Select “Beds” in the left navigation. Then click “Create new bed” at the top right. A dialogue for the new bed opens. The same dialogue is used later to edit an existing bed.
Bed type
Here you choose the type of bed – something we touched on briefly in the previous chapter. Each bed type comes with a short description and sometimes a link to further information.
The bed type you choose determines which options are shown on the right-hand side. This decision cannot be changed later. If you change your mind, you can simply delete the bed and create a new one.
Basic bed data
Give your bed a name that’s clear to you – especially helpful if you have several beds.
The front edge is the side from which the rows run into the bed. The row length gives the depth of your bed – in other words, how long the individual rows are.
If your bed is in a greenhouse, this affects the planting times. Grove uses these times for filters, sowing, harvest and also for task planning. This applies not just to the bed itself but also to the harvest preview.
Gertrud Franck and the Langerhorst family
Both these companion planting systems use a fixed row spacing – usually between 40 and 50 cm. You enter this as an additional measurement.
Once you enter the width of the front edge, grove automatically calculates the rows (A, B and C rows). If you change anything later, the layout updates immediately – so you always see the current structure of your bed.
Advanced settings: start row & offset
In the advanced settings you can change the start row, for example. This is useful if your bed dimensions don’t fit neatly into the usual sequence (C-A-C-B). It prevents situations like two A-rows ending up directly next to each other after the year change.
An offset of the start row can also be important – particularly if you’ve already been using this companion planting system and are now transferring your existing bed to grove. The first row might need to start offset by, say, 25 cm to make everything line up correctly.
Important
Many of your bed settings cannot be changed afterwards – so take your time and think through what you need.