Grow your own vegetables, one small step at a time

If you don't have the time or space for extensive gardening, growing your own vegetables can still be easy. The SproutPlan team knows how to manage garden plans to make the most of your backyard.

Simply provide your location and how much space you have, and the type of food you want to grow. Based on your input, SproutPlan creates an easy-to-follow, detailed garden plan that includes a layout and tells you what you need to do to manage your plan over the course of a week.

A plan that fits your backyard and your schedule

You can set up your garden plan using the space you have that is most convenient to you, even if it is not the traditional rectangular bed.

You will receive notifications about your plants to help you with maintenance. The notifications also include information about the proper way to perform a task to help you learn more about gardening.

Make space for what really matters. We don't always get things right the first time. You are still learning which vegetables grow best where you live. You are also learning which ones your family likes most. Change your plan as you learn.

Maybe your lettuce grows and your carrots don't, but that's okay. You may discover that spending a few minutes outside after work is the best part of your day. Whatever it is you're doing, SproutPlan helps you by breaking it into easy to accomplish steps.

No huge, complicated plans. No planting guides that you have to figure out. Just a simple way to get your family's first veggies straight from the garden.

You've got a backyard and veggie seeds. Why not?

Get your free garden plan and discover what you can grow. You can play around with your plan before you buy anything, or start when you are ready. You don't even need to enter a ton of info. Just a little plan and some will go a long way.

How to Self- Publish a Picture Book

Publishing a self-illustrated picture book requires more than putting your images with your text. You first have to create a book that is both interesting and accessible to its readers. Once that is accomplished, consider your options for book publication.

Read a variety of books written for the audience you want to reach and listen to how the words flow. Once you are able to incorporate flow, think about how you are going to layout your book. The best way to plan your layout is to make a book dummy which will allow you to identify issues with your book pacing.

Consistency is important for a successful picture book, especially for characters. Traditionally drawn illustrations should be scanned or photographed and electronically sent to a publisher. Digital illustrations should also be emailed. If you are including text on a page, don’t place your focal point or key details there.

The route you take to get your book published will depend on the time and money you are willing to spend. You can send samples of your work to publishers and agents or self-publish your work. Self-publication will require you to pay for the design and printing of your book, but you will maintain more control.

You control the process when you publish your own book. However, you take on the responsibility of publishing and selling the book. Review printers and print on demand (POD) services by looking at samples of the services' output. Look at the paper and color quality, binding, and think about your cost to sell (this determines your selling price).

Get your book published. Editing is important even if you feel like you have edited your book enough. Text and other information can move to other places on the page during the publishing process. Decide what publishing route you want to take, determine a title and write a description of your book, and think about the type of publishing you want (for example do you want to get your own ISBN).

Figure out how to get your book to your audience. Think about your budget when determining how many books you want to print and sell. You want to set up a website that contains some of your work and sell your book. Determine who your audience is and reach out to the schools and libraries in that area to arrange to do activities for the kids, for example a book reading. Make sure you keep records of everything and stay organized.