Bugger’s Field · a butler for your field
Say one sentence; the plan is done
What you are growing, where, and how far along it is — say that one sentence and Zhiling handles the rest.
- The season's work laid out date by date, instead of you piecing it together from articles
- Say "watered it" when you're done — it ticks the job off and schedules the next one
- Wrong somewhere? Move it, skip it, or roll back to last week's plan
Three things it does every day
You say one thing: what you are growing, where, and how far along it is. Scheduling, reminders and reference lookups follow from there.
It is not a calendar and it will not nag you. It says today's jobs concretely — but you stay in charge.
- Today's work: thinning, top-dressing, pest checks and cold protection get put on specific dates, counted back from when you sowed or transplanted.
- One email at 8am: today's jobs, anything overdue, and the next few days. Frost, heatwaves and heavy rain get an extra line.
- When you are unsure, ask: yellowing leaves, split fruit, spots or insects, which fertiliser to use, when to raise seedlings. Pest, disease and fertilising questions are answered from reference material, and it says so when it borrows data from a related crop.
- It remembers what was done: which jobs were ticked off, what got rescheduled, why that pot yellowed last time.
How it differs from a calendar or a notebook
- A calendar reminds you on dates you typed; this works from sowing date + how the crop grows — when to thin or feed is computed
- A notebook records what happened; this uses what happened to decide next time (why that pot yellowed, avoid it)
- Neither looks at your weather: frost or days of rain and it moves the work, saying why
How to start (three steps)
- Sign in with an emailed one-time code. The account is created on your first sign-in — no separate sign-up, no password.
- Say one sentence: what you planted, where, and how far along it is. For example: "sowed pak choi in the open bed on 16 October".
- Follow the schedule. When you finish, say "watered it" — it ticks the job off and schedules the next one.
Say one sentence; this is roughly what it schedules
It turns that sentence into dated tasks, and moves them when local weather says so:
"Sowed pak choi in the open bed on Oct 16"
- Oct 19Thin: thin at two true leaves, 3–5 cm apart
- Oct 23Water: water when the surface dries, not at noon (deferred if rain is forecast)
- Oct 30Feed: one light nitrogen-leaning feed; no standing water after
Say "watered" when you are done — it checks it off and schedules the next one.
(Sample dates are counted from sowing day; yours follow your ground and weather)
Who it is for
Home gardeners, balcony pots, a few beds in the yard, small polytunnels, and plots up to a few acres.
- Leafy greens (pak choi, bok choy), roots (radish, carrot), fruiting crops (tomato, chilli, aubergine), plus strawberries and brassicas such as broccolini.
- Long-term care too: orchids, chrysanthemums and houseplants get a care rhythm, with no nagging to "archive it once harvested".
- Multiple sites: the balcony and the field are tracked separately — their own conditions, their own memory, their own schedule.
Common questions
Do I need to register first?
No. The account is created automatically the first time you sign in with an emailed code. There is no separate sign-up step and no password.
Will it change my plan on its own?
No. It only acts when you say something like "move it to Friday", "skip this one" or "I watered it yesterday", and every change leaves a record showing what changed and when.
Can I get my earlier plan back?
Yes. Every change keeps a full snapshot of the plan at that moment, so you can roll back to an earlier version.
How often do I have to open it?
Never, if you don't want to. The day's jobs arrive by email; saying a sentence when you finish is enough, and saying nothing never changes your data.
I can't find the sign-in email. What now?
Search your inbox and spam folder for "Bugger's Field" — the subject is "Your sign-in code". If it still does not arrive, use the contact address shown on this page.
Where is my data stored, and who can see it?
On the server this service runs on, isolated per account. Nobody else can see your plantings or your conversations.
