Gardening Presentation Help Please

Hi there, I have to give a presentation in an interview on 'Gardeners and new communications technology' but I don't know much about the industry and really what they're after here.

Would people be so kind to offer a few points to talk about or websites to direct me to for some ideas?

Many thanks

 

is it professional or private gardeners?

if private i would have a look on the rhs garden sites

i got an invitation to win a blackberry type thing as they are now setting up an info by these types of devices

Download the new RHS Grow Your Own application (app) onto your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, and you'll get RHS expert advice at your fingertips.
The new app allows you to browse and select fruit and vegetables for your garden based on your expertise, time and space. Each fruit and vegetable profile is written by RHS experts and has advice on what to do when, recommended varieties and common problems.
The Grow Your Own app is available to download for free for a limited time from the iTunes store for anyone with an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.
Future updates in coming months will include the ability to track progress of your fruit and veg with a calendar function with real-time reminders and weather warnings.
Download the RHS Grow Your Own app now


is this the sort of stuff you are looking for?


also, look at the bbc dig in campaign

good luck

loopy

 

many thanks Loopy. I'll take a look into that - anyone else have any other inputs? All greatfully recieved

 

Hi SparkyJim and welcome.

Thats a very strange combination. Do I take it that you have a background in gardening and are being tested on the benefits of new technology?

The first question I would address is what is new communications technology. I suspect that this covers all aspects of computers, including the internet and e-mail. And then there are mobile phones, and I think I would also include digital photography. Several things spring to mind.

1) Information on plants and gardening practices. The benefit of the internet is huge. You can Google any plant and get bags of info that you won't find in even the biggest books. User groups and gardening forums is another source of info where you can have a two way discussion. This site gives info on plants. Bob Brown is a Chelsea gold medalist and an ex schoolmaster, and he scores his plants from 1 to 10. http://www.cgf.net/plants.php, and you could quote Gardener's Corner as a site where you can have a conversation.

2) Access to research papers is available online to Universities and academic institutions. eg http://www.actahort.org/books/230/230_40.htm

3) Purchase of plants and seeds. This site is a South African seed specialist http://www.silverhillseeds.co.za/Catalogue.asp . There are plenty of sites for rare and exotic plants - eBay being one source.

4) Use of computers for records. Recording plants bought and where planted, daily temperatures, costs etc. Computers are an essential part of running the administrative side of any business.

5) e-mail for instant communications. If you are a menber of the RHS - you can request information or a plant identification by e-mail. Or you can e-mail friends and specialists and swap information. By using the camera in a mobile phone you might get a reply instantaneously while you are looking at a plant or a pest.

6) If you have a collection of 5000 different plants in a major botanical garden, you might wish to record the location of each group of plants using satelite location.

7) The benefits of digital photography derive from its electronic format that will interface with computers, mobile phones and can be used in e-mails, word processing documents and presentation software.

best of luck

 

I would include something on weather and climate Sparkyjim.
There are websites providing info on first and last frost dates for different areas, frost prediction warnings and 15 day weather forecasts. All invaluable to gardeners.

And forums like this one where gardeners can help each other from their own personal experience.

 

Communications is much wider than just idle chatter on a mobile phone. If you think of it in its widest sense as being the collection, storage, processing and delivery of ideas, raw data, information (processed data) and goods to a third person or another communications system - the field is huge. You can always narrow the defination if you want, but interviewers often prefer too much imagination rather than too little.

A digital labelling gun in a nursery, which prints out a name, picture, details and price of the plant for sale, doesn't neccessarily spring to mind but is a good example of communications. The gun may be connected to a computer by wireless, or simply a download at the end of the day. The electronic till will also be connected to the computer, and the manager will have access as well. As a result the manager will be able to see how many of that plant has been put out, how many sold and thus how many in stock. The accountant can then state the sales and profit for the period in question. Supermarkets have this down to a fine art.

You will talk about the current position - but you could always have a look forward to the future. There is the talking spade - yet to be invented. It will have a processor and battery pack in the shaft. There will be a satelite location module along with wireless communication to the main computer and artificial intelligence software. You only need to go to the border holding the spade and ask it if you can plant the Astrantia plant, which you are holding in your hand, here. The answer might be - not there, thats a patch of Platycodon which sends up shoots very late - you won't see any shoots for another fortnight, but go three feet to the right. A bit further down the border, the spade might remark that you are now over a patch of Helenium that was planted 5 years ago and hasn't been divided since - it might be a good time to do it now. Then a bit further on the spade might say - Its 12:45 now I suggest you go for lunch as you are a good 10 minutes walk form the canteen. Oh! by the way steak pie and chips is on the menu, but if you are still on your diet you could always have a Dandelion sandwich. :D

Edit: I forgot to add, but hoped that it was obvious, the reason the talking spade works is that its satelite location tells it exactly where it is, and its connection to the main computer, accesses the computer records of what is planted in that spot and any other relavent information. All this exists today as does the voice recognition and simple artificial intelligence. Farmers already use similar systems where a satelite system tells the tractor exactly how much fertilised to put in any given spot - varying the amount as the tractor goes round the field. The amount of fertiliser is varied according to the crop yield in the previous year from that same spot as recorded by a combine harvester with suitable instrumentation. The future is already here.

 

Could do something about blight aswell, and communication with how its spreading through the year.

 

you all rock! thanks so much - that's some great ideas. Sure I can put something together and not look like a total idiot