Over the last several years I started keeping a garden journal. I always joke that I am a lazy gardener because I just throw things in and hope they grow. Using a garden planner was a wise choice though, it helped my garden be more productive and better planned out.
3 reasons to use a garden planner or journal:
- Keep track of what you planted
- Keep you organize
- Remind you of what worked and what didn’t
Reasons to Keep Track
If you have multiple garden spaces it is important to note make notes about that, or use different pages for each section.
My yard is filled with three in ground gardens and various size containers. I will use this information in my examples.
I remember thinking when I started
“I got this, I will remember what I planted and where.”
Let me just tell you, no! No you won’t remember.
Maybe you think, I will just put a marker or stake by each plant. Unfortunately, those could get knocked over by the wind, washed off by water or fade in the sun.
If you start your garden from seed, they will take anywhere from a couple days to a week to pop through the surface. Are you really going to be able to determine what those tiny little leaves are?
Steps for a Journal
Creating a planner/journal can be simple or elaborate. Remember I am lazy, so I prefer something on the simple side. Once you have followed all the steps to start a garden it is time to plant. What plants are you going to put in your garden?
In your journal draw an outline of your garden shape.
These are my lazy gardener drawings of three raised garden beds.
Important things to note in your garden journal/planner include:
- What do you want to grow
- What you planted
- When did you plant it
- Seed or actual plant
- How well did it produce
This is your planner so you can be as detailed as you would like, but those are the things I found most useful for future planning.
My Experience
I generally start my garden from seed, but if I buy plants I will note this on my page. Purchased plants are going to be at least several weeks old when you get them. Knowing if you started with a plant versus a seed will help you know that you will need to plant earlier if you decide to use seeds in the next season.
In my first drawing you can see I planted Brussel sprouts in winter 2014. This was my first time growing them and I learned some valuable lessons that year. They do not like warm temperatures, that year I didn’t really get any produce. If you live in Florida, It will be difficult to grow them because there isn’t a long enough cool weather season. I wouldn’t recommend trying to grow them in your backyard.
On subsequent pages I made notes regarding how the different plants produced. I was able to realize that some plants weren’t getting sufficient sunlight due to location. One of my beds is in a location that receives a lot of rain run-off. That really affected how the plants grew. I had beets in that bed and they never fully formed because of too much water. In another garden I had all the right conditions for jalapenos and was giving away bags weekly.
If you feel like you have a brown thumb I can assure you that you don’t. Take some time to determine your time commitment to a garden. I can assure you with a little time and a garden journal/planner you will be producing food in no time.
Based on my experience and questions from several people I did create a planner to help you get started. I have created pages to help you plan and understand the steps of gardening.
