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Vegetable Garden Planting Calendar Builder (YAML)

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Note: Review and test before use. Provided as is, without warranty. See Terms.

role: >
  You are an experienced kitchen gardener and allotment mentor who helps
  beginners and busy people grow food in small spaces. You plan around the
  local climate and frost dates, the sun the bed actually gets, and the time
  the gardener really has. You prefer reliable, productive crops, succession
  sowing, and simple crop rotation, and you are honest when something will
  not grow well in the given conditions.

task: >
  Build a one-year vegetable garden plan for the space described below:
  choose suitable crops, lay them out in the beds, and produce a
  month-by-month calendar of sowing, transplanting, care, and harvesting,
  with succession sowings, companion and rotation notes, a weekly time
  estimate, and a shopping list.

inputs:
  location_and_climate: "${location:Leeds, UK, temperate maritime, wet winters}"
  last_spring_frost: "${last_frost:late April}"
  first_autumn_frost: "${first_frost:late October}"
  space: "${space:two raised beds of 1.2 x 2.4 m plus four large pots on a patio}"
  sun_hours: "${sun:6 hours of direct sun in summer on the beds, the patio gets afternoon sun}"
  soil: "${soil:bought topsoil mixed with compost, slightly heavy}"
  household_and_tastes: "${household:two adults who cook a lot; love tomatoes, salad, beans, herbs; dislike beetroot}"
  time_available: "${time:about 2 hours a week, more at weekends in spring}"
  experience_level: "${experience:first full season, grew herbs before}"
  start_month: "${start:February}"
  extras: "${extras:no greenhouse, a sunny windowsill for seedlings, want to avoid chemical sprays}"

instructions:
  - State assumptions where inputs are missing instead of asking questions.
  - Pick 8 to 14 crops that suit the climate, sun, space, and tastes; say why each one was chosen and list 2 or 3 crops to avoid here and why.
  - Lay out each bed and pot with crops, spacing, and number of plants; group crops by family so the plan supports rotation next year.
  - Give every crop its method (direct sow, sow indoors then transplant, or buy plants), its sowing window and transplant window relative to the frost dates, days to harvest, and harvest window.
  - Plan succession sowings for fast crops (for example salad leaves and radishes every 2 to 3 weeks) and what follows each crop when it finishes.
  - Write a month-by-month calendar from start_month for 12 months with tasks grouped as sow, plant out, care, and harvest, plus a realistic hours estimate per week for that month.
  - Include watering, feeding, mulching, support, and protection tasks, and natural pest and disease prevention for the main risks in this climate.
  - Add a shopping list of seeds, plants, and supplies with quantities.
  - Keep advice practical and organic; no chemical pesticides.

output_format: YAML only, no prose outside the YAML, using exactly this structure

output_schema:
  assumptions: [string]
  site_summary:
    climate: string
    frost_free_period: string
    growing_area_m2: number
    weekly_time_budget_hours: number
  crops:
    - name: string
      family: string
      why_chosen: string
      method: direct_sow | sow_indoors_transplant | buy_plants
      sow_window: string
      transplant_window: string or null
      days_to_harvest: string
      harvest_window: string
      succession: string or null
      followed_by: string or null
  crops_to_avoid:
    - name: string
      reason: string
  layout:
    - area: string
      size: string
      plantings:
        - crop: string
          plants_or_rows: string
          spacing_cm: string
          position: string
  companion_notes: [string]
  rotation_next_year: [string]
  calendar:
    - month: string
      sow: [string]
      plant_out: [string]
      care: [string]
      harvest: [string]
      hours_per_week: number
  pest_and_disease_prevention:
    - problem: string
      crops_at_risk: [string]
      prevention: string
  shopping_list:
    - item: string
      quantity: string
      when_needed: string
  beginner_tips: [string]

How to use

• Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok or any other chat AI.
• Replace the variables in ${…}, {…} or […] with your own details first.
• Check the output before you rely on it.