I built Garden Buddy to solve a problem I kept running into in my own Dayboro veggie patch. Here is what I put in, what is free, what costs money, and what I am still building. No marketing fluff, just a straight list.
How I designed Garden Buddy to work
From your first visit to pulling produce out of the ground.
Check a price
Have a look at /prices/ and see what is cheap or expensive at the shops today. Free, no signup needed.
Pick your zone
I ask for your postcode, work out your climate zone, and give you advice that fits where you actually live.
Read the guide
My zone guides cover planting months, soil preparation tips, and the mistakes I made so you do not have to.
Plant it
I send a weekly pest alert to free members so you know what to watch for before it wipes out your crop.
Harvest and compare
Log your harvest and I calculate what you saved against current shop prices. My ROI report does the numbers for you.
Repeat each season
I keep your crop history so the advice gets better year on year.
My three plans
Same data, same writing. Pay only when you want personal tracking and the weekly email.
Free
- Live daily supermarket prices for 76+ vegetables
- 12 month price charts with trend analysis
- Per-zone growing guides (104 crops x 7 climate zones)
- What to plant now, my monthly planting calendar
- Weekly pest alert email
- Monthly Australian vegetable price report
Starter
- Everything in Free, plus:
- My private garden journal (track every plant you put in)
- Weekly digest written for YOUR specific crops
- Photo pest ID (coming Q3 2026)
- Price watchlist with drop and rise alerts
- Multi-year garden history
- Email support within 48 hrs
Pro
- Everything in Starter, plus:
- Full historical price trends (12+ months)
- Queensland Fruit Fly tracking (launching 2026)
- Succession planting scheduler (in development)
- Soil sensor data integration (Ecowitt ready, Q4 2026)
- Exportable harvest reports (CSV)
- Priority email support within 24 hrs
Where my price data comes from
I collect live prices from four retailers every morning. No estimates, no weekly snapshots. If a price changes on a Tuesday, my members see it by noon on Wednesday at the latest.
Live veg price tracker
I built a sortable table with 12 month sparklines per row. You can filter by rising, falling, stable, or over $10/kg. Click any veggie for the full chart and my trend notes.
Free
What to plant now
Enter your postcode, I find your climate zone, and I tell you what to plant this month. My 12 month heatmap shows the best planting windows for each crop in your area.
Free
728 growing guides
I wrote guides for 104 crops across all 7 Australian climate zones. Each one covers soil temperature, planting calendar, companion plants, common pests, and what yield you can realistically expect.
Free
Weekly pest alert email
Every week I send a pest pressure warning for your climate zone. Free with any signup. No credit card, no obligation, just an email when something is about to bite your garden.
Free
Personal garden journal
I log every plant you put in the ground. Track growth stage, care notes, and each harvest. My multi-year history lets you see what actually performed in your specific garden.
Starter
Personalised weekly digest
Every Monday I write an email about your active crops. Watering reminders based on my forecast data, pest windows for your specific plants, and what is in season in your zone.
Starter
Photo pest ID
Snap a photo of a pest or leaf lesion. I give you a likely ID and treatment options ranked by organic preference and what is actually available in Australian shops.
Coming Q3 2026
Queensland Fruit Fly tracker
I’m building a zone calendar for QFF pressure, bait timing, exclusion netting reminders, and harvest deadline alerts. No other Australian tool I know of covers this properly.
Launching 2026
Succession planting scheduler
I’m solving the 30-zucchini-at-once problem. My scheduler staggers your plantings across the season so you get a continuous harvest instead of a glut followed by nothing.
In developmentWhat’s live and what’s coming
Prices, guides, plant calendar
My daily supermarket scraper, 728 zone guides, and planting calendar all live and free.
Garden journal and Starter
My personal plant tracking system, harvest ROI calculator, and personalised weekly digest.
Photo pest ID and QFF
Photo-based pest and disease ID, plus my Queensland Fruit Fly tracking module.
Soil sensors and succession
Ecowitt soil sensor integration, my succession planting scheduler, and native mobile apps.
How I compare to the alternatives
| Feature | Garden Buddy AU | GrowVeg (UK) | Gardenate | ABC Gardening |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian climate zones | ✓ | ~ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Live supermarket prices | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 728 zone-specific guides | ✓ | ✗ | ~ | ~ |
| Queensland Fruit Fly tracking | Q3 2026 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Personal garden journal | May 2026 | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Photo pest ID | Q3 2026 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free tier available | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Annual price | $29 | ~$52 | Free | Free |
✓ = fully addressed · ~ = partially addressed · ✗ = not addressed
Why I built this at all
Almost every gardening tool I could find was built in the UK or the US. They do not know when to plant in Brisbane. They have no idea what Queensland Fruit Fly is. They do not track Australian supermarket prices because that is completely irrelevant to a gardener in Ohio.
I built Garden Buddy in Dayboro sicne I got tired of dead lettuce, bolted cabbages, and tomato crops lost to fruit fly. My tools here are the ones I wanted and could not find anywhere. If you have grown veg in Australia and felt the same frustration, you’re in the right place.
Have a look at the demo garden if you want to see my setup before you commit to anything. Same UI, my real plants, my actual numbers on the picture.
Start free today
No card required. Upgrade only when it earns its keep in your garden.
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