A garden diary becomes a living storybook of your garden , as well as your journey as a gardener . Each season , you’re able to reflect on the growth of your plants , all the experimenting you did , and the change that occur with every season . Here ’s why you should take up a horticulture daybook and what exactly you should be writing down in it .
Whether you ’re a beginner or a seasoned Master Gardener , keeping a gardening daybook is an invaluable tool for your garden . With it , you’re able to celebrate your triumph , the seedlings that did n’t make it , just how BIG that tomato harvest was , and your favourite plants you must grow again next year .
A garden daybook allows you to track your personal and flora increment in one spot , letting youlearn from this year ’s experience and apply it to horticulture seasons to make out . Not only does it become a useful shaft , but it deepens your connection to the garden .
Clippings in my mother’s gardening journal.
While document a garden daybook is good for keep open track of everything you ’ve learned , it ’s alsoan amazing tool for your genial wellness as well .
Let me explain !
Knowledge Passed Down
This winter , I was gifted a wonderful treasure : my mother ’s garden journal . My female parent passed by in 2019 , anddiscovering a new objet d’art of her through her horticulture journal has been such a blessing .
Her diary is a scrapbook full of choice morsel she collected over the years . She has lots of paper clippings , seeded player packetsand information , and her own planting bank note and findings . Her journal is what you see throughout this spot .
It ’s absolutely arresting .
Out of all the books on the shelf , it ’s my preferent gardening book . There ’s information from many gardening writers from decades ago and the reflexion and drawings from my female parent that are completely invaluable .
When you bug out document billet from your garden , you ’re creating a complete picture of the garden time of year that can be used for years to come . You ’ll always have something to cite and surpass down to your future self or perhaps a fellow plant lover like me .
The Power of Writing Things Down
In herbalism , we like to do monographs for each of the plant life . This is whenwe dive deep into the plant , writing down everything there is to know , like its background and chronicle , traditional uses , planting instructions , harvesting notes , and other utilitarian selective information about the plant .
Really , a monograph is just an edit - down journal about a specific industrial plant !
When I was writingGarden Alchemy , I created a gardening workbook to go along with the Holy Scripture . It was my hope that it would assist masses get to know their garden by making their own observations and note .
I ’m a big fan of garden journaling , so this was my way of help people really get the most out of their experience gardening alongside my book . You candownload it for free here !
While it ’s helpful to keep caterpillar track of your garden , I also find it a groovy activity for my mental health as well . It ’s a great way to practice mindfulness by encouraging us to slow up down and be present .
Our brain moves rapidly , so we can often skim over our thoughts rather than linger on them . When we take the time to write thing down , our brain go over the word of honor many times and we process the information better .
Journaling can also give us an outlet . Consider your journal a non - judgemental distance where you could express any of your thoughts and feelings , and it does n’t have to go anywhere . Burn it after , or keep it and read it for years . The alternative is all yours .
Keeping Track of Your Garden
When it come in to gardening , the diary let you to keep course of your progress . Our memory is n’t as good — even when you suppose you remembered what ejaculate you planted , you ’re surprised when your cucumber seedling were really the marigolds you implant .
My retentivity is n’t as good as it used to be . If I do n’t use labels or make notes , I might not be able to stay on top of those detail . have those notes to cite is a great way to keep on top of things amid the gardening time of year .
One of my best-loved things about a garden diary is referring back to it over fourth dimension . you may put your note in it for five or ten years and apply that to help you with your planning .
For example , you may make notes of what days you institute seeds and how they ’re doing . The following year , you might face back at when you planted peas and made notes about how you protrude them too early or too former . So this year , you know to plant a lilliputian bit before .
You might also notice different weather normal and how certain conditions sham your plant . So , having that diachronic data can really aid you educate and job - solve .
What to Include in Your Gardening Journal
Everyone ’s gardening journal will be different . And that ’s the point!You want to need yourself why you ’re keeping a garden journal and what you ’re the most excited about it .
Our garden are so personal , so it cause sense for you to personalize what you document .
We ’re not landscapers ; we ’re gardeners . For us , our gardens are an art formthat is created over a long period of time . Journaling help us document how we make our art and match the science alongside it .
Here are a few things I like to admit in my daybook that you might also require to add to yours .
Notable Plant Dates
One of the most unwashed agency to use a garden diary is tonote when you start your seeds or found seedlings . Note how long plant life take to germinate and farm , when they were transplanted outside , when they first flowered , your first harvest date , etc . This will be such helpful information when you ’re planning future gardens .
Important Dates
While I wish all calendars had important gardening calendar escort , likefirst and last frost , you could include those in your horticulture journal . experience a calendar where you’re able to note important milestones , such asvacations you may be takingand need to coordinateplant sittersfor orthe last day to inseminate sow forsuccession planting .
Herbal Monographs
This was my favourite part of my mom ’s gardening journal . adumbrate , add stickers , pressure flush , habituate different colouration and fonts , make scribble , put in picture , and bring all the little side notes tobegin making plant profiles for your preferent thing to grow in your garden .
These elements really help to personalize it , make your garden that much more particular but also a very helpful creature for your garden specifically .
Gratitude Notes
As a gardener , you ’ve likely experience moments where you just found a plant so beautiful , a bee so precious , or the winding so delicious . I care to make notes about how my garden makes me feeland those mo when I find peace , joy , or upheaval .
Weather Conditions
Each class , the conditions is getting wackier andmore irregular . It ’s getting heavy to anticipate all the different conditions , sohaving a history of dissimilar notes from dissimilar seasons with variegate weather conditions can be a very helpful prick . Note how little or scores of rainfall there was , any myopic or long grow seasons , temperature highs and lows , sunlight total , and any unusual or noteworthy conditions occurrence .
Tips and Thoughts
I ’m always learning tidbits from my peers , social media , a playscript , or even from my own thoughts and observations . Note down any of these thoughts — because they can melt from your brain in an instant .
I love how my momma would collect bits from newspapers , magazines , and the source packets themselves to hold onto . you may alwaysprint web page , like my guide on Garden Therapy , to keep handy in your gardening daybook .
Gardening Journal Templates
All you need to get set forth with a garden journal is to grab a notebook . But I know that having prompts and a place with info already mastermind can be helpful !
For freshman , I have afree printable come start journalyou can utilise at the get-go of the time of year to aid keep track of everything you plant and aid you figure out the correct timing for jump the seeds .
I also have theGarden Alchemy Workbookthat you could download and print . It will assist you take note , log experiments , add gardening recipes , and more .
West Coast Seeds also has afree printable gardening journalyou can expend as a framework to get come out .
As for strong-arm editions you could get , I have a go at it this one from theKnotty Garden , as well asThe Gardener ’s Logbookand thisgarden deviser .
More Helpful Tips for Garden Planning
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