I'm thinking it must be a generational (or maybe a geek) thing - I do *everything* on my computer anymore. I do a spreadsheet that gives me bloom times and add notes, with a copy for each year.

Whatever works. I'm for writing things down once. Don't have a lot of time.

I'm ready for Dave to make us software for ATP....blog, inventory list, you know- the works.....hooked in with trading and the database, of course....

There's no time like January to begin! That was the point of the calendar.

But now that I think about it, it would be good to have a calender here too. Not a spreadsheet but a calendar with room to write. Here we are making work for Dave. Oh well, comes with the territory, I guess.

Great tip. I've got calendars on my wall(s) with notes on them dating back to the mid-90s. Before that I used spiral bound garden journals as far back as 1985 or 86. (Rodale Press used to offer them; maybe they still do.)

My stored/saved calendars, most of them covered with cobwebs(!), have all the high and low temps of each day on them as well as any precip, and how much. I probably can tell the locals more about the weather in our area better than the local weather stations! :>)

Good tip, Tee. And yep, now's the perfect time to get started.

Shoe (who also keeps more detailed gardening info on Word files and a few Excel files)

I'm a journal-er. I have tons of journals but I also have calendars from years past. Recently I went back through them because I was seeing signs of daylilies appearing right here the first week of January. I thought that was a bit strange till I went back to '94 where I'd written on April 22 that my first daylily bloomed.

That's not an important date, dates of last frost and dates of planting vegetables, etc., are vital statistics. But, being the visual that I am, I can tell you the exact daylily that bloomed on April 22, 1994. It isn't the first one that blooms every year, but I can look at the calendar comment and I remember the old red noid daylily that was planted in the SW side of my house in the corner beside the deck and the water spigot.

Calendars are great, but hoarding them from the early 90s is probably rather ridiculous.
And BTW, my daylilies rarely start their blooming parade before the last of May. I failed to remember or to write down the weather pattern that year.

Great tip, Song!

Thanks Shoe and Sharon. I love to hold a calendar in my hands and look through it. Especially one that I've written notations on thoughout that year. I get annoyed with myself if I don't remember to start the first of the year. I don't have any quite as far back as '92 but I do have other journals of some age. I still consult the Old Farmer's Almanac as well, although I must admit to doing that online.

I lost several years of records (birthdays, anniversaries, othermilestones) AND MY PRECIOUS PHOTOS after I had reluctantly switched to computer for my calendar. My hard drive crashed in 2007. I'm back to paper calendars and I carry all my photos around on zip drives.

I don't blame you.

It's true. If you don't back up everything important you keep on your computer, you can lose it all. Back up everything you don't want to lose.
I started keeping all of DH's many medical appointments, treatments, etc. recorded on the wall calendar after he bacame disabled. And boy, was I grateful I had done that (and kept the calendars) a couple years later when Social Security reevaluated his disability status and wanted all those details...I could never have remembered all that otherwise. I gave them such a long and detailed list that there was no way they could fail to declare his disability permanent.

Good for you, Linda!

Wow, finally, a success story with them.... with Trish - good for you. And your husband!!!

Thanks. He's been disabled for 9 years now. Can't believe it's been so long!