To Do List Tuesday - Garden Notebook part 1

Updating and creating a "good" garden notebook has been on my list to do for quite awhile. I just wasn't sure what I wanted or needed in it.

Until now, my garden notes have just accumulated in a composition notebook. That's fine - everything is in one place. The down side is that it's not as organize as I'd like and it's hard to find something without having to page through it all.

Today, I sat down with a cup of tea, a few of my gardening books, and my laptop and put one together. I think I mentioned I'm a bit neurotic with organization - I like everything to have and be in its place. I think this notebook will allow me to do that.

I will put it in a vinyl 3 Ring Binder, use page protectors where appropriate, and dividers for the sections. The beautiful thing is that I saved it as a PDF and can just print pages as needed. I also have it as an open file so I can make changes and tweak things as I see the need.

The notebook is divided into 5 parts, detailed below:

Planning & Projects: pretty self explanatory. In addition to the forms I created, plant tracking (what was planted where), a project tracker, and planter design pages for box and barrel pots, this section will include graph paper for drawing plans.

Maintenance & Chores: I created forms for seasonal and monthly maintenance/chores with check lists as well as amendment/fertilization record page

Reflections: I have a choice of a weekly Observation/Note page or a week-at-a-glance page with daily details.

Plant Profiles: Annual, Perennial, Orchard, and Veggie - color coded

References where I'll keep images of planting charts, or plant identification charts and other reference photos.

That's my To Do for today. Let me know if you think I have missed something. I think the next notebook I need to tackle is for house and equipment maintenance. But that's another day.


Thanks for stopping by!