The organized gardener
I鈥檒l never forget the first time I talked with a long-time gardener who was able to tell me how different varieties of tomatoes and peppers had performed for him the year before 鈥� and even five years earlier.
He also knew how much rain had actually fallen on his yard (not at the official weather station) the previous week 鈥� and each of the past 10 years.
He wasn鈥檛 one of those people with a phenomenal memory who鈥檝e been in the news lately. He wrote things down in a garden notebook. As I recall, it was a looseleaf notebook so he could just keep adding pages as the data accumulated.
Here鈥檚 one that鈥檚 free for the . HomesteadGarden.com offers free printable to help you get started. Or, if you鈥檙e the crafty type, make .
The type of notebook doesn鈥檛 matter nearly as much as having the information all in one .
I like to keep of the plants I buy each year and how well they grew and bloomed 鈥� or didn鈥檛. That saves me from trying the same wonderful-sounding plant twice because I鈥檇 forgotten I鈥檇 already given in a whirl and it was a dud.
I like to know when my various hydrangeas and other shrubs bloomed each year, when we ate the first tomato of the season, and whether a particular cultivar of cucumber was a heavy producer or not 鈥� and for how long.
A garden notebook can also remind me of plants that I really liked and want more of. I always save the label and paste it to the page or put it in a special plastic bag that holds all the labels for a particular year. I never ceased to be surprised at how often I refer back to these.
I鈥檓 a bit of a weather junkie so I like to record the weather鈥檚 ups and downs, lows and highs, wets and dries (noting the rainfall amounts with a rain gauge in my backyard).
I鈥檝e never done this, but a or drawing of all your beds is a wonderful idea.
If you鈥檙e big on experimenting in the garden, you can note different types of fertilizer you tried during the year, tools you bought, and so forth.
A to-do list at the front of the garden notebook can be a handy reminder 鈥� there always seems to be one thing that you forget about over and over.
And don鈥檛 forget to add photos! We gardeners often can use inspiration. It鈥檚 such a pleasure to look back at pictures taken at the beginning of a project, see how far you鈥檝e come, and be able to say, 鈥淗ey, I鈥檝e made a difference.鈥�
That鈥檚 what鈥檚 keeps us going.
