Being the manager of a greenhouse means TONS of questions. From the moment I get to work to the very last minutes of the day I am constantly called on the radio to respond to everything from minor emergencies to the “why did you even have to ask me that” type questions. Those are my least favorite.

An example of a “why did you have to ask” question:

How much mulch does this person need?

I don’t know if you’ve ever had to explain math over a walkie talkie but I’ll have you know that it isn’t an easy task when the person on the other line hasn’t had any sort of math course in the last 4 decades. I know it’s not their fault that they don’t know how to do it on their own so I usually bite my lip and run to the front counter to help. It’s pretty busy for a good part of our growing season so there isn’t a chance to teach the workers the simple process of finding the solution to these problems and I usually end up breaking out a calculator and doing it on my own.

So, I finally broke down and made a calculator that will be worked into the greenhouse website. This way the seasonal employees can easily access it on the front desk computer, on a customer’s smart phone or tablet.

Problem solved. Here is a rough version of the calculator without rounding or pizazz. It isn’t pretty but it works. Otherwise you can find it on the tools page.

That little and simple solution will help me stay focused on helping the customers I’m working with in person rather than helping others helping others. Now I have wild dreams about the next time saving programs… Plant spacing calculator, Number of plants/surface area….