Grow the food your household will actually eat β in the space and time you really have.
πΏ β πΏ
Let's plan a patch that actually feeds you.
Not a generic calendar. A plan for your garden β the beds you have, the sun they get, the things already growing in them, and the people eating at your table.
π Your climateπ½ Your householdπ± Your actual garden
Four short stops Β· about 5 minutes Β· free
Where does your garden live?
Every date in your plan starts with your patch of sky β postcode sets the climate zone.
Who are you feeding?
Quantities are calculated for your household β this is the bit most planners skip.
NZ health guidelines recommend 5 veg servings a day for adults (5β6 in Australia) β vegetarians, vegans and enthusiastic veg-eaters often eat quite a bit more. This scales every crop's quantity to match your household, not just a generic average. You can still fine-tune any single crop by hand on your results page.
βοΈ I want keepers stored for winterπ I garden by the moonπ‘ Plant spares for losses (+25%)
Storage boosts spuds, kΕ«mara, pumpkin, onions & garlic to keeper quantities. Moon mode adds lunar timing to your weekly emails. Spares covers the seedlings that slugs, damping-off and bad weather take β on by default, because that's how real gardeners plant.
Your growing spaces
Let's map your real garden first β then, when you pick crops, we can show how much of your actual space you're using. One planning square = 30 cm Γ 30 cm. Beds & in-ground in metres; pots by top width and depth in cm β we do the maths. Already got strawberries, garlic or perennials in? Put how many squares they take in Planted β the plan only uses what's actually free.
+ Raised bed 1.2 Γ 2.4 m+ Raised bed 0.9 Γ 1.8 m+ Round raised bed 0.8 m+ 40 cm pot+ In-ground patch 3 Γ 2 m+ Greenhouse 2 Γ 3 m
π‘ Which raised bed?Square-foot = the intensive grid this planner is built around (most home beds β pick this if unsure). Rows = traditional row spacing, so it fits ~30% fewer plants. Round = a round bed or planter (like a Jack's tub) β enter its diameter and we'll work out the area.
πΏ Already growing in them? (most gardens aren't empty)
Tell us what's in the ground now. The plan works around it β and knows when each crop clears and hands its squares back.
What do you actually eat?
Set each crop to Love (plant extra), Like, or Skip β tap the tag to cycle, or use the dropdown to pick exactly. The bar keeps a running tally against the space you just mapped, so you can see if you're overreaching before you build.
Love β plant extraLike β a normal amountSkip β none
π± THE PATCH PARTNER
Your garden plan Β· thepatchpartner.co.nz
Your garden, planned. πΏ
Β· β Β·
π± You're an early gardener. The Patch Partner is free while we find our feet. In time, some of the advanced planning β things like your bed-by-bed layout, the year-long timeline, and the weekly sow-and-feed emails β will become part of an optional paid plan. The "how much to plant" calculator will always have a free version, and everyone using it now gets a heads-up and a founding-gardener rate before anything changes. Thanks for growing with us early. π
Your plan at a glance
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crops
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plants
How much to plant
Driven by your household of weighted eaters and the veg servings/day you set on the household step β every row shows its working underneath the crop name, so a surprising number is never a mystery. Tap a crop's tag to cycle β€οΈ love β like β skip, or use the β / + to hand-set the exact number of plants (tap βΊ auto to hand it back to the calculator). Want a crop in a particular bed β say kΕ«mara all in one bed? Use the Bed dropdown to pin it there and everything else plans around it. The whole plan β squares, beds and timeline β recalculates instantly. To bring a skipped crop back, use "Change my crops" below.
βοΈ needs full sun Β· β happy in part shade Β· π₯ fine in shade. Squares = peak-season occupancy: succession crops show plants at any one time plus a resow pipeline; brassica waves overlap, so all waves count.
πΌ Worth 2β3 squares: insectary flowers (alyssum, calendula, phacelia) pull in hoverflies and parasitic wasps that eat your aphids β one of the few companion-planting effects with solid evidence behind it.
π Crop rotation: quantities aren't affected by rotation, but bed placement is β the plan below assigns beds so plant families (brassicas, solanums, legumes, roots) move away from where the same family just grew.
π Your beds, planted
Every crop given a home β matched to each bed's sun, packed to fit, and kept out of a bed the same family just left. "Spare at peak" is what's still free when the bed is fullest.
π Season timeline β the whole year
Every bed across a full 12 months. When a crop clears, the next one moves into the same squares β so the ground keeps working all year. Faded stripes are what's already growing; dashed bars are catch crops filling freed space.
π Keep your beds working
As each crop clears, here's a sensible follow-on to sow into that freed space β right timing, sun and rotation β so no square sits empty.
πΏ Space coming free
Your garden isn't starting empty β and it hands squares back on a schedule. Here's the succession runway.
π Shopping list
π¬ Your email schedule
Example Β· not live yet
β¨ This is a preview of a planned feature. The Patch Partner isn't sending reminder emails yet β nothing here goes to your inbox and you're not signed up for anything. It shows what your season of reminders would look like. For now, use Print / save as PDF or Copy plan as text above to keep your schedule.
Once it's live, each reminder would land two weeks before sowing day β enough time to order seed or grab it locally. One weekly digest, never spam.
Preview: your next email
Example Β· not live yet
β¨ Sample only. This is a mock-up of a reminder email to show the idea β it hasn't been sent to anyone, and email reminders aren't switched on yet.
What did you think?
This is a pilot β your feedback directly shapes what gets built. Nothing's required; even one line helps.
Everything is saved β beds, household, preferences. Edit anything and rebuild; you'll never re-enter your garden.