Keeping a garden journal

There are many good reasons to keep a gardening journal. A journal can help you plan your garden every year, based on the successes and failures of previous years. It allows you to record frost dates, variety names, yield, flavors, recipes, and even how you preserve the food that you grow. You can also add reminders in your journal for the next year.

A garden journal does not have to be elaborate. You can pick up a notebook at a stationary shop or buy a blank book. I used to use the calendars that my bank gave out at the beginning of the new year. In those square spaces, I recorded the dates I wrote to the seed companies and the dates when I planted the seeds. I recorded the varieties that I tried, the time when I harvested them, and any other information for planning future gardens. I have graduated beyond the calendar system because I outgrew it. Now, I keep more meticulous records.

I started keeping garden records out of necessity. For example, I would buy certain roses, perennials, or shrubs and then forget the name of the variety. I always thought I could remember it at least until the next year. I notice the same thing happens to other gardeners. When I ask them about a particular apple or plant, all they can offer are statements such as "we bought it when the kids were young," or "I think we bought it somewhere," Or "It had a name, I just can't think what it is."

Knowing what variety you are growing is important. If it is a new type of vegetable seed that has yielded a spectacular crop or a favorite tasting variety, you may want to remember what the name is so that you can order it again. Most plants are finicky and may produce exceptional fruit in one garden and not in another. If you find something that does well, you may want to remember the variety so you can grow it again. I now keep a map showing where I have planted everything and the names of each variety.

Recording dates is also important. For instance, frost dates and temperatures vary greatly over a short distance. Instead of using the frost warnings given on the television or radio which can be weeks ahead or behind the frosts at your site, you can use your garden journal to record accurate frost dates and plan your planting and harvesting accordingly.

Keeping a journal can be therapeutic because your focus on the garden may help improve your health. Studies have shown the numerous therapeutic benefits of gardening such as reducing stress and blood pressure, providing exercise, and of course, the satisfaction of nurturing plants and producing food.

Your garden journal might eventually become a family heirloom. If you are able to keep detailed records, I think it is an ideal way to record some family and garden history for future generations. Wouldn't you like to know what Great-Grandma and Great-grandpa grew in their garden, how they grew it, and how it was a part of their lives? In that way, you can treat your garden journal like a diary.

You can record life in relationships to the garden and the seasons. Without the journal these things could be lost forever.

Reprinted with publisher's permission, Llewellyn's 1994 Organic Gardening Almanac.