January is a great time to begin to keep a Garden Journal. Gardening does not just happen during the summer months. Whether you are curled up in front of a cozy fire looking through garden catalogs in January, purchasing plants in May or putting your garden to bed in November, gardening is a year-round activity.
I started to keep a garden journal a few years ago. I cannot believe how beneficial it has been for my garden planning and productivity. If I wonder when a particular plant bloomed or when and where I bought that mulch that was on sale last year, I just look back in my garden journal to find the answers. This helps me keep organized and I even save some money.
Besides keeping track of what has happened in my garden each day, I also use my garden journal as a place to keep my gardening to do list, to dream of what I want to purchase and plant or of future projects. I note my purchases, what I plant, where I planted it, what is blooming, how much watering I am doing. I even note which birds and wildlife are visiting my garden.
My garden journal is very simple. I purchase a brightly colored, five-subject, spiral-bound notebook. I like the kind with the little pockets in the subject dividers. I can keep magazine articles, plant tags, labels and photos in the pockets.
My journaling process is simple, too. I get up a few minutes early each morning and record what I did or what I saw in my garden the day before. I also record the weather, how I am feeling and my gratitudes and blessings. On the weekends, when I can linger a little longer with a cup of coffee, I revise my gardening to do list or sketch out future garden beds. I like to use brightly colored fine tip markers in my garden journal. It makes me feel like an artist!
Best of all, I love to write in my garden journal while being still in my own contemplative garden or meditation space. The creative insights can really flow. My daily garden journal time in nature has become a daily spiritual practice for me. And a practical one at that!
Here’s to a great year of gardening in 2014!