Gardening organization tip #1 - Record keeping with Lee Valley's 10-year garden journal

August 11, 7:29 PMGardening ExaminerRobin Ripley

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A Gardener's Journal's key feature is a page for each
day of the year with room for 10 years of notes.

I will admit to being an organization fanatic. Don't get me wrong. That doesn't mean that I am actually organized in every way. But it does mean that I greatly admire the organizationally-talented among us and try hard to be like them.

My one areas of extreme disorganization (aside from my basement) has been my gardening recordkeeping. I never kept records of what I grew, what I harvested or even--heaven forbid--the names of all those plants that I hauled home from the nursery. I blame it on the fact that I have had no garden mentor to teach me right from wrong--until now.

One of the major advantages of online communities is that you learn so many things. From my Plurk buddies, I learned about Lee Valley's A Gardener's Journal, a 10-year volume for my own gardening notes. 

I am in gardening organization heaven.

There are sections in A Gardener's Journal to record harvest information, pest and diseases and controls, gardening purchases, plant inventories, garden layout and other useful information.

The key feature of the journal, however, is a single page devoted to each day of the year, with room for 10 full years of notes about what is happening in the garden. There is also a place to record sky conditions and high and low temperature for each day.

My Plurk buddies who have used the journal for years say that it allows them to go back and compare harvest dates, recall previous gardening activities and anticipate upcoming garden chores by looking back on notes from previous years.

I am in organization geek heaven with the purchase of my new 10-year journal. It now resides on a side kitchen counter where I can make quick notes as I go in and out the back door. And because I don't have to write volumes, it's easy to just jot down observations as I pass by.

You can purchase your 10-year journal from Lee Valley for $39.50. 

Other gardening organization tips:
Tip #2 - GardenScribe Plant Organizer
Tip #3 - Best Garden Cart
Tip #4 - Label Your Plants
Tip #5 - Six Ideas for Organizing Your Garden To-Do List