Keep notes each growing season to help you stockpile the knowledge you gain in the garden. Some gardeners may prefer a written journal, while others might want to type up their notes and store them in their computer.
Taking a moment to make notes during growing season can be very important.
Make a few notes concerning how each vegetable or herb is doing. Note the type of weather (dry summer or very wet?). Make a few sketches of what is planted where or take pictures. Do this every growing season. The notes you make can become a valuable resource and help guide you as you ready your garden for the next year. We all assume we will never forget, but time can erase some valuable information from our gardening memory. A few notes made now can keep that memory fresh.
Some things that you might keep track of are:
- Your favorite varieties and why
- How many pounds your picked. It is fun to weigh your produce over time a see how it adds up.
- When insects appeared or diseases appeared so you’ll know when to look for them again the next year
- Anything new that you didn’t have room to plant but want to try next year
- The date that you planted and when it stopped producing to help you plan succession plantings in the future
