| Vol. I,
No. 1 |
Oct.
20th, 2000 |
Links to Farm & Garden On-Line
The amount of info on the web is enormous, as
anyone who's ever tried to run a search can attest to. And, to put it all
in context, best estimates say that only a fraction, maybe 20 - 40 % of what's
out there is actually making its way to the search engines.
Well ...
Here at DownStreet, we'd like to try to help. So
each issue, we post a few links in Farm & Garden to sites that might
interest you. Sometimes the links will be related to one another
... sometimes we'll just offer up a somewhat random sampling. In
either case, we think we might be able to help you find the kind of site you've
been looking for.
Of course, while we can't vouch for the fact that every link
we provide will be of interest to everyone, we do our best to filter out the
noise and the bustle. ...
We hope you enjoy the following sites as much as we do.
Dairy Herd Mgt. On-Line, Nat'l Gardening &
GardenWeb
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Dairy
Herd Management
It's no secret that Vermont's dairy farms are struggling to
survive. So anything that can help our {mostly} family farms to turn a
corner and a profit has to be welcome. Dairy Herd Management does just
that. It's the on-line end of the print magazine. In order to
access its resources, you have to sign up with a username and password
{there's no fee}. When you do, you'll also be asked to fill out a
brief questionnaire, including info about your herd. And when all's
said and done, you'll have access to a ton of info about just what the title
suggests.
The offerings include info on Markets, an Ag Reference, a National Dairy
Database, and links to Dairy Newsletters and Extension Publications.
There's also a directory of features, including a separate directory for
bovine veterinary features, a Product & Services Guide, and a Profit
Tips Library that includes sections on Management and Employee Management,
Facilities, Health, Nutrition, Reproduction/Genetics, and Young Stock..
In addition, DHM also offers up a section on Weather, a Frequently Asked
Questions [FAQ] section, and search tools to help you zero in on exactly
what you're looking for. Overall, if you run a dairy farm, even if you
already subscribe to DHM, you can still make very good use of this
site. Rating: **** [4 stars]
.
-
National
Gardening Association
How could we possibly launch a local community magazine here
in Vermont without mentioning the National Gardening Association? The
site is nicely laid out, with useful links to a variety of features
like: Gardening Resources {which includes Gardening Where You
Live, an Article Library, Gardening FAQ's, How-To Projects, a Learning
Garden, a Horticultural Dictionary, a Plant NameFinder, a section to Find
Gardening Products, and Industry Research} ... a Community section
{with a Garden Events Calendar, Message Boards, Seed Swap, and the Vermont
Community Botanical Garden} ... Gardening With Kids {including
Kidsgardening.com, the Kidsgardening Catalog, and info about Youth Garden
Grants.
Gardening in the North Country can be a challenge, so our favorite spot was
the regional Gardening Where You Live for New England, which actually covers
an area from southern Connecticut and the lower Hudson Valley, all the way
on up to the Gaspé Peninsula and the Maritimes. The offering here is
a bi-weekly report from Charlie Nardozzi, the New England Editor of the
Association, and it includes sections entitled "In My Garden,"
"Garden Reminders," "Shows & Events," and "Web
Finds." There's also an archive of previous reports, as well as
an overview of the region, with USDA Hardiness Zones, AHS Heat Zones, and
some general info on the Region, the Climate and the Growing Season.
Our rating? What else!?! ***** [5 stars]
.
-
GardenWeb
GardenWeb is an interesting potpourri of gardening info ...
with everything from seed and plant exchanges, a plant dictionary, topics
{roses, wildflowers, and kitchen garden} ... to directories of gardening
organizations and businesses related to gardening. But the most
fruitful section has to be the The GardenWeb Forums.
According to the site, the Forums "comprise the largest community of
gardeners on the Internet. Covering more than 90 different plants, regions
and topics ..." Of course, while we can't verify the accuracy of
the statement, we were impressed with the range of topics and links.
These Forums are listed by New Forums, Forum Subject Areas, Alphabetical by
Title, Types of Plants, Types of Gardens, and Other Topics. A quick
sampling showed the Alphabetical by Title section to contain over 120 titles
-- from African Violets, Alpines & Rock Gardens, and Annuals to Violets,
Wildlife Garden, and Woodlands. There were also two dozen listings for
Types of Gardens -- from Bonsai and Bog Gardens to Woodlands and "Xeriscaping"
{a forum devoted to gardening in the arid Texas and Southwest regions}.
Finally, the Forums also covered more than 40 Topics, ranging from
Attracting Wildlife, Design and Farm Life, to Lawn Mowers, Tool Sheds,
Tractors, and even Writing. If you'd like to get together on-line with
other gardening enthusiasts, then GardenWeb may be worth your while.
Rating: **** [4 stars]
*******
*******
If you know of any links that you think are
worthwhile, why not send them along to ...
links@downstreetmagazine.com
...
If we agree, we'll be happy to include them
in an upcoming issue to pass the word along. ...
Thanks.
*******
*******
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