Gardening Journal or Diary

[Shellyann36]

I was looking through one of my gardening journals from 2001 this week. It was such a good year for my garden. The place where I lived had rich soil and my veggie plants grew in wild abundance. I have kept a journal off and on over the years and it can be very helpful to look back and see what things worked and what didn't work for me. Of course I have also moved several times over the past 7 years so sometimes the information can help and sometimes it can't. I hope to grow some veggies inside this winter and keep track of my progress. Do you keep a garden journal or diary?

 

[Trellum]

I had never heard about that It never crossed my mind that there were people out there who liked to keep a gardening diary, but it does have a lot sense! Because I used to keep a food and workout diary back when I was trying to desperately lose some weight! It helped greatly, because as you said, it helped me to keep track and see what worked for me. I guess this same principle can be applied to gardening!

Congrats on having the willpower to keep a diary like that! I personally can't do that for too long

 

[RomanAnthonysMama]

That's so awesome that you have a journal to look back on regarding your gardening experiences! That would be awesome to be able to compare one year to the next. Have you noticed that it helps you with trial and error a lot? I would love to be able to record what works for me and what doesn't with gardening, so that my garden is constantly improving.

 

[zigs]

Not a gardening journal but I have kept a foraging diary, so I remember what I can be looking for and where.

 

[Babble64]

I don't have the discipline to keep a journal, though I admire those who do. It is a great idea, for a variety of helpful reasons and just for the fun of being able to look back at the memories!

 

[Gina145]

I wish I had the discipline to keep a record of all the work I do on my bonsai trees. I've tried at times, but after a while I forget, then when I want to look something up, I can't remember where I made the notes. The closest I've come is trying to get before and after photos of the pruning I do, but I want to stop myself doing it with every single tree as I find my trees get neglected because I can't be bothered to take the time setting up the camera and tripod to get decent shots.

 

[Jewell]

I have kept a journal off and on. I find that now I keep a photo journal mainly. Seeing how different plants have succeeded or failed by scrolling through photos during the winter is a relaxing pastime. It also helps me to remember where I might have stuck a plant during the winter/early spring when I am rearranging things in the garden.

 

[Shellyann36]

I had never heard about that It never crossed my mind that there were people out there who liked to keep a gardening diary, but it does have a lot sense! Because I used to keep a food and workout diary back when I was trying to desperately lose some weight! It helped greatly, because as you said, it helped me to keep track and see what worked for me. I guess this same principle can be applied to gardening!

Congrats on having the willpower to keep a diary like that! I personally can't do that for too long

LOL well I won't say that I have always kept one. I did back in 2001 because my garden was flourishing and I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing to keep it that way. I have tried a few times lately and bombed at it.

That's so awesome that you have a journal to look back on regarding your gardening experiences! That would be awesome to be able to compare one year to the next. Have you noticed that it helps you with trial and error a lot? I would love to be able to record what works for me and what doesn't with gardening, so that my garden is constantly improving.

I think that it really does where companion planting is concerned as well as trying different organic methods of pest sprays and such. I don't work on it as often as I should. I hope to start anew this fall.

 

[Shellyann36]

Not a gardening journal but I have kept a foraging diary, so I remember what I can be looking for and where.

Now that is a great idea as well. I think I really need to get more into foraging but my time is limited and thrashing through the undergrowth with 3 little ones is out of the question right now.

I wish I had the discipline to keep a record of all the work I do on my bonsai trees. I've tried at times, but after a while I forget, then when I want to look something up, I can't remember where I made the notes. The closest I've come is trying to get before and after photos of the pruning I do, but I want to stop myself doing it with every single tree as I find my trees get neglected because I can't be bothered to take the time setting up the camera and tripod to get decent shots.

It is hard to keep up with one and I don't write in my nearly as much as I need to but the companion planting notes as well as the organic pest control notes really are helpful.

I have kept a journal off and on. I find that now I keep a photo journal mainly. Seeing how different plants have succeeded or failed by scrolling through photos during the winter is a relaxing pastime. It also helps me to remember where I might have stuck a plant during the winter/early spring when I am rearranging things in the garden.

Now that is a great idea to incorporate the pictures into it. I think I might have to give that a try as well. Thank you Jewell!

 

[claudine]

Well, I keep a diary and I love it! I write about everything in my life though, not only about gardening. But since my miniature roses are very important to me, I write about them too and I do this quite often

 

[Babble64]

I was thinking about this post yesterday as I sat on my deck, drinking coffee and watching the birds. I have often thought how cool it would be to have a journal of all the birds that have visited our feeders and surrounding trees. I just don't have the discipline for it, but think it is such a cool idea. How neat to look back and remember, compare, or learn! Shellyann, keep up the good work!

 

[Babble64]

I wish I had the discipline to keep a record of all the work I do on my bonsai trees. I've tried at times, but after a while I forget, then when I want to look something up, I can't remember where I made the notes. The closest I've come is trying to get before and after photos of the pruning I do, but I want to stop myself doing it with every single tree as I find my trees get neglected because I can't be bothered to take the time setting up the camera and tripod to get decent shots.

LOL....my sister used to quote a line from a play she saw "She wasn't much of a mother, but she kept a great Baby Book!" I'd say...if they joy is in the doing, then DO! I'd love to be able to journal, but I just get all bogged up in the details. Better to live in the pleasure of the moment and soak that up, than get myself bogged down in worrying about whether I kept good notes. This is NOT to take away from anyone's efforts at journaling. I absolutely respect and admire those who can. Occasionally, though, I have to remind myself that it's also okay for me NOT to journal. Comforting for me to know there are others who struggle with this!

 

[Trellum]

LOL well I won't say that I have always kept one. I did back in 2001 because my garden was flourishing and I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing to keep it that way. I have tried a few times lately and bombed at it.

Yeah, keeping a diary of any kind is really hard, specially when life gets in the way (it always does!). I no longer keep any kind of diary, I used to keep both a food and personal one some months ago, but I no longer do. I'm losing 2 pounds a week now, so I'm not worried to see what's working me now I think I finally got the hang of it, As for my personal diary... it helped a lot because I could vent there. I might keep a gardening diary in the future If I ever move out from here, that is!

 

[Gina145]

LOL....my sister used to quote a line from a play she saw "She wasn't much of a mother, but she kept a great Baby Book!" I'd say...if they joy is in the doing, then DO! I'd love to be able to journal, but I just get all bogged up in the details. Better to live in the pleasure of the moment and soak that up, than get myself bogged down in worrying about whether I kept good notes. This is NOT to take away from anyone's efforts at journaling. I absolutely respect and admire those who can. Occasionally, though, I have to remind myself that it's also okay for me NOT to journal. Comforting for me to know there are others who struggle with this!

I agree that it's better to just do than to get bogged down in details. Unfortunately I'm the kind of person who will worry afterwards that I should have kept a record of a certain process. A part of me always feels that I may want to write about my trees one day, and if I don't have the photos to go with it, that can't happen.

The tree in my profile photo is one that I've kept a record of since I started it as a cutting six years ago. And I actually did write an article about it's development which is published at HubPages. But I've got so many trees I'll never be able to do that with all of them.

 

[ChanellG]

I keep saying I am going to start a gardening journal, but I never quite get around to it. I find it is very easy to forget what you planted where in just a matter of weeks. Of course there's the instance where you are trying to do something and you can't remember what you did and how you did it that worked out so well the last time. One of these days...