Garden Journal?

[sunnysandiegan]

Do you keep a journal of your gardening efforts and results? What is included in that journal? Do you ever refer back to it? What has been most useful time after time?

I used to keep a written journal with dry details and receipts tucked inside. I never referred back to it, so this time I decided (with the help of the small space thread in this forum) to create a photojournal on Flickr. It is far more fun and illustrative! Plus, I am always poking around in our thousands of digital pictures, so there is a much higher chance I will go back to the information again (or at the very least, know exactly where to find it).

I am photographing every week and writing little details in the comment when I upload them to Flickr. What information is actually useful later on? I am making this up as I go and have no idea!

Thanks!

[ms.shell]

i have not been good at keeping up a garden log and i keep telling myself to do it and have not. i made a scrapbook page of our garden last year, but it just had pix and not the info i have wanted to look back on.
the information i have most wanted is to know on what dates i planted things. i was too late with the squash, apparently, as the vine borers are showing up before we are getting produce, so i wish i could look back and see on what date i planted so to plant earlier next year. and this is one example of many; at the least i want to record dates of plantings, varieties planted and yield produced. i have also recently discovered the need to write down dates when i fertilize...dp and i had a bit of an argument in the garden this weekend, him thinking i need to fertilize the tomatoes, me thinking i have done so in the last two weeks, but unable to determine exactly when i did so.
yesterday i picked up a simple 2 year calendar (purse sized) for $1 and i plan to just jot down when i plant and fertilize.

[sunnysandiegan]

Thanks ms.shell! That is helpful. I can add dates now for the things I have done in the last two weeks. I can guess on other things this calendar year for tentative info. It'll be better than nothing and I'll note that it is a guess...

[earthhugmama]

@sunnysandiegan - lovely flickr set! awesome project!

This is a great idea to journal about gardening. I like the idea of the digital photojournal. I just might start something like this since I am really happy with my garden right now and I'd love to use my camera more

I also love how written journals look with handwriting, drawings, little add-on comments, inserted pictures/cutouts, and perhaps additions from the garden (perhaps collected seeds). I would love to be able to easily merge digital photo and some of the written journal components and then combine them into one book or body of information that can be easily accessed later on for inspiration or for data for future garden planning. Maybe a flickr gardening photojournal and then photos of a garden sketch book/journal and include them in the flickr set.

I would assume you would record the information that you would find important and learn as you go along. You could go very detailed (google garden journal) or just keep it simple.

[lmonter]

I've sorta done it. Nothing too detailed as I kept getting knocked up and the exhaustion just wipes out all my good intentions.

But I have taken photos, and posted on my blog with little notes. Also taken photos of diagrams I've drawn of what's planted where. Because a photo will stay on my blog, but the piece of paper with my 2008 garlic map? Was "enhanced" with crayon at one point. Sigh.

Anyway. Knowing what kind of yield you get from, say, tomatoes in one location vs. a different location is nice. Knowing what you had planted and where last year helps the planning in the current year's planting lineup. As in, don't be dumb like me and plant a ton of green beans next to garlic. And expect a great bean harvest. Again, sigh.

If I were any kind of organized, I'd take photos, get them printed almost immediately, paste into a scrapbook type deal (well, the cardstock ring-bound deals from Michael's that aren't too expensive), and scribble in my notes around it. So it'd be pretty and fun to flip through. But with my 4 young kids, I'm lucky to get the photos even taken, let alone resized and labeled on my blog [with or without captions]. Although last year I did seem to do okay at keeping up with usually weighing the produce brought in from the yard. Not stellar, but okay.

[HeatherAtHome]

I have a half hearted 'home management' binder with a section on gardening. I printed up some calendar pages (with fun, garden related quotes at bottom) and try to record important info on it. I do blog a lot (every day/every other day) so I tend to have plenty of garden related pics and info on there so lots of times I end up looking on my blog to find out when I did things.

I plan on recording: when I plant, fertilize, harvest anything. Any major changes in weather (unseasonably hot/cold, longer periods without rain, too much rain etc). Any infestations that pop up and what I try to get rid of them with.... that sort of thing. I also have a garden map where everything is planted so that I can do crop rotations. I really spent a lot of time going over the layout of the garden.

[SagMom]

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

Do you keep a journal of your gardening efforts and results? What is included in that journal? Do you ever refer back to it? What has been most useful time after time?

A started a few years ago with the flower beds because every spring, things would start to sprout up and I'd have no idea what they were! lol

I began with a rough sketch of the garden, noting what what planted where and approximately when they were supposed to bloom. I also had some clip-art photos of things that I was unfamilar with and wouldn't necessarily recognize as they began to come up so that I wouldn't pull them, thinking they were weeds!

I jot down suppliers that I love, and ones I don't ever want to use again.

Last year, I took photos weekly, from the same angle, so that I could see the progression of the garden, as well as where any empty spots were.

During the growing season, I make notes about what I want to change next time--things that need transplanting, or dividing, something that needs more (or less) sun, or maybe there is too much of one color in one corner and I want to balance it out, etc.

I do it for the vegetables too, but to a lesser extent, since they're not perennials. I map out what goes where, then make notes during the season if a certain crop would be better placed elsewhere, or if I'd like more or less of something. If a veg. fails or we have too much of something, or find that no one wants to eat it, I'll note that because even when I'm SURE I'll remember it for next year, fact is, I won't. I also note varieties and suppliers that I want to use again. Oh, and I make note of which veggies I want to start indoors and when, and which I'll direct-sow.

[Erinz]

I keep dates and locations of things on my regular calendar -- it's a new attempt this year to keep better track of things. It's working out OK so far. Coupled with my garden blog (http://themorsefamilyspot.blogspot.com/), which tends to show progress and harvest more than plantings, I'm feeling pretty complete so far. This is the first year I've really tried to pay attention to timing as in the next few years I'd like to grow most of what we eat so I need to be better at it. Like right now we've devoured all available greens, I should have planted more a month ago. So I marked in my calendar what/where I planted on that date and then went back a month to remind myself to get things in next year earlier. I'll transfer it all to a new calendar and keep the old one for reference. It's also nice to do a blog because you can share it, keep links at the ready of other garden blogs you like, and if you use one of the free ones it is FREE! NOt to mention you can easily scroll back to what you were growing/harvesting in the previous year if you're good about posting it!

[sunnysandiegan]

Awesome tips everyone! Thanks so much for sharing!

[sunnysandiegan]

Nice blog, Erin.

[earthhugmama]

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

Nice blog, Erin.

[Erinz]

thank you!