Gardening Journals

     I really wish I had kept a journal last year so I could compare this spring's incredible performance to the spring of 1997.  Constantly amazed, I stare at all the flowers and foliage wondering, "How can the garden be so far along?  It's not even June yet!"
      I have begun keeping a record of when plants blossom, where I placed a transplant, and what's happening in the vegetable garden.  This journal will surely help me next spring when I can't remember where I planted the baby bleeding heart or the iris I got from a friend.  It will allow me to compare season to season, and it will hopefully give me a hint about the things I did right and remind me of my past mistakes so I won't repeat them.
      An added benefit of a journal is the relaxation it provides after a day of work in the garden.  I can slow down, sip a cup of tea, and reflect on what has been done and what still needs to be accomplished.  I get ideas for future projects and jot them down.  My margins are full of doodles and drawings of my garden plants.  I try to include new information I've gleaned from books and magazines.  Some of my musings are personal chastisement for wrong behavior in the garden, chief of which used to be reaching for the insecticide when I spied harmful pests on my roses.  I've now planted onions and garlic at the base of all my roses instead of spraying.
      Many stores sell pretty fabric-covered books filled with blank pages which would make a perfect journal.  I chose an executive notebook I found at a local grocery store.  I like its layout best.  It has spaces for page numbers, dates, titles, and a special margin I use for writing notes and new gardening information. 
      Grab your book and pen and start writing!  The time you spend keeping a journal will not be wasted. 

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