Do You Keep A Gardening Journal?

I’m a huge fan of journaling.  I think journaling is very powerful in a person’s personal life.  Recording insights and observations and being able to go back and see growth and remember details of past experiences is fantastic.

I wish I could tell you that I have rows and rows of old journals detailing a rich inner life of my own.

I wish.

But, alas, I have just never been able to make myself do it.  I’m not sure what the hold up is, but I suspect it has something to do with not being able to sit still long enough to actually write in a book.  Also, it feels like I wouldn’t have anything significant enough to write to actually sit and do it.

It’s the same thing with a garden journal.    There are many reasons to keep a garden journal. Here are just a few:

1. Keeping records of what varieties you planted, when, and how they grew. (“What kind of tomato was it that did so well last year?”)

2. So that you can remember in what bed you planted what for the purposes of crop rotation.

3. Keep track of dates that you sprayed and fertilized. So you know what was effective and when it needs to be done again.

4. So that you don’t have to learn the same lessons over and over again.

5. It’s a place to record ideas so that you don’t forget them. I don’t know about you, but genius doesn’t usually strike twice around here.

6. It’s a place to record your observations. Like, for instance, I have noticed that during light frost, one end of my beds freeze, and the other one doesn’t.  (Which end is it?  I have no idea because I’ve never written it down.)

All that said, I have never ever had a garden journal.  I have had the best of intentions, but I’ve never been successful.

So, what I’ve decided is that I’m going to use this blog as a garden journal.  Every time I plant something, I’m going to post what I planted, in what bed, along with any observations I have.  I’m going to post a photo of either the plant tag or the seat packet (front and back).  I’ll tag the post with the “garden journal” tag, along with whatever plant it is, and whatever bed it is. That way I can query by tag and find information on that subject.

Deal?  Deal.