See it working, our demo garden
This is a real Garden Buddy account, set up with three beds and eight plants, the same way I’d log my own. I reckon the best way of showing you what you get as a paid member is to just let you walk around inside one.
What you’re looking at below is the actual My Garden dashboard, not a marketing mockup. Same layout, same controls, same data flow. The only difference is that it’s my demo account instead of yours.
Example subtropical Brisbane plot
A real garden I run myself so you can see what Garden Buddy does before you sign up. Every watering, every fertiliser application, every pest I sighted and treated, all logged the way a paying member would log theirs. No fake personas, no cherry picking. Some plants are thriving. Some are behind. That’s gardening.
Activity summary · last 60 days
Garden beds
Plants, each with its full story
Spring onions
WelshWelsh bunching, perennial, harvest outer leaves, regrows. $2.60 packet.
Silverbeet
Fordhook GiantFordhook Giant, 200 seeds, $3.20. Very reliable, cut-and-come-again for 12+ months.
Broccoli
CalabreseHeirloom Calabrese, 100 seeds in packet, $4.50. Direct-sow 1cm depth, 45cm spacing. Will give main head + 2 months of side shoots.
Kale
Tuscan BlackTuscan Black kale (Italian heirloom), 50 seeds, $3.90. Start in punnets, transplant at 4-leaf stage.
Coriander
Slow boltSlow-bolt variety, critical for warm climates. Surface sow, keep moist. $4.20.
Snow peas
Oregon sugar podOregon sugar pod, soak overnight before sowing. Needs trellis. $3.99 packet.
Bok choy
ShanghaiShanghai variety, quick 40-45 day crop. Sow fortnightly. $2.80 packet.
Broad beans
AquadulceAquadulce variety, kept 40 best beans from March 2025. Seed cost: $0.
Garden diary, every event, newest first
Watering, fertilising, mulching, pest checks, sowing, transplanting, harvesting. I capture the weather and soil temperature at each event. This is what your own diary will look like once you sign up.
Dug in 2 bags of cow manure + 1 bag blood & bone. Raked flat.
Direct-sowed silverbeet along front edge. 2cm deep, 25cm apart.
Deep soak after sowing, keep consistently moist until germination.
Morning water, misting nozzle to avoid disturbing seeds.
Germination! First cotyledons visible on 80% of sowing.
Transplanted 6 broccoli seedlings (raised in punnets for 3 weeks). 45cm spacing.
Heavy water after transplant, settles roots.
Sugar cane mulch applied 5cm thick around broccoli. Keep 2cm gap around stem.
All crops, routine morning watering. Beds look healthy.
First liquid feed, seaweed + fish emulsion 1:10.
Kale seedlings in. 30cm spacing between broccoli rows.
Deep soak, skipping tomorrow due to forecast rain.
Good overnight rain, 14mm. No watering needed today.
Routine pest inspection. No cabbage white butterfly activity yet. Netting still unused.
Broad beans direct-sowed. 25cm apart, 5cm deep. Supports in (bamboo stakes every 1m).
Initial soak.
Snow peas on trellis. Soaked seed overnight, direct-sowed 2cm deep.
Gentle water, not to dislodge pea seeds.
Moved spring onions up into 25cm pot, was crowding in original 15cm.
Coriander in herb pot, surface sown, pressed in lightly.
Routine water round, all beds and pots.
First cabbage white butterfly sighted. Applied bio-Dipel (BT spray).
Bok choy row sown, fast crop for 5-week turnaround.
Regular watering. Silverbeet picking started today.
Top-dress with aged chicken manure around silverbeet, needs nitrogen for leaf growth.
Weeded back bed, removed bindii and nutgrass runners before they set.
BT spray still effective. Netting deployed over broccoli as insurance.
Morning soak.
Snow peas climbing well, 30cm tall, tendrils wrapping trellis.
Top-up mulch around all plants in front bed, heat retention starting to matter.
Silverbeet outer leaves ready. Harvested 300g this morning for dinner.
Water.
Coriander in pot, requires 3x weekly in warm weather.
Aphids on kale undersides. Hosed off, applied neem oil.
Second liquid feed, broccoli heads starting to form.
Skipped, got 8mm overnight.
Flowers on snow peas, white and purple. Pods due in ~14 days.
First broccoli head cut, 450g. Side shoots already showing.
Back on watering rotation after the rain.
Aphid re-check, much reduced. Neem worked. Monitor weekly.
Bok choy ready, 5 heads cut, 550g total for stir-fry use.
Full round.
Second broccoli harvest, 600g main head.
Silverbeet cut, 350g.
Morning water.
First coriander cut, 80g. Will keep cutting as needed for 3-4 weeks before bolt.
Broad beans 15cm tall, staked up. Flowering expected in 6 weeks.
Spring onion tops cut, 150g. Will regrow in ~3 weeks.
Kale outer leaves, 220g. Growth has accelerated with cooler mornings.
Evening water, skipped morning.
Third harvest, side shoots 750g total across 4 plants.
Silverbeet, 400g for the kitchen tonight.
Morning water.
Pest observations and treatments
Every pest I spotted, what I did about it, what actually worked. I run an organic first approach (physical barriers, hosing off, biological controls, then neem oil, then BT spray).
| Date | Pest | Severity | On | Action taken | Treatment | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Apr 2026 | Aphids (green peach) | Low | Kale | Follow-up, just a few stragglers. Lady beetle sighted, leaving it to natural predators. | None (biological control) | monitoring |
| 24 Mar 2026 | Aphids (green peach) | High | Kale | Dense cluster on kale undersides, leaves starting to crinkle. Hosed off with strong water, then applied eco-neem 20mL/L. | Eco-Neem organic | effective, 85% reduction by day 7 |
| 13 Mar 2026 | Cabbage white butterfly | Low | Broccoli | Follow-up inspection, no eggs found on undersides. Insect netting deployed for extra insurance. | Physical barrier (netting) | effective |
| 8 Mar 2026 | Cabbage white butterfly | Moderate | Broccoli | First sighting, 3 butterflies hovering around broccoli. Applied Yates Dipel BT spray as precaution. | Yates Dipel | effective |
What’s next, upcoming tasks
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9 days ago (overdue)
Turn compost
Turn compost pile and add water if dry
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9 days ago (overdue)
Turn compost
Turn compost pile and add water if dry
-
7 days ago (overdue)
Harvest broad beans first pods
Expect 100-200g per pick, continuing for 2-3 weeks.
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4 days ago (overdue)
Weed around
Remove weeds to reduce competition for nutrients and water
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4 days ago (overdue)
Weed around
Remove weeds to reduce competition for nutrients and water
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4 days ago (overdue)
Weed around
Remove weeds to reduce competition for nutrients and water
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4 days ago (overdue)
Weed around
Remove weeds to reduce competition for nutrients and water
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4 days ago (overdue)
Weed around
Remove weeds to reduce competition for nutrients and water
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4 days ago (overdue)
Weed around
Remove weeds to reduce competition for nutrients and water
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4 days ago (overdue)
Weed around
Remove weeds to reduce competition for nutrients and water
Recent harvests
| Date | Crop | Quantity | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Apr 2026 | Broccoli | 0.75 kg | Good |
| 11 Apr 2026 | Coriander | 0.08 kg | Good |
| 10 Apr 2026 | Bok choy | 0.55 kg | Good |
| 9 Apr 2026 | Spring onions | 0.15 kg | Good |
| 8 Apr 2026 | Kale | 0.25 kg | Good |
| 7 Apr 2026 | Silverbeet | 0.40 kg | Good |
| 5 Apr 2026 | Broccoli | 0.60 kg | Good |
| 1 Apr 2026 | Kale | 0.22 kg | Good |
| 30 Mar 2026 | Silverbeet | 0.35 kg | Good |
| 28 Mar 2026 | Broccoli | 0.45 kg | Good |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Kale | 0.18 kg | Good |
| 22 Mar 2026 | Silverbeet | 0.30 kg | Good |
Grow vs buy, the real ROI
Harvest weight × today’s Australian supermarket average price. I’m honest with you, I show the crops where growing didn’t beat buying too.
| Crop | Harvested | Shop price/kg | Value grown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broccoli | 1.80 kg | $5.90 | $10.63 |
| Coriander | 0.08 kg | no data | $0.00 |
| Bok choy | 0.55 kg | no data | $0.00 |
| Spring onions | 0.15 kg | no data | $0.00 |
| Kale | 0.65 kg | no data | $0.00 |
| Silverbeet | 1.05 kg | no data | $0.00 |
| Total saved this plot | $10.63 | ||
Honest note. Most of my April crops (kale, silverbeet, bok choy, coriander) don’t have strong supermarket price data, they’re priced by bunch not by kg. The dollar figure undersells abotu what’s actually on my plate.
Want this for your own garden? Every member gets their own diary, their own plants, their own ROI, all calculated the same way I calculate mine above.
Pick a plan from $3.99 a monthWhat’s on the picture above
The demo account has three beds, the way most of my early members start out:
- Front raised bed, 2.4 square metres, the small one you plant your quick wins in (coriander, Welsh onion).
- Back in-ground plot, 6 square metres, where the longer staying crops go (broad beans, broccoli, kale, silverbeet).
- Herb pots, 1.2 square metres of containers for the herbs that prefer a bit of drainage.
Eight plants are active right now, all logged with planting date and variety so the site can work out which growing stage each one sits in and what care tasks to surface this week. The harvests panel shows 12 entries so far, totalling around 4.3 kilos, which in my view is somwhat of a realistic early autumn run for a small subtropical garden.
What you’ll do differently with your own account
When you sign up, the same dashboard becomes yours. Your postcode sets the climate zone, your bed layout replaces mine, your plant list drives the tasks panel. A few things I’d point out:
- The ROI number is calculated from today’s supermarket prices, not a static estimate. Log a kilo of broccoli, the report compares it against what that kilo costs this week at Coles or Woolworths.
- The weather and pest pressure panels are postcode aware. What I see for Dayboro 4521 is not what you’ll see for Adelaide 5000.
- Every care log entry (watering, mulching, fertiliser, pest treatment) is a row you own. Export it to CSV whenever you want to have a look outside the site.
Nothing in the paid tier is locked behind a separate app or a complicated onboarding. It’s the same page, just with your plants on it.
Ready to start your own?
Same UI, same features, real plants, real numbers, your postcode. The Starter plan is $3.99 a month or $29 a year, cancel any time from your account page.