In my post the other day about putting together a garden plan, I mentioned the garden scrapbook I usually keep with my garden plan, varieties I’m growing, and space for record keeping. In the beginning, I started putting together these journals mostly because it was fun, the plant pictures were pretty and it gave me something to do whilst pining for gardening season to actually arrive.
However, in the years since I’ve often wondered “what were my thoughts about that particular variety” or “why was it I did/didn’t want to grow this variety again?”. My garden journals have been an invaluable refresher on information I otherwise would’ve forgotten.
A reference guide for previous successes and failures
I’m not a big math person, but once upon a time, my teacher drilled it into my head that I had to show my work. That way, if I made a mistake I could go back and figure out when and where I went wrong. Conversely, if I did it right, I could reference the example for similar problems in the future.
Keeping a garden journal serves a similar purpose. If things aren’t going quite how I remembered, I can check back at my garden notes from previous years and figure out whether my tomatoes normally ripen in August or September (I never can seem to remember…or maybe due to weather, it varies ay yi yi). Or, when I’m itching to start seeds at the beginning of February worried that my plants won’t get big enough by Mother’s Day, I can double check my notes and see that starting them closer to March yields better results and saves space in the greenhouse.
What information should be recorded?
So, what things are helpful to record in a garden journal? Well, for starters, probably the most important record is what varieties you’re growing. Not all seeds are created equal and someday you’re going to want to remember what that perfectly red beefsteak on a super compact plant in your first garden was called (no I can’t remember for sure…I didn’t write it down). Or you may want a reminder not to grow that weird variety of cucumbers that were all shaped like upside down water balloons.
Then, you’ll want to keep specific notes about each variety you’re growing. This is particularly helpful for your top priority crops (in my case, peppers, tomatoes, and squash). Here are the note categories I track for my plants/varieties.
- Seed source:
- Seed age:
- What years I’ve grown the particular variety:
- Seed starting Date:
- Transplant date (to larger pots):
- Plant out date (into the garden):
- First fruit harvested date:
- Yield:
- Flavor:
- Would I grow again yes/no?
- Other notes:
Examples from my own gardening records
And here are the results of my record keeping for a few varieties as an example.
Premus Tomato
- Seed source: SSE Adapt Trials
- Seed age: 2023
- What years I’ve grown the particular variety: 2023
- Seed starting Date: 3/6/2033
- Transplant date (to larger pots): 4/1/23
- Plant out date (into the garden): 5/9/23 (grown in pot on patio)
- First fruit harvested date: Did not record
- Yield: low
- Flavor: Thick skin, average to poor tomato flavor
- Would I grow again yes/no? NO!
- Other notes: Stalky, healthy looking starts.
Cherokee Purple Tomato
- Seed source: Baker Creek / my own saved seeds
- Seed age: 2020, 2023
- What years I’ve grown the particular variety: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
- Seed starting Date: 3/6/2023
- Transplant date (to larger pots): 4/1/23
- Plant out date (into the garden): 5/10/23
- First fruit harvested date: Did not record (why do I always forget to write that one down?!?!!!)
- Yield: Excellent
- Flavor: Excellent
- Would I grow again yes/no? YES!
- Other notes: Prolific, highest yielding tomato variety overall
Since I usually grow 20 or so different varieties of tomatoes, you can see how this sort of record keeping is a very helpful reference from year to year. Obviously, I’m not going to bother growing Premus again, but I will probably always grow Cherokee Purple. And plenty of other varieties are somewhere in between. Some varieties I may initially think, oh that wasn’t that impressive I don’t know if it’s worth growing it again…but a few years down the road I may remember something I liked about it compared to other varieties I’ve grown since and give it another shot.
Getting practical with garden record keeping
While I enjoy the aesthetic of my garden journals, I think I may have to get a little more practical this year and keep my notes in a spreadsheet or something.
And one more item I’ll add to my record sheet for future reference: did I take a picture of the fruit? It can be really helpful to jog my memory if I have a picture. Besides, who doesn’t love pictures of garden produce?
Hopefully, this inspires you to keep records for your garden. If nothing else it’s a fun project to keep you occupied while there’s still snow on the ground and it’s not quite time to get the seedlings going inside.
