This will be my first year having a veggie garden of my own. I have been keeping notes and thoughts in random places and am wondering how experienced gardeners keep track of the conglomerate of papers, clippings, scribbles, and data.

I have seen journals for sale, but wonder if they are necessarily worthwhile. Thoughts?

Thank you!

When I had a veggie garden I kept a note book, I'd keep track of where i bought the seeds, when I started them, when they started to grow etc.
I still have my note book and keep track of my houseplants.
I think its a great thing to do

To The Forum

There is a wonderful garden planner right here. NGA, which is owned by the wonderful Whiting family, daughter Abigail designed a most excellent garden planner. The cost is very reasonable and Abigail gets to keep any money for herself which is a good way to encourage a young person to succeed. Check out the thread here:
https://garden.org/thread/view...

@Abigail

Howdy and : Sam. 😀
For over 35 years, I never had a journal. Then, a couple years ago, I kind of got started, by having two varities of snow peas, to see which one did better.

That, got me started.
I started writing down, tricks I've learned over the years, pest control, weed control, etc. On my separate pages of my favorite stationary, binder paper.

They were mixed up. Sooow ! I bought myself a binder and some of those divider page things, like from school days. YES ! I do, remember a little bit, from school days.

I grouped, category's together, and listed them under titles.

Not sofestacated !, but ! 😀 works for me. 👍

😎😎😎

Hi Sam welcome!
I agree with Philip, on the efficiency of the 3-ring binder. Mine has 12 tabs, one for each month. The garden journal has a page for each day of the year. Each page lists the year in the left margin and on the right a notation about what I'm doing/climate/purchases & prices/etc. The following year is just below and its notation. It's a cool way to look back and compare what's going on year to year on any date. I started mine in 1971. Every year I draw up a graph of my veg garden, showing what I have planted in each row, that is also saved in my journal. It helps with crop rotation planning.

Wow, I love all of the great info!

I bought a folder with clasps inside to hold some papers I've already started. I think I will try out the journal from Abigail once I have a clue

I started tracking temperature and have drawn up a diagram for a potential garden layout. I meandered through the area I'd like to use, so maybe I'll begin recording some observations while I wait for the snow to melt.

I'm glad you will give Abigail's planner a try. A good investment.

Since I am still somewhat new to this piece of property I'm still learning the microclimates. I am using the snow and frost to show me the different places that may be slightly warmer or more protected from frost. Photos with dates are helpful.