I cannot tell you how much I love my garden journal. I have been keeping a garden journal for the last five years and it has proven to be so useful. I find that what you include in a garden journal changes as you continue to grow as a gardener.
I reference my garden journal a lot during the beginning of the year while planning my garden, but then also throughout the year to remember certain things and compare year over year. It helps me to answer questions like… When did I plant garlic last year? Which day did we harvest potatoes? When did my cilantro bolt and start to go to flower? When did the first cabbage moths show up?
This way I can get ahead of the game and become more proactive. Here is a look inside my garden journal, and the things I find to be the most important to include.
Gardening Goals
Every year I choose three goals for my garden. It is nice to have a breakdown of specific goals for each year. You do not need to create super detailed smart goals unless you want to. You can create some simple goals too. I have really started getting more into SMART goals and am looking forward to setting some for 2024.
In 2021 I set some simple but very good goals for my garden. I wanted to grow more flowers to attract beneficial bugs, build a new 4×8 raised bed garden, and store more food for the winter than I had the previous year.
Having these goals in writing really does help you to keep moving the needle forward. And it is so fun to look back at the end of the year and see what you accomplished. I have to say my biggest win in 2021 was my goal of planting more beneficial flowers. It was amazing to see the good bugs really show up. I had hoverflies, green lacewings, ladybugs, and praying mantis in my garden.
Inspirational Quotes & Personal Touches
I love finding and writing out inspirational quotes throughout my garden journal. These can really keep you inspired and motivated as you go through the year.
It is also fun to add cute stickers or photos of your garden. Another thing I have seen is incorporating pressed herbs or flowers. These are all great ways to really personalize your garden journal and make it your own.
Garden journaling is a time for you to take for yourself, so why not really get creative with it. It can be super functional and also enjoyable and pretty at the same time. Now that is my idea of fun.
Weather Patterns & Rainfall Amounts
As I write this article our growing zone has just changed. You can see the general patterns for your area online, but there is no better way to know your exact growing climate and weather patterns than by keeping your own records.
I do this simply with an outdoor thermometer and a rain gauge. I like to note the first and last frosts that I observe, the rainfall amounts we get, the temperatures each day I write in my journal, and then overall weather patterns for each month.
You will notice that your notes may differ slightly from the weather apps you use on your phone. This is because your garden will have its own microclimate. Perhaps it gets more or less wind due to structures nearby, or your elevation is a little higher or lower which affects the temperature, or you live near a lake which affects local rainfall amounts.
I continue to use this data to really fine-tune my seed sowing and planting dates.
Seed Sowing Schedule
A proper seed sowing schedule is so important. It will keep you on track to make sure you are starting everything at the right times so they can be at their best growth stages before being planted outside. I like to note the dates, varieties, and amounts of each plant I am starting.
That way I can keep on track while I am also working full-time. It helps me not to forget the plan that I have worked so hard to put together.
Garden Layout
The garden layout portion is where I plan out my garden space. I use graph paper to draw it all out and then glue it in my book. I draw out each garden bed to scale and then add in how many of each plant I am planting and where. I also add small tabs over top of certain beds if I will be planting one thing there in spring and then something else in the summer or fall for example.
I like to employ the square-foot gardening method to plan how far to space my plants. I mark this down and then can adjust in future years depending on how well it worked out.
Diary Section
This is the main section of my garden journal and I use it to write small diary entries. I love to go out in the garden in the mornings with a cup of tea and my journal and just write down what I feel, see, hear, and smell.
It is a great mindfulness practice all in itself because I just really focus on being present and enjoying the moment. These are great to read over the winter as it takes me back to that beautiful day in July when my garden was all abuzz with flowers and honey bees.
I also include when I first spot any pests, when things are flowering or sprouting, when I started seeds, problems I had, successes, the birds that are hanging around, and whatever else comes to mind.
Harvest Information
This one I will admit I always start out with good intentions, but it is hard to really get an exact picture.
The most important thing here that I have found is to record the earliest harvest date of each plant. This helps with planning your garden as you will know when garden space is likely to become available. For example, if I know that I harvest my beets around the beginning of June, then I can plan to plant some bush beans or another fast-growing crop in its place for the summer and early fall.
The amounts are tricky because I can measure if I do a large garlic harvest. But, I do not measure the amount of times I am strolling through the garden and eating some cherry tomatoes or if I run out to grab some basil for dinner.
Feel free to get as detailed as you want here – or not. I know some people who have a scale and measure the weight of everything that comes out of the garden. At this point, I am not that detailed. Like I said, I mostly focus on the harvest dates, and then if there is something large that I harvest all at once I will record the amounts.
Notes for Next Year:
This section is where I jot down point form notes as I go through the growing season. For example last year I noted to plant more spinach and less lettuce than I did. Or I might say to myself to start certain seeds earlier or later depending on how everything worked out.
As you continue your gardening journey, you will really perfect what works best for you and what you find to be the most helpful. I hope that I have given you some good garden journal ideas and inspiration that you can start off with.
Comment down below and let me know what you think the most important thing is to include in your garden journal.
Until next time!
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