Welcome to The Backyard Farmer Tool Shed — the home of my free, browser‑based gardening tools.
This isn’t about physical tools or product reviews. Instead, the Tool Shed is where you’ll find interactive planners, calculators, calendars, and finders designed to help you make better decisions before you buy, build, or plant anything.
Start with a planner if you’re designing a garden, or jump straight to a tool below.
Whether you’re planning an allotment, checking what to sow today, or tracking down free pallets and firewood, these tools are built to save time, reduce guesswork, and support practical, self‑sufficient gardening.
There are no downloads, no paywalls, and no sign‑ups required — just straightforward digital tools made by a working gardener. Bookmark this page and come back whenever you need it. The shed is always growing.
These free gardening tools help you plan vegetable gardens, design raised beds, identify wildlife, and find useful local resources. Whether you’re managing an allotment, designing a square foot garden, or planning what to plant this season, the Tool Shed brings everything together in one place.
Design your garden layout, plan what to grow, and organise your planting schedule in UK conditions. Whether you’re managing an allotment, raised beds, or a small backyard vegetable garden, these planners make it easier to grow efficiently.
Design productive raised bed layouts using the square foot gardening method. Experiment with crop spacing, test different layouts, and export your finished plan before planting.
Plan your gardening tasks using traditional lunar gardening principles, helping you choose the best days to sow root, leaf, fruit, and flower crops.
See exactly what vegetables to sow, plant, or harvest each month in the UK. This interactive calendar helps you plan seasonal gardening tasks based on typical growing conditions.
These tools help indoor growers manage temperature, humidity, and environmental conditions inside grow tents, greenhouses, and indoor growing spaces.
Check whether your grow tent temperature and humidity create a balanced Vapour Pressure Deficit (VPD). This calculator helps diagnose environmental stress and optimise indoor plant growth.
Quickly identify plants, pests, and wildlife in your garden using simple, practical tools
Identify bees using simple visual cues
Answer a few quick questions about colour, size, tail type, and markings to narrow down the bee you’ve spotted. Includes instant matches and links to detailed UK species profiles.
Find materials, supplies, and local resources for gardening and DIY projects.
Find free and cheap firewood near you
Search local sources of firewood using your postcode. Includes guidance on legal collection, safe timber types, and how to season logs properly.
Plan off-grid setups and calculate energy needs for low-cost, self-sufficient gardening.
Calculate the right solar system size
Work out how much solar panel capacity and battery storage you actually need based on your appliances, usage habits, and UK conditions — without overspending.
Locate free pallets for DIY projects
Find businesses giving away pallets for raised beds, compost bins, log stores, and other garden builds. Practical, quick, and completely free.
Find garden centres near you
Use an interactive map to locate nearby garden centres across the UK. Ideal for sourcing plants, compost, tools, and supplies without guesswork.
Short answers to common questions about how these tools work. If you don’t see what you need here, just use the tools — they’re designed to be self‑explanatory.
The best free vegetable garden planner for UK growers is our allotment planner, designed with UK growers in mind. It’s easy to use, mobile-friendly, and includes companion planting tips so you get more from your space.
No sign-up required. Everything runs straight in your browser. You can save or print layouts without entering an email — although you can subscribe if you’d like extra seasonal content.
Yes. Every tool is tested on desktop and mobile, so you can plan or check sowing dates while you’re in the garden.
Absolutely. They’re created to make gardening and self-sufficiency more accessible for everyone. No paywalls, no hidden catches.
The tools are browser-based but act just like an app. Bookmark them to your home screen for quick, offline-style access whenever you need it.
At the beginning you only need the basics: a layout planner, sowing calendar, compost spot, and a few hand tools. Our digital tools help you organise all of this from day one.