTS
Huckabay, E.1; Miles, J.D.2; and Weldon, T.3
1REGIONAL EXTENSION AGENT I, HOME GROUNDS, GARDENS AND HOME PESTS, ALABAMA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SYSTEM, MOBILE, AL 36608
2Regional Extension Agent III, Commercial Horticulture, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Mobile, AL, 36608
3 Outreach Coordinator, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Auburn University, AL, 36849
DESIGN AND FUNCTIONALITY
Picture
1.
Screenshot
of
SOW
app
homescreen
Picture
2.
Screenshot
of
SOW
app
design
showing
some
of
the
vegetables
that
could
be
planted
on
the
day
the
app
was
used.
Picture
3.
Screenshot
of
cultural
recommenda?ons
for
a
selected
vegetable
crop.
Table
1.
Number
of
?mes
SOW
was
downloaded
by
month
for
the
year
2014.
The
app
was
launched
in
March
2014.
Table
2.
Forty
states
have
requested
a
version
of
SOW
for
their
regions.
California,
Florida,
Texas,
and
Pennsylvania
were
the
four
states
that
had
the
most
requests.
Table
3.
There
have
been
over
500
downloads
from
users
in
other
countries
with
the
United
Kingdom,
Australia,
South
Africa,
and
India
having
the
most
requests
for
versions
that
could
be
used
there.