This year I’ll keep an herb garden journal. During May, I expect to put a lot of energy into my personal diary of garden activity and results. As summer progresses I expect to slow 
down.
My journal will be creative and whimsical, as well as a truly strategic tool to improve my future gardens. I’ve kept records, but this year I will be more comprehensive and organized. I looked at journals on Amazon.com and in Barnes and Noble. Then, viola! I spent $3 at a garage sale for a three-ring binder covered in handmade paper and dried flowers. I prefer a three-ring binder because I can add, remove, shuffle pages.
Next step? The journal interior.
An internet search turned up downloadable journals as well as software options. I prefer to keep records while sitting on the porch. So, I built my journal with different pages from 
different sites.
2016 Garden Journal, from ARBICO Organics
Each page I chose to use, I printed on heavy card stock from an office supply store. I put these pages in plastic sleeves. Three-hole punches are another option. I find plastic sleeves superior when filing drawings, seed packets a
nd other scrapbook items.
Potential pages for any Garden Journal include
- Goals, for each plot
- Drawings, for each plot
- Shopping list
- To-do list
- Weekly
- Seeds pockets
- Seed planting notes
- Transplant pockets – for soil picks
- Transplant notes, source of plants
- Soil analysis
- Fertilizer application date and type
- Weather of note
- Weekly reflections
- Monthly notes
As needed, I will add idea pages torn from books and magazines. And, pictures as my garden plots progress through the weeks. These will be important to cheer me in the winter and, like my weekly reflections, help me plan for 2017 and beyond.
How do you keep garden records? How do you journal?
