Organize your Garden with a Garden Journal

Having an organizational system in the garden is crucial! A garden journal will help you keep track of the things you plant, when you plant them, harvest time, and so many other tips and tricks you can document as you go. This system will also help you next year, to look back on what you could have done better. I didn’t think to document my adventures in the garden last year until it was way too late.

What is a garden journal?

A garden journal is just like any other journal you would keep. Record your thoughts, ideas, and goals only on a more specific topic. Gardening, of course! A lot of people decide to keep their garden journal separate from a daily journal/diary type. It makes it a lot easier to find the things you need. All of your garden tidbits would get easily lost in a journal of everything.

Why should you keep a garden journal?

I’ll give you my little story of how I learned the hard way. I had read somewhere that if you plant marigolds, they attract beneficial insects to help with pests. I also thought it would be wonderful to have flowers mixed in my garden with the food I was growing. So I sprinkled my marigold confetti all around my yard, like the happy little garden fairy I am. Fast forward a week or two. I had forgotten all about the marigold seeds. Since I have never seen a marigold sprout…, I pulled ALL of them up while weeding. Yeah, yay me. I missed only one little plant, and it turned into a beautiful small marigold patch. Looking closer at the tiny fern-like leaves, I realized what I had done. Don’t be me; keep track of your garden!

Everyone needs to start some type of system to organize their garden. Make it yours. The beautiful thing is, that there is no wrong way to do it. Draw pictures, or paste some in from inspirational magazines. You can use it as a creative outlet as well as a must-have collective resource. You can even add some pocket pages to keep your seed packets contained. Go crazy! These are just some ideas of pages that may be helpful. Use them all. Or none. Make it however you’d like. Just make sure you have one.

I started my notebook in a bullet journal style in a graph page notebook. You can use any kind of diary that you like. I’ve seen some in 3-ring binders, plain cheap notebooks. Journals are made specifically to get you off to a good start. There are so many options!

Garden Journal Pages You Can Add:

• What do you want to plant in your garden?
• Jot down dates you bought seeds. Seeds can last quite a while, but each year that goes by, the germination rate decreases.
• You can document the type of plant and the date you planted the seed.
• The estimated harvest date is also a great bit of information to add. This can be calculated by the date you planted the seed and then adding the days until mature, usually on the seed packet’s back.
• Map Page – You can draw a little map or write down which areas your plants will be. A plan keeps you knowing which plant is which. Some plants look similar when the fruit isn’t on it yet.
• Dates when you transplanted
• Plant info
• Weather conditions
• Tip notations
• Harvest results
• Pests or Beneficial Insects
• Plant Graveyard
• Reflection
• Fertilization Schedule
• Seed Info and Resources
• Seed Collection and Storing dates
• Garden brain dump things you come across that you want to try in the future
• Any interesting tips you have along the way
• Garden Tags or seed packets of things you planted for reference.

More:

• Individual plant pages. More details on how to take care of a specific plant. Some are picky, and it is best to have a little cheat sheet.
• Photo album pages to capture the beautiful garden you created. You can also look back at your pictures during the winter to get excited for the next year.
• Make Lists, lists, and more lists. To-do lists, list of garden tools, wish lists. There are so many garden lists you can add.
• Observation Pages. Write down what you see in the garden.
• Expenses Vs. Harvest – You can keep track of how much you have spent on seeds, garden tools, and other odds and ends. This way, you can see when you eat the fruits of your labor it is worth it. Especially berries, they are getting a bit expensive at the store. You can adjust where you need to for the next year.

I hope this helps you. When I first started my journal, I was clueless. I am one of those people who loves a blank journal. I’ll be honest I get a little freaked out writing in it for the first time—a little scared to mess up the pretty pages. But once you get going, it is worth it.

If you enjoyed this post you can check out 10 side effects of gardening.