There’s something about physically writing things down that helps me retain the information. I prefer not to depend on the tech side because I’ve had too many instances where my phone crashes or I have to wipe it without a backup and I lose my info😭. I have a 4 inch x 6 inch spiral notebook for my daily notes. I have a composition notebook with graph paper to do the drawing/planning. I have a medium spiral notebook that I’ve been writing down all the growing info on particular herbs(especially perennial) and crops and how to use them(medicinally, preserving, recipes, etcetera). Lastly I have a spiral notebook for the weather. Even though I jot down the weather in my daily journal, it’s easier to quickly find the date I’m looking for. Clearly I have a notebook problem🤣. Honestly though, it’s nice to have a reference for each thing so that I can easily find things. I learned this year to underline things like starting, transplanting, potting up, direct sown, etcetera so that they’re easier to find on the page(I have to work with my brain😅) when I want to look back at it in the future. I’m trying to get better on writing down little details that I think I’ll remember(shocker, I never remember). I’ll start documenting bloom times and bugs too, that’s a great idea! Thank you for all of the great suggestions!

I’m an avid gardener here in Hawai’i, and I journal, too. Yep, everything lol. Love your channel❤

last year I made a kind of calendar and wrote down which seeds to saw when. Made quite an effort. Then completely ignored it all summer . 😂😂😂

I knew a lady who had journals she started when she was 14 years old. She had them in her house! She registered all sorts of things from events, weather, temperature, rain, and snow. The local historical society got all of it when she passed and they are making a massive database based on her logs.

Hi Eli and Kate Thank you so much for taking the difficulty out of garden journaling, seeing an example of yours is so helpful. I hear a lot of gardeners saying do this but no examples 😖😖. Brilliant 👍🏾👍🏾😊😊

Love this! Thank you so much for sharing your templates too .... I hadn't thought to do basic outlines of my garden for each month in my spreadsheet so just having a bit of a mind exploding moment. Plus being a spreadsheet I can easily tweak the colours to my preferences & calendar gradient to suit my Southern Hemisphere location.

This video is Eli magic! Fantastic! I agree that garden journals are quite important for gardeners and learning from your own experience is key. I love that you show a garden can be so personalized.

I think a hybrid approach to garden journaling is probably the best option, IMO. You put your full schedule in a digital journal WITH ALARM REMINDERS on what needs to get done for that day. Each common task gets a category (Sow, plant, water, etc) and that's your garden schedule for the day. The paper journal has the same data but with observational notes.

I'm a chronic paper journal keeper so a paper garden journal bullet journal style works for me. I also include foraging notes and information about plants in my area and their uses. The journal works well for my freeform garden style too since my beds are not rectangular boxes. I can sketch my garden layout on paper easier than trying to do it on the computer. Always lovely to watch your videos.

Excellent video, Eli. I totally agree that garden journals are worth their weight in gold.

Loved this and pleased to say I started a journal this year for the first time. I take photos, print them out and plot my progress as the months go by and see what does well and what doesn't. Everything has changed so much in the last few weeks!

My garden diary is a must for me, keeping track of the daily weather, what I've sown, planted what worked, what didn't. To do lists, as my memory is awful. I also use my mobile to take photos of progress, which I keep on my laptop. Great for looking back on. Happy growing. Regards Hamish.

My grandfather started me with a little 5 year diary as my first gardening journal back in the 1980s. I now have a symbiotic analog bullet journal and digital Notion journal, as well as a Google Drive with Docs, Spreadsheets, and photos. I may not journal for days, weeks, or seasons even, but over the ~40 years, living in Wisconsin, Texas, and now Arkansas, I've gathered a lot of data, experience, and knowledge. I'm also a writer, so this is honestly the best way for me to process information. I love seeing how others journal, what they capture, why, and how. Thanks for sharing your Garden Journal, experience, and recommendations!!

Thank you for this... it reminded me to update my (poorly made) excel sheet with the compost/coffee grounds I put out and the fact I turned it (I want to get an idea for how long it takes to create a decent compost and what I do to get there).

Thanks Eli, my daughter bought me a lovely gardening journal for Xmas,instead of paper everywhere listing bits and bobs I've really utilised it like you. I'm literally doing all the good tried and tested then into a spread sheet etc to collate for my paper version that I'll take out with me.mine also Inc hints and tips from people like yourselves. Thanks for the extra ideas I can include like pests,that's definitely one I hadn't included bit super important. 👍❤️

Great video! I just started writing a garden journal this year at the suggestion of a friend. You're so right - I will never remember all the details of what I've done so far this spring, so I look forward to next year when I can look back and see what worked and what didn't, dates I sowed, etc.

I love your vlogs, you and Kate make alot of sence. and I'm trying to use your advice, but it's not easy, because of my wheelchair but I'm trying best, and the best advice you gave me was dream big, and that's what I'm doing, thank you for everything you and Kate are doing, Keep it up :D

😂😂 first 2 years I stop in the first 2 months, I find using my vlogs on KZfaq and calendar on my phone work best for tracking what I do in the garden and even in the house in winter when I start seeds. It’s easier to do a search in the phone calendar than searching in a book. But your so right everyone has a way and none are better than the other if they work for you and your needs. I like the video aspect of my garden because it allows you to visually view what you did at any specific time. Thank you for sharing hope you have a great week 🐝 safe ladies

Hello! I have never kept a garden journal but you’ve made me think what a good idea it would be. You play guitar too!! I think you should give us a song next week 🙏 🎶😊

I have been gardening for years. This is my VERY first year to keep a journal. Timing is something I am hoping to get better at. Also, I have learned some types are better than others. This last is to remind me what I planted where.... that is crop rotation.

Fab video 👍 I don’t keep a journal (at the moment) but found this really interesting. As someone who spends all day on a laptop at work I really like the idea of taking some time to write something down in a notebook as opposed to digitally on a phone etc…

What a Beautiful and clever garden. 🪴 😻

Thank you, I’ve been thinking about doing this again but have never kept it up for long so I’ve copied your version and hopefully will be more user friendly 👏🏻 liv e your videos keep up the good work 💕

I have little book that jot things down. Like last year I had awful broccoli harvest and a good friend brought me some crates so I can make a cage . It has come in hand

Great video Eli. Inspired me to continue journaling!

Thank you so much!

another helpful video thanks...

Hi Eli, I have a notebook I write notes in and its my bible, I put a list of to do jobs in my phone, so, when I go to the allotment I tick off as I do and if I dont get them all done, keep it on my list for next time I go 🙂 works for me. Thanks for sharing and take care 🙂

Loved this video! Thank you! I’ve only just started pottering around, but I have recently planted some seeds, so I’ll be digging out a notebook tomorrow and making some notes on what I’ve learnt so far! 💚

Thank you so much! I have been looking for a way to track my garden happenings. You just gave me an incredibly flexible way to do it. I’ve decided when it comes to planning I’m a paper gal but so many “garden journals” just don’t have enough room to write. I’m going to incorporate your planner pages and ideas into a discbound notebook. This is the first of your videos I’ve watched! I’m a subscriber now!

Love this, I keep a garden journal within my regular journal, this is my first year doing so. I have always tried to keep a "plan" type journal and it just didn't work for me. I love my paper format, it helps me process, but id love to add a digital aspect for pictures and time stamps in the moment.

I worked on my journal yesterday. I had to go back and watch my videos though to write info down ahahhaa.

Thanks!

Thank you very informative 👍I started off quite well this year but have already fallen behind going to try using my phone 😂

Thanks so much for your helpful guide to journaling. I use an A4 Binder/Folder with clear slips in which I put the current seasons paperwork - seed choice listing, dates of planting what list, garden plan where I have noted down where I am planting. I put these behind my seasons reference info. I write notes on the back of the paperwork for each season and improvements to make next time, which I read before starting the next season.

Thank you! The only thing I regret about my garden journal (thickest 3 subject bound notebook I could buy) is the information I did NOT write down. I find it so helpful to look back and track the progress of my fruit trees, seed orders, etc.. As a confirmed Luddite, I have not transitioned to digital garden planning and recording, and I will be sorry if I leave my phone out in the garden (have done with many tools, amendments, seedlings, etc.) and lose it to a sudden downpour. One section for planning, one section for log, final section is actually divided: Bokashi and leaf compost log front to back, and back to front is notes, vendors, gardening contacts, and annual events (which then move to the planning section as the year progresses). Got to change to an expandable format!

I find journaling really difficult it requires me to make a plan to do it and ummm yeah im a bit squirrel headed... I do have a seed sowing and harvest log though. I figure that's a start :D :D :D

This was our 18th year of gardening, and I sure do wish I'd been consistent with notes. I'm pretty hit-or-miss ... some years a lot of notes, some years none. My biggest problem is that I over-complicate everything. I guess another issue has been that we've moved every year or two until recently. (Single mom ... we're finally settled and now they are all married). A lot of info is really stuck in my head by now ... for example, I totally ignore our last expected frost (around April 15th) and use May 1st for all my warmer crops. This date never fails me. I begin succession planting cool crops around February 15th, but only a little until March 1st, just in case there's a really cold snap. I keep all of my seeds in planting date order ... each week has its own marked bag. This saves a lot of research. So, for the last 3 years, I've totally suppressed my perfectionist tendency and just wrote notes in my daily bullet journal. I think that's been good practice for me ... "JUST WRITE SOMETHING!!!" And I dedicated the back pages to record dates (when sowed, when sprouted, harvest dates, etc), harvest tracking, harvest season totals, fertilizing, and any other notes (including preserving recipes where applicable - like raspberry jam, elderberry concentrate, pear/apple butter, sweet potato stew). I THINK I'm ready to graduate to a perpetual journal so my notes are all together. That seems ideal. A weather tracker, monthly to-dos, monthly notes (when to clear and raise the Purple Martin houses, when to put out hummingbird feeders, when to prune or fertilize specific plants...). I still might keep the harvest tracking in my daily or maybe how I used to do it on loose paper on a clipboard hung on the fridge. We'll see. December is my usual time for getting the last year closed up, everything organized, and setting up the next year. Right now I'm still bringing in the last bits and cleaning up the gardens. Fertilizing, adding compost, cover crops, etc. The black beans and lime beans still need shelled and are taking up a ridiculous amount of my storage space. 😅 Thanks for the inspiration. ❤ Joanne in SW MO

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Have you every thought of writing a book . You would be brill …. And if you have could you reply and tell me ,because I will get one . All the best for the new year ,will keep following .