Why Keep a Garden Journal?
Garden journals can be as formal or as casual as you like. Your garden journal can be a comprehensive reference tool for you to use in planning future years, or it can be a simple memory book to look back on. This lens is dedicated to resources related to garden journals. Read on for information on the benefits of keeping garden journals as well as handy resources to get you started.
What to Include in a Garden Journal
- Planting dates for seeds and plants.
- Source and cost information for seeds and plants.
- Weather information such as frost dates and rainfall.
- Plant information such as date emerging in spring, appearance of blooms, and harvest.
- Date and type of fertilizer used, if applicable.
- Wildlife observations.
- Seed packets.
- Photographs.
- Garden plan, including any diagrams and future plans.
- Cost and supplier information.
Types of Garden Journals
Choose a Journal to Fit Your Needs
The options for a garden journal are endless. You can start with a commercial journal, or a notebook and pen.
Here are some types of journals to consider:
-Shoebox: use a shoebox, bag or other storage system to keep pictures, seed packets, or other information.
-Diary: a regular diary can be used as a garden journal to record information about your garden.
-Photo album/scrapbook: can be used to showcase your plants at various stages of growth, as well as something to look back at during the cold months of winter.
-Binder: a simple loose-leaf binder can make a terrific garden journal. This style allows for a great deal of flexibility in arranging pages and adding pages.
-Web blog: use an online journal to share pictures and information about your garden with friends, family and other gardeners.
Here are some types of journals to consider:
-Shoebox: use a shoebox, bag or other storage system to keep pictures, seed packets, or other information.
-Diary: a regular diary can be used as a garden journal to record information about your garden.
-Photo album/scrapbook: can be used to showcase your plants at various stages of growth, as well as something to look back at during the cold months of winter.
-Binder: a simple loose-leaf binder can make a terrific garden journal. This style allows for a great deal of flexibility in arranging pages and adding pages.
-Web blog: use an online journal to share pictures and information about your garden with friends, family and other gardeners.
Resources to Help You Get Started
Great Links
- Northern Gardening Journal
- A terrific downloadable journal that would be great for a three-ring binder. Includes lots of great template pages for soil preparation, seeds, pest control, harvest, canning and more.
- Homestead Garden
- A wealth of downloadable pages, including pages for seed starting, plant descriptions, printable garden sayings, garden layout and design, what's blooming, wildlife sightings and more.
- University of Illinois--Keeping a Garden Journal with Kids
- A great child-friendly garden journal site with downloadable pages to get started.
- Lowe's How-To Keep a Garden Journal
- Includes downloadable pages and ideas to get you started.
Great Stuff on Amazon
The New Three-Year Garden Journal: With Regional Gardening Guides
Amazon Price: $21.56 (as of 12/18/2009) 
My New York Garden: A Gardener's Journal (My Gardener's Journal)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/18/2009)
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- Swisstoons Swisstoons Apr 19, 2009 @ 3:29 pm
- Lots of useful information here for anyone who might stop by my loosely-related (loosely related to gardening) Best Buds gardening magnets lens. Rolling it to that lens.
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- WhitneySegura WhitneySegura Feb 21, 2009 @ 7:12 am
- Great lense, I have bookmarked it and will be back soon. If you get a second you should check out these cool Mini Greenhouses they have all kinds of great gardening supplies
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- seedplanter seedplanter Aug 8, 2008 @ 7:30 pm
- I keep a journal for everyday, but haven't considered a garden journal until now. Thanks for the lens...it might steer me in that direction!
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- Lance_Burnside Lance_Burnside Jul 21, 2008 @ 7:23 pm
- We need more lenses like this floating around motivating people to get into producing for themselves.
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- titanium_knights titanium_knights Jul 20, 2008 @ 9:03 pm
- Great idea! Now if I could just get organized enough to do this. Thanks - gave you a feature on our lens!
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by devilsworkshopcrafts
Dedicated to exploring the forgotten arts and lost causes, including gardening, baking, cooking, crafting, sustainability, and more. (more)
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