Creating My Garden Journal
Patience is not a virtue that comes easily to me. I'm an instant gratification kind of girl! I love trips to our local nurseries and..... (I hate to admit it).... the big box stores. I am an impulse buyer when it comes to the garden and you can often hear my husband ask me "where are you going to plant that?" More often then not, I have not a clue! Temporary housing is no stranger to my recently purchased perennials! With all of this 'buying on the fly", I don't always remember the characteristics of each plant. Thank goodness they come with these great little tags that can jog my memory and help me take good care the newest member of my garden family! Now for the million dollar question.....how to organize all of those garden tags?
One of my goals as a gardener has been to create a garden journal. What better way to organize all of the garden tags I've been collecting over the years! Because I am no artist, I knew that I wouldn't be able to create a journal filled with beautiful plant drawings and poetic garden quotes. Since garden seasons change from year to year I wanted to be able to easily look back and reference what I planted and when; what bloomed and was harvested (my veggies!); and whether the day was filled with beautiful blue skies or covered in snow. I decided that a perpetual garden journal was just my style. A perpetual garden journal is 1 page per day of the year - dated with only the day of the month (i.e. June 2nd). In the left hand margin of the ruled pages, I enter the year and then make my notes in the body of the note paper. This allows me to see what happened on the same day of the year - each year!
Since I wanted to be able to take the journal into the garden and greenhouse it needed to be durable and basic enough that a few smudges of dirt or water droplets wouldn't ruin my records! A simple 3-ring binder filled with college ruled notebook paper was just the answer! This way I could insert great garden ideas (thank you, Pinterest!) and add photos/pictures (in sheet protectors) or maps of the garden (on graph paper).
After I decided on a perpetual journal, I was still struggling with how to store all of those garden tags! A quick trip to the office supply store solved my dilemma! Since garden tags typically have the picture and plant name on the front and the instructions and plant traits on the back of the tag, I needed a storage solution I could see both sides of the tag. Rolodex / Business Card Holders were just the answer! They are similar to sheet protectors but have individual 'pockets' just about the right size for my garden tags (although I did have a bit of trimming to do).
Next I alphabetized the tags ..... and considering my history of adding flowers to the garden 'willy-nilly" ..... and given that Spring is just around the corner... I thought I had better leave a few of empty pockets so I could easily add new garden tags!!
I feel so organized and ready for the upcoming garden season! Whatever your journal style, I hope you find a system that suits your needs and expresses your individuality!
"I must have flowers, always, and always." Claude Monet
