growers know
STARTING SEEDS
This section may be entirely overlooked if you will not be start-
ing any plants inside before planting them directly in the garden.
If, however, you want to get a jump-start on the planting season,
you may opt to start some of your garden plants in seed trays
(or other containers) inside, for transplant later in the season.
Information that you may want to put in your garden journal for
future reference could include:
• The date(s) that your plants were seeded.
• The seed variety, supplier information, batch number, and
germination rate. This information may be useful to refer
to if you happen to have a crop failure or if there is any
kind of seed recall.
• The type(s) of containers seeded into, rate of seeding
(how many seeds per row, etc.) and the media used. If not
a commercial seed-starting mix, then include a list of
amendments used and quantities of each. This information
will be helpful if doing any post-mortem on seed types that
did not do well.
• Information about the growing space such as tempera-
ture, humidity, and direction it faces, or grow lights used.
Did you use other growing aids such as heating mats or
temperature sensors?
PLANTING RECORDS
any grower, hobbyist, or professional,
“ For
learning from our mistakes is part of the
garden journey throughout our lives.”
THE PLANNING PHASE
Why do you even want to grow anything? Are you looking to
recreate your grandmother’s back yard? Create an efficient,
clean, food system for your family? Looking to create inspira-
tion for your landscape paintings or portraits? Whatever the
reason for planting anything, it is worthwhile to write that
reason down, and it’s probably wise to do this in the begin-
ning of the journal. It will help keep you on track when making
later decisions. It may also prove to be a later sense of joy or
bemusement as you try and remember what it was many years
ago that you were striving to do with your garden space.
The planning portion of a garden journal should contain some
basic information about your growing area. Things to include:
• Historic date of last frost for the season.
• Elevation of your planting site(s).
• Direction(s) faced.
• Hardiness zone or other information about the average and
historic highs and lows in your growing area.
• Site conditions—this includes such things as soil type,
which is a good idea to have tested prior to planting, and
characteristics of the site (is it open, sunny, shaded, etc.)
• Knowing these facts will help to inform you on all of your
other planting decisions for both the current and subsequent
years, such as deciding which types of plants to select for
your garden or when to plant them.
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grow cycle
Now for the fun part. In this portion of your garden journal, record
all pertinent information about the plants you are transplanting
or the seeds that you are sowing. Note the following:
• Date for planting/sowing each type of plant.
• Indicate whether it was directly seeded, and if so, include
the same information as in the previous point above. If
transplanted, indicate where it was purchased from and
save any tags that may have come with it. By law, it should
indicate the original source and whom it was grown for. For
example, it may say “grown by XYZ Greenhouses for ABC
Garden Center 2017.”
• Where in the garden it was planted.
• How many were planted? This could be individual plants,
flats, rows, or whate ver measure seems appropriate.
• Any immediate post-planting care should be recorded such as
watering, fertilizing, staking, mulching, etc.
GROWING SEASON NOTES
This may be a matter of individual choice, but any treatment
or care given after the initial planting can be recorded in
this section. Depending on your plant choices and growing
conditions, this could be the shortest or longest section of
the garden journal. In this portion of the journal, include
information like:
• Growing season temperatures (lows and highs) by day,
week or month.
• Rainfall or other precipitation amounts during the growing
season. Any particularly unusual weather event, such as a
late or early season snowstorm, a tornado, flood, or hurricane
should be included as well.
• Amount, frequency, and method of irrigation.
• Any amendments or fertilizers used throughout the season
as well as their manufacturer, date purchased (they have a
limited shelf life) and rates of application.
• Just as with amendments, any pesticides used, whether
conventional or organic, should be recorded. Detail the
product used, its active ingredient (on the label), date used,
weather conditions, amount used, where it was used, target
species of concern, and manufacturer information on the label.