Garden Journal - Any Tips On

[Flower4Yeshua]

As many of oyu know we just bought a new place a few months ago...oregmud, mari-jo, sharon and a few other were saying they keep garden journals. I think this is what I want to do ...I was in hopes you all might share about yours ...what you use to keep your notes...how you have yours set up...do you add picturtes?...Thanks all...

 

[sassmuffin]

Okay I can start. I have a thee ring binder folder thing, and a spiral note book. In the folder I keep magazine clippings, or things printed from the computer, drawings etc. I also keep a list of seeds I have and what the start dates are for all.

In the spiral, this I carry out to the garden in the morning. It's my to do list, what I worked on, notes about new plants or seedlings. Ideas for the next day or week or year. I keep all my photos in the computer to conincide with that days gardening. Hope this helps

 

[swindy]

I replied to this thread last night and for some reason it didn't post.

When I first started gardening I started a garden journal in a composition note book and then also used a spiral note book. As I had a very large area to garden I would draw out garden beds and where I wanted them to be I would add what plants and how many of them I wanted in each bed. I was lucky to have access to shrubs that were purchased for another site that was over bought for, for little or no money so that really helped me in the back bones of the gardens. I started perennials from seed in trays the first or second year and used the seed packages buried half way in the soil, after the waterings and the rains the packages disintegrated and I had all these plants that I didn't know what they were or how to care for, I had to wait til the next year for them to flower . I took a section of the garden and called it my crib and just planted the perennials in rows until they grew to the point of IDing them. After that experience I got serious about keep the journal. I kept a wish list section, an area where I would list the names of the plants I had and draw a line down the page so I could make notes on care and spacing and performance, so I could find the plant and care quickly. My journal is not pretty because I am no artist but it worked for me . And now I hold on to it with the hopes of being able to live on a property that I can develop another garden and will use all the info I have at hand.

 

[swindy]

I just went to "Things to do" thread and found the post I made last night so it is now in 2 threads lol

 

[oremudpie]

Hi
Mine is a 2 inch 3 ring binder with pocket dividers in it for tags off roses and other important plant..I write down what I bought, how it did, where I bought it, sometimes
draw pictures of what I might want to do..this past year we went after bling meaning lots of color in new window boxes and were successful its all written where we went and we bought Debe you know Art and this was project he was very much interested in..Ha Ha..Now all this info is there for next spring.
To me its not how you do it but its just doing it , so you don't forget..
I'll show you mine the next we see each other.
Later all
melanie

 

[Kale]

O sorta enjoy sitting and making graphs and designs, makes me feel like I know what I am doing*LOL
I usually do not make concrete plans for what goes where at the time I graph or draw. Here is a simple lay out of my pond area. I draw then scan and I can make more copies as the years go by or the ideas, usually the ideas *lol
Because I cant help myself I have to change things around as I mature in the gardens. I use to be extremely wild and crazy now I'm looking for a more neat but wild look*LOL
I just have fun with it when the soil is too wet to work.
I just sit and play with designs. Sometimes at night I will just go over records and try to remember what went on. I cant believe I forget!!!!!!!!!!
It is so frustrating!

That is what I do for every bed! I also graph it & take a pic close up and distant. I use to find close ups and had no clue as to where they were*LOL. Oh, I have several spirals and when I misplace one I use another, I do start from the back for different subjects/ plants. Or bend triangles in a page .I find red spiral 500 pages works well and labeling the cover with masking tapes makes the eyes find it quicker*lol Always putting it in the same container when done writing for more then an hour. I use to know I wasn’t done and leave it everywhere thinking Ill get to it .I did nearly loose everything due to rain. The umbrella was nearly useless.
Needless to say I have several books packed with information. I even go to all roses many times and write what they are doing and then again to note how long the roses lasted. It is really time consuming but I love it and will enjoy the journal in years to come. Lists are the only thing I use my computer for.Pics are all in named folders either dates or months.
I am yet to figure out how to folder my pics. Do I make a folder for each rose*LOL
Do I put all veggies in weekly folders or monthly folders do each veggies get their own folders? Right now I have the pics by month; I can keep track of all those folders thousands of pics. I am good with a few months the beginning March to early May then Aug then November .whatever else I have needs to be searched for .
The main problem I had was my stupid printer kept starting my folder numbers from the beginning. So I have tens of folders in each month named 100 all pics are named the same.!
I have a real HATE love relationship with my computer*LOL
I wish I had the pics in my hands I can organize in a minute this clicking around makes me insane!*lol
Blooms I keep them with "monthly" to remind me along with my note book that will tell me what bloomed when.And what I need to balance my plan for next year or now.


Kale

 

[Flower4Yeshua]

cool...thanks all...great information...always like the what works... I was going to just use a small little book...but I see now a three ring binder is the best .....also have some things I have pulled from mags and will put them along with planes..keep the information coming please..

 

[Mari-Jo]

My journal is not very fancy........just a little book from the dollar store. Things I put in it, are the things I would like to do, and the things that should be done the next year.........also the plants that I would like to get, and how well a plant did, in a particular area. Then..........I have another binder type book, that I either take pics, or look them up on the net, take or print pic of plants that I have, and the info on them. I didn't do very well at that last year, as it was a crazy garden year for me.........lol........moved one garden last year, as I wanted to cut down a bit, as it was getting just to much for me, but this year will tell if all that moving, will be less work for me.....lol

 

[Flower4Yeshua]

thanks Mari-Jo...as I said I hope me doing this may help me not pull my beetberry this year...LOL...along with other new fruits and veggies I might try and not remember what the start looks like

 

[Mari-Jo]

thanks Mari-Jo...as I said I hope me doing this may help me not pull my beetberry this year...LOL...along with other new fruits and veggies I might try and not remember what the start looks like

Did you ever think about marking it, so you know where it is...........OYE...

 

[Dale]

I think keeping a journal is a fantastic way to record all the goings on in the vegetable and flower gardens. Don't have the memory I used to and the journal would be great record keeping.

 

[Crabbergirl]

I like doing both note book and computer. You can cataolg your digital pics on the computer as well as keep note. How ever a hand held note book can go to the garden or yard with you. Scrapbooking for each season is fun and gives guest and friend something to look at when they visit. I think a photo album would be better than a scrap book because you can have more information. But I always like to look back and see where I have come from.

 

[Flower4Yeshua]

OK ---I think I am armed with good information to get one going...thanks and please keep adding any thoughts...with the yards all being new to us ...this is goingt o be such fun ---along with great help I know

 

[Kale]

When I first started to plan I was overwhelmed with fear of not knowing what to do and then...I came to terms with it and...it came naturally.I did each section with a personal touch keeping in mind the whole picture.
I set plant as I went along.I had lots of Dames Rocket so I planted so your eye would be brought to scan the whole big picture,then I added yellows,then oranges,etc. It would take me more then an hour to post what I want to say,by then my time will run out ..So I'm going to write on a .doc (between today and tomorrow if I can) then just copy it here,I may have one written up.
I get so excited about starting a new plot or (gardens) I get nervous!!! The thrill is just so overwhelming! Sorta like seeing a rose perform her first bud then finally bloom or your kale seed germinate*LOL I cant explain it. It is just too heavenly for me..so...having said that I will gather myself and work on it for you *LO.L

This is going to be such fun, you are going to have such a wonderful BLAST!

Kale

 

[Wrennie]

My garden journal is a composition notebook. I have taken notes from borrowed books in it, cut out pics from magazines & taped, glued stapled them in there. Have tags from plants stapled in there. It is in chronological order. So if I research something today it just goes on the next page, not back in the research done before.
I also note in there things such as when we see our first hummingbird of the season, when we finally stop stoking the woodstove full time, and again when we start in the fall. Animal sightings, especially the unusual, like the mink that came one year, go in there too. I write what I've done in the garden each day and draw maps of what I put where. I also note what I didnt like and what I did from the season. I try to remember to note if a plant was from an online friend. Sometimes I forget to put that in and kick myself later.
I do have some pictures of before and after in my computer but dont really refer to them when planning new projects. I use them more to show people online what I'm up to. The composition book is small enough to go in the yard with me. It has some mud smudges here and there and has been 'forgotten' when I take out the hose, so its a bit warped.
At the end of the growing season I sometimes do a plans for next year page. So I remember what i had thought of in the fall. It usually gets completely changed come spring and all of my new ideas.

 

[sfishergirl]

I am a notebook person I have several notebooks for the garden I try to keep them all in one box. I have one for propagation, one for information on each plant, and one for plans. Then every fall I make a map of where everything is so I know where things are when the snow melts and most important I know what is in the test patches

 

[phey12]

That's good, my grandma used notebook an taking down notes when she's watching any shows about planting it helps her to have a better knowledge about planting and one benefit you can share it to your love ones.

 

[Randy]

I have a notebook out in the greenhouse that Crabber gave me a long time ago. But I also try and keep notes here on my computer.

 

[Bernie]

When I first moved here from Hawaii I didn’t know the first thing about gardening with seasons. For the first two years I made detailed notes about the weather. Every evening I’d listen to the news and jot down the temps, wind chill, rain fall and wind speed etc. Also noted what parts of the garden were sunny and for how long each day. I still refer to those old weather notes.
I include when our irrigation water is turned on and off each year.
My journal is kind of bare bones. I make a grid of each bed and put a number in each block of the grid. I have a list of the plants which corresponds to the numbers. Next to each plant name I note when I plant it, when it blooms. If needed I note if it’s too tall, to short, too wide, wrong color for the area, if it needs to be moved, where I’d like to move it etc.
When I buy seeds I note the brand and the store I bought it from. Interestingly enough I’ve noticed that seeds bought at one store don’t germinate as well as the same seeds bought from another even though it’s the same brand.
I keep all my plant tags in a photo album and make a note of where and when I bought it. If it has a guarantee I put the receipt in with it.
I must admit I am not religious about my journal which is why I am going nuts trying to figure out where I planted my new bleeding heart last year. No mention of it in my journal and I have a serious case of CRS so I’ll have to wait till it shows itself.

 

[richnkim]

I just looked at this thread. All of the information is so great. I think I will sart one. Maybe it is something my kids and grandkids can have a laugh about when I'm gone. LOL