How to Keep a Vegetable Garden Journal and Why You Should

Keeping a garden journal is an invaluable, fun, and rewarding thing to do. It doesn’t involve endless essaying or divulging your deepest emotions to the pages, though there is nothing to say you can’t.

A garden journal is a more practical document that helps you to keep track of gardening-related successes, failures, dates, plans, and harvests as well as other things.

What’s more, a garden journal isn’t just for noobies. Even well-seasoned gardeners might benefit from starting a garden journal and find themselves wishing they had been keeping one for years.

You can make your journal very functional, or add a little bit of flair and creativity with artwork and collage involved. There are even online garden planners and journals that you can sign up for.

A garden can teach us new things every year, and keeping a record of those lessons will only help you, and your garden, grow. Check out these ideas for things to include in your garden journal. The time to start is now!

Source: GrowVeg/YouTube

Draw a map of your garden

Drawing a map of your garden is a great way of recording your planting plan. You might want to play with companion planting this year, and a map will help to plan what to plant where.

Once the garden has been planted out with seeds and seedlings, make a map of what is planted including the specific variety. This will help you to remember what is what without having to label everything in your garden

Keep a Note of Weather Patterns and Microclimates

You might notice that certain areas of your garden experience more wind, are more susceptible to catching water, or get more or less afternoon sun.

Perhaps you notice that your area is prone to drought during the hottest summer months, or that frosts linger a little longer than the Internet says.

This information will help you to plan when and where to plant different plants.

Seed Inventory

Source: Coral More/YouTube

At the beginning of each season, it’s a good idea to take a seed inventory. Jot down the name, variety, and year the seeds are from. This will help you to know what you have, what you need to buy more of or save, and also keep track of the seed viability.

Keep Track of All Dates

Dates are really important for gardeners. Knowing when your planted seeds will give you a better understanding of when to expect germination. Note down the date of the last and first frost of the season to help you plan sowing times for the next year.

As well, knowing dates can help you adjust if there are any failures. It might be that you planted too early or too late in the season.

Monitor Variety and Yield

If you have five different types of tomatoes and three different peppers growing, be sure to note the varieties you have and the yield you get from each plant. This can help you decide if what you have planted is working for you or not.

Keep a list of varieties that you want to try next year, and jot down ones that haven’t appealed to you or seemed to have struggled in your climate.

Remember Rotational Gardening

Source: GrowVeg/YouTube

If you are a believer in rotational gardening, a journal will help you to remember what you planted where. Knowing where your legumes, nightshades, greens, and roots were planted is vital for knowing what to plant where in the subsequent seasons.

To-Do Lists

A garden journal is a great place to jot down garden chores, seeds to buy, or plants to pick up from the nursery.

Paste in Photos

If you want to have a visual journal, pasting in photos of successful harvests can be inspiring. You could also include photos of interesting insects or birds that frequent your yard.

You could also photo document any unwanted pests or diseases, giving you a chance to research them at a later date

Pests and Disease

Make a note of the different pests and diseases you find in your garden and on your plants. Be sure to write as much information as you can including the date you had the infestation and on which plants they occurred. This will help you be ready for next season.

Garden Goals

Leave a space in your journal for dreaming and planning. You might want to build a herb spiral next year or add some fun and whimsical art to your garden. Maybe you want to dabble with container gardening or start a medicinal tea garden. Whatever the case, dream it and do it!

This list is by no means exhaustive. Use your journal as you wish. Just remember to look back on it for all that invaluable information that will help you and your garden grow from strength to strength.

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