Garden record/journal

[Justjinn]

I am trying to source a journal/diary in which I can record my gardening activities. Ideally it would contain timely tips as well as having pages on which I could record what I have sown and purchased etc. If anyone uses one which they could recommend I would be interested.

[Shortie]

Hi Justjinn

My OH bought me The Daily Telegraph - Gardeners' Dairy and Yearbook. It had monthyl tips (on veg, fruit, greenhouse, flowers, lawns....) and then a decent chuck of space for notes each day. With a nice splattering of flower photos/descriptions of too

It's spiral bound with hard covers too... Not sure if that's the knid of thing you're after? I'm afraid I've not seen it before or since then but maybe you can contact

I think it was bought in Sainsbury's and it's printed by Crowley Esmonde Limited. I've had a look but can't see it on the next I'm afraid.... But then I'm not always the best with Google searches so you may have more luck? Also can't see an ISBN

Oh, and welcome!

[Justjinn]

Many thanks. Sounds ideal. I will try and source it now but will probably need to wait until the end of the year! Was yours a Christmas presie?

Thanks for the welcome.

[smallblueplanet]

We just write a journal in a notebook by date, but do try and keep an excel spreadsheet of seeds & plants we've bought and grown. Made the columns up with the sort of info we thought we might want from year to year.

Like taste, when planted, when flowers, when fruits, how many seeds left, when bought, etc.

[lyndap]

Welcome Justjinn,I don't have anything fancy.Purchased a hard cover A4 lined book from partners,and each year I draw out all my beds and as each item gets planted it gets marked on my drawing.Also write notes on how sown,size pots,what type and name of veg,and how it performs,germinates etc.Also can stick in info from gardening mags or pics, or whatever info you personally want. Phew,it keeps me busy anyway.

[smallblueplanet]

Have you covered it in sticky-back plastic too???

[Justjinn]

Thanks for the suggestions. It looks as though I will need to produce a 'do-it-yourself' version - at least for this year. I will wait and see if Father Christmas can produce anything to help.

[Nicos]

I'e got some spare toilet rolls and washing up bottle tops if you need them???!!!

Good idea what you are doing... So good to compare year to year...we are at least 4 weeks behind this year!!!

[lyndap]

Didn't think of sticky back plastic Manda Would need to be water proof if i took my journal out in this bloody weather (no, I'm not that sad, I don't take it out with me )Got plenty of loo rolls thanks

[Lesley Jay]

Justjinn I don't think a normal diary would have enough room per day to write everything down so I would go with Lyndaps suggestion of a A4 hardback book. Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall publishes a diary every year but I don't know if it would be big enough.

[Justjinn]

Thank you Lesley Jay. I have decided that it is the best idea.

[Justjinn]

For anyone interested I have sourced, I think, a useable planner. It is a hard backed, chunky, A5 notebook. It has 2 unspecified years of 'month per page' with a facing page for notes. Most of the book however is just for notes. There are no tips or memory joggers but I guess I can create my own. Being A5 it is not too cumbersome. It arrived this morning and looks promising. £4.25 from www.ktwoproducts.com

[Lesley Jay]

Justjinn is it the Garden Days Planning Book? I like the look of that. If it is okay let me know and I will buy one aswell.

[multiveg]

My dad had a lovely book with pages colour coded for flowers/veg/fruit/herbs. One page per variety with details of sow/plant/harvesting, etc. At the back, there were square grids to plot your garden/allotment. Haven't found another one like it though I have a number of gardening journals I picked up in charity shops:

Alan Titchmarsh's The Gardener's Logbook (published 1985 and with a picture of a rather young Alan!). In this, there are plans, grids to record weather records (rainfall, temp, etc), room to write about plants, greenhouse records - propagation (variety, sown, treatment, germination, pricked off, potted, compost, planted out, etc), crop records, etc... A nice one. The previous owner used mostly pencil, but there were a couple of biro marks.

Next is Gardener's Journal which only has room to write things under the months but is illustrated with line drawings of tools/veg/flowers and with pictures from old seed/bulb catalogues, mainly Sutton's (there's a lovely pic of Sutton's Magnum Bonum which they said was the best and heaviest cropping potato).

I also have Reader's Digests The Gardener's Yearbook, which is divided into weeks but there isn't much room to write details of veg cropping, etc.

A basic journal is Hessayon's one The Vegetable Plotter.