Much has been written recently about the Y2K problem as the beginning of the 21st century approaches.  I was recently in a 24 hour road assistance shop for truckers and found an article in one of their trade magazines about getting the diesel mechanic shop Y2K compliant.  This started me thinking: if the diesel industry worries about the effects of Y2K, then so too, perhaps, should gardeners.

I set out to find what was being done to make gardens Y2K compliant and was dismayed by the lack of information.  Although the Ortho® web site had much to say about bugs, not a mention of the millennium bug could be found.  Therefore, I decided to do my own investigation into the ramifications of Y2K for gardeners.

Cameron Walker, a database analyst for a major database corporation, stated that gardeners have little to worry about in relation to the millennium bug.  "They are just plants," he said, "and there is nothing about Y2K that involves them." While Walker's opinion may give hope to some, it should be noted that he really doesn't know that much about gardening -- he even hires a professional company to cut his lawn!

Computer programmer Scott Waldon, who has been known to raise a crop or two, had little to say, but did comment that those gardeners with Apple products have nothing to worry about.  "Apple products have always been Y2K compliant," he stated.

Jukebox restorer, Mike Snodgrass (author's brother: http://www.retrorock-it.com) and Y2K watcher, had less optimistic thoughts.  "You just never know what this Y2K thing might bring.  Imagine what would happen if all the radical survivalists went out and bought up all the vegetable seeds!  The supply lines would definitely be affected!"

Some guy at the mall told me that he really had no plans to do anything to his garden for Y2K.  "What difference does it make to plants if it is the year 2000 or 1900?  As long as they know it is January, what difference does it make?  Anyway, all I deal with is Apple stuff, so I don't have anything to worry about!"

With the ambiguity found among these experts, the gardeners best bet is to take precautions, at least to some degree.  Just what should the Y2K savvy gardener do to prepare for the millennium bug?  Here are a few tips that should carry you and your garden into the next century.

First, keep a hard copy of your gardening efforts for future reference.  This can be done either on video tape or plain photography film.  Some are skeptical about the video tape option because it involves technology that may go south with all the rest of technology.  These skeptics prefer the printed photograph, even over the color slide (which relies on a projector to be viewed).  Whatever your choice, a photographic record of your gardening is a nice way to record what you have accomplished.  Even if the millennium bug misses your garden, the images of summer and autumn will warm you over the cold dark winter and the turn of the new century.

Second, consider some sort of back-up procedures.  Some people prefer storing their gardens in compressed "seed" format.  In this way -- by storing a few seeds -- entire plants can be reproduced the next year!

Keep in mind that, no matter what happens, these precautions will not be wasted.  If your garden survives the turn of the century unaffected by the millennium bug, you will have something to share with your friends and family!  If the worse happens, at least we can all rely on Apple products!