Gardening is a learning process, and the learning is never done. One of the best ways to make the lessons stick, and to build your knowledge, is by writing down what happens every year in the garden. What did you plant, when, where, how did it do?
I’m actually not so good at that kind of journaling, I find it a bit boring. But I have a large computer file filled with my tidbits that I’ve picked up from books, friends, and my own experiences – what to plant next to what, how to prune what kind of tree and when, plans for an arbour I like, etc.
There’s no reason for me to keep those gardening pearls that I’ve learned ‘secret’, so from now on you’ll see me try to keep a more public log of both. Well, maybe both. I’m still not a fan of the daily record of how the garden is doing. It works very well I’m sure, but it’s not exciting in the same way that it’s exciting to learn of a new way to outsmart cucumber beetles. If I ever do find a way to rid my garden of cucumber beetles for good, you’d better believe I’m sharing my tips far and wide!
If you want to start your own garden journal, many templates will have you documenting yourself largely by date. My advice, if you’re at all disorganized by nature, is not to do that. It’s easier to look at things by crop, and you won’t throw your data off by missing an entry the way you might if you forget to write down when you transplanted whatever plant. My gardening journal started with everything that I knew about apple trees – and then blueberry bushes – and then tomatoes. The beauty of this is that I didn’t need to journal every time that I gardened, I could make it more sporadic without having holes in my accruing wisdom. True, I always plant my first seeds too soon because I never remember when I planted them last year – but over time I’m better at planting them and the seeds themselves do better even if they are ready to go outside before the season is ready for them.
So, I will try to take better notes of my timings for my zone (6a/b), and how my specific crops do – but still with more of a focus on how to approach my crops, and my attitude of gardening, and how to keep growing as a gardener.
