Do you keep a garden journal?

Plan to start one this year, if I have the time.

Have a great growing year Everyone!!!!!!

Once I figured out how to add plants from PF to my journal, I do, frequently. But I confess, it's not up to date or complete or anything like that.

xxx, C

I checked that I use Dave's because I do have a fair amount of info in my journal here. however, I have a very complete garden and plant record in several computer programs that I use at home.

My plant inventory is kept in Garden Organizer Deluxe from PrimaSoft. Here's a page from what I have set up for seed tracking. Every entry is linked to pictures I have taken, except for the seeds which have a pic of what the seeds have the potential to become LOL

I also have garden planning software, 3D Home Architect Design Suite 6 (there are newer versions out now), which has a landscape designer. I use it to design and then, as I actually do planting, I update so I wind up with a visual record.

gram ~a girl~

I have a lot of stuff on paper, now I use DG if someone gives me a tip that i will not remember where to find it, later and i want to find it for sure, some time, then I will jot it down on my diary. I will use it more though, I am a newbie since June.

I checked that I use a paper journal or diary. . . hoping to sound organized. But what I actually do is keep a giant three-ring binder for each year, into which I file all the receipts for plants that I order/buy, plus any growing instructions that come, plus printouts of interesting threads from DG, plus my amateurish drawings of my garden beds and their contents, plus some annotations of what did well, and where. . . . every few weeks I try to organize all the paperwork into the relevant sections. It's a giant baggy monster of a notebook. I KNOW I could do better. You people are so impressive! Oh yes; I take lots of pictures and keep them in my iPhoto archives (and sometimes put them on my webpage.) And then in December I had a hard-drive meltdown, and lost a few months of photos, so that taught ME about backing up. I still feel bad that I lost my ripe mater pictures.

I occassionally make some notes which I either lose or forget about.

I want to keep better track of seeds and plants, but don't follow through. But I see I am in the majority on this question!! Maybe when I retire next year! LOL!

I can't tell you how many times I wished I did keep a journal. I just don't have the time.

Joy

I use my DG Journal,, Diary and paper.. guess I don't want to forget anything

I find a paper journal helpful from many perspectives. My local Master Gardener group has published a beautiful journal, which can be used as a perpetual journal (until you fill it up!). But what I think helps me the most is taping in the seed envelopes, tags that come on new plants, receipts from my on line gardening purchases, so I have a record to reference when I am frantically trying to recall where I bought what and when. It has helped countless times.

Always good intentions but always forget that I want to or have one to start. Been starting one for two years now........2005 got as far as Jan ordered seeds and 2006 got as far as February received seeds ordered and March planted seeds in flats........Thats as far as its ever gotten but I start with good intentions

I keep a paper diary of daily weather conditions (min/max temperatures, sun vs. cloud, type of precip) and I also record what I have done in the garden (digging, weeding, planting, etc.). But my most useful records are the index cards I keep for each plant, listing botanical name, common name, type of plant, description of leaves and flowers, where and when I bought it or sowed it, where and when I planted it, and the dates it blooms each year. I must confess that I have a large collection of index cards marked "died"!

I'm having a lot of fun writing random garden thoughts and essays in the DG journal. Helps me stay focussed and helps me recall what I've learned and achieved since I got hooked on gardening. Very satisfying.

AI just updated my DG Diary, for the 2006 season.

I may seem juvinile to some, but some might enjoy it, if for nothing more, than chasing the "Winter Blues" Away.

I'm open to critisicm, but id you D-Mail me. please be kind. lol (said nervously.....)

Deanna

No I don't. At least for now.

I voted no and really am surprised that as I write this 50% said they don't either. I really thought I was going to be in minority. I acually feel bad that I don't and often times have regretted it. I really want to keep one, but don't have the decipline.

I share a home with one of my daughters and her family. They take care of the grass and I take care of everything else. When we bought this house almost eight years ago, I began renovating the couple of azalea/dogwood beds that were here and adding more, including a medium-sized cottage garden just off the deck where my daughter can see it from her kitchen windows. We now have ten beds of perennials from the front all the way to the back of our very large yard.

The reason I started keeping track of things is that I was the only person in the family that knew what was where and how to care for it. I have a large three-ring binder just entitled "The Gardens". I have plants listed alphabetically, including their location, where they came from, how to feed and trim, other basic information that may seem appropriate to that plant. I leave room for pictures and have included plant tags, seed packet pictures and grower tips. Eventually I take out information on plants/seeds that did not do well, but leave that in for a couple of years, just so I don't forget what I don't want to try again. I did draw some garden maps when I started, but they were so amateurish and I was moving things around as I learned, so I gave up the mapping. I started taking pictures the day we rototilled the "big" bed, and now I have a great digital camera to make that part easier--and better.

I am able to do less now because of extensive back surgeries over the last year, but over the last few years my family has become much more knowledgeable. I don't know if they will ever really use the big binder the way it's intended, but we have it for a back-up if nothing else. It is sitting here by my desk waiting to be updated for this last year, poor thing. It does keep calling my name though.

No written record, except for wintersown seeds, but I do keep visual records through pictures.

I started my DG journal as something of an experiment. At the time, I did not understand why anyone wanted/needed a garden journal. I really thought that it would be a waste of time and that I would soon drop the whole project. Was I ever wrong. Using the journal - even for some of my plants - quickly made it clear to me how much I really DID need a journal all along. I also thought that it would take up too much of my valueable time, but I have found that I enjoy working with it in the evenings and especially in winter - it has become my virtual garden in winter which is when I catch up on a lot of entries, photos, etc.

As I mentioned above, I took the laptop into the garden to create the initial inventory. Now, when I place orders online, I save the web page as a text file and use it to add entries for the new plants. When I buy things locally I pull the tags off and put them on the desk for easy entry.

I also use the DG diary. My diary is still in the experimental stage. I use it for various thoughts, notes, ideas, whatever - anything I feel a need to record that doesn't fit into the journal.

I love my journal. Thanks, DG!

I love keeping track of my garden. It helps me to do 'gardeney' things when I can't be in out the garden.

I recently created a software journal using the newest version of Microsoft Access (2007). It lets me add pictures and descriptions by date for each of my plants. I also track 'plant care' to help me remember key things about taking care of my plants and favorite web links.

It was fun to develop and it's been fun to use. I like having the details in there, knowing that I can create reports and screens to view the data any number of ways in the future.

Notebooks. I started with one. Wrote down the plant, latin name, where it's planted and where we dug it up at because those were my first flowers. Then I made a second one called ''Quickfind.'' It just has the name and page number. Third is called ''Blooming By The Month.'' I keep track of the bloom and bed it's in. I just made a spread sheet so I can look things up when I'm here.

Edited to add, I've been drawing the house and yard to scale since 1985, so it's fun to see the changes.( I'm not an artist, but I can tell what the flower I've drawn is. :))

This message was edited Jan 12, 2007 6:51 AM

I had such a poor garden last year, I need everyone else's journal to read this winter.

I am finding this a very informative..and inspirational thread.

My photos have been my journal for now. I bought a notebook with intention of taking notes, but find that I'm not inspired to do it. I may try the DG journal, to see if I can do that.

Laura

I checked paper-Reading how you all keep your diaries though I guess I keep records all kinds of ways, photos
computer and handwritten. I started a "blue print" to scale when we first moved here 9yrs. now and i try and update it in the winter months. I'll use my photos to do that. One day I will get brave and add a Diary here on DG, I looked at some of the Journals and to be honost shuddered at the thought of trying to figure it out.(lol) The Diary looks simple enough...One day/this year!

I think there should of been an other box, because I dont keep a journal, but I right a lot of what I do or need to keep track of on my calander.

steph

I have a combination paper and electronic journal. The electronic one is really just a plant database of plants I have grown and plants I have killed ;-) It is Graden Organizer Delux by http://www.primasoft.com/ Lets you add photos, and all sorts of stuff and is customizable.

My paper one is created in leather journals that are filled with graph paper. It comes in red and black (they don't offer the blue one any more :-( I started out keeping 3 years in 3 volumes - each volume holding 4 months (vol one is Mar-Apr-May-Jun, vol two is Jul-Aug-Sept-Oct, three is Nov-Dec-Jan-Feb). The way I had them divided is roughly corresponding to the growing season - of where I USED to live. With each month covering 3 years of that month - a section for weather, planted, harvest/bloomed and journal. They have them at Barns and Noble, but lately I have not been able to find any. I bought several right after Christmas. I like being able to see what I did "last year" and the year before. Also, I put notes "into the future" - such as, when I opened my journal to Dec this year, there was a big, giant note to NOT START TOMATOES (I used to live in z9, and Dec was an appropriate time to start toms... but not here in z6b!)

Now that I live in a rural area, the garden journal is expanding to include farming activities and livestock... I will be expanding to 4 books per year with 3 months in each... although I am considering using 12 books a year and having more than 3 years worth of history... especially if they discontinue the whole series of books...

Things I put in my paper journal:

* maps/layouts of various beds
* planting dates
* photos
* to do lists
* general comments about everything
* watering notes
* plant markers with instructions that came with plants
* small calendars cut out from various sources so that each month has a calendar page (usually about 2" sq or less) for each year
* empty seed packets or scanned copies of seed packets - especially the backs that have instructions
* shipping seasons for various vendors for seeds, plants, day-old chicks, etc.
* receipts
* animal breeding, gestation and birthing time tables
* insect infestation
* farmer's markets dates/times/locations

I have paper and electronic too. Sorry I didn't see this until after the verdict was in, but I started keeping a journal recently, and, I like it, so much easier to keep track. I do not know how to use the program well, so my journal is a mess, but it's a start...

I always say I'm going to but............

I've attempted to with pen and paper--really just mapping and plant and/or bulb placement so I don't damage anybody:LOL:
I made my first attempt to use the diary thing here--just to note my 2007 seed purchases/trades/swaps. I've got about 4 categories so far--Chain Store Purchases, eBay purchases, Dave's Garden swaps/trades and Catalog/online purchases.

The real chore is going to be listing the seed I already had before I started this =)

Kmom, that is a wonderful journal. Scanning the seed packets is an exellent idea! Laughing over the tomato notation. I too had one. Don't start tomatoes in March! You are one busy Mom!

I walked around with a notebook and took serious note of what didn't work in my beds. There were more of them than what did work! :)) I made new beds and neglected others. I'm making a lot of changes this year.

Oh yes! I am going to start one! A written journal indeed! Along w/ pictures, too.
Each year I make changes. Usually never plant the same thing more than 2x. The emptied ceramic pots are coming in to have house plants put in them. I use a lot of them, different lively colors, patterns, and shapes. Usually the dirt and certain plants go into the composter. Pots are sterilized, rinsed well. First I put proper size drainage on the bottom, put a good amount of coir all around~extra on the sides to keep the dirt from washing down. Then put in the plants w/fresh house plant soil, drainage mixture added in All broken pot, ornament pieces are stowed away. Any ornamental pieces go into the new pots~and recycling all the broken pieces for drainage next year!
OH! THIS IS NOT MY JOURNAL!.......CHUCKLE....
But I will keep y'all updated!
Take care!
=^.^=