every year I forget what I'm doing

[Flummery]

I'm the same Flum.......I rebel against spread sheets. Gardening is hands on for me now.........I've kept so many records in the past which were just a waste of time, paper and coloured ink! I vowed never to use them again.

I come from the Luke Skywalker school of gardening and tend to 'use the force'

If you use the force regularily enough the 'Force be with you' Lol

I do label EVERYTHING though

I knew there was something I liked about you!

[Alison]

Looks like it FF.I tried with the spredsheets as well but I must admit I'd rather plonk the stuff into the ground(work and weather permitting)and spend an hour outside than wasting the time at the front of computer.At the end of the day(or season)who cares if you put the stuff outide 15th or 20th of May?

It's not about whether I planted out on 15th or 20th but whether I sowed certain varieties of seed in March or May and which did best and if I sowed far too many or too few. I agree you can go overboard and if anybody is spending hours in front of the computer on a nice day then they've probably gone way over but 5 mins here and there saves me loads of time sowing too many / too few at the wrong time.

[ginger ninger]

A diary is useful if you are doing any kind of trial, eg one variety against another, one method against another.

If you only ever plant the same thing year after year, then a diary is of less use

I couldn't agree more TS, I've always wrote things down with regard to the garden I find it invaluable, if someone asks me how I grow a certain thing, then I can refer back to my note books (yes I have more than one).
I'm not going to publish them but hay...even Darwin had a note book.

[rustylady]

I've got one of those plastic organisers with a section for each month. It would be great if I remembered to use it properly

[annacruachan]

Every year the new year resolution is to make better records of what I have done in the garden. But like a lot of people with busy lives it gets to the point where the actual gardening gets so hectic that there just isn't any time to do the records. I am due to retire next year and I think to myself maybe then I will have time to keep a record, however even then I have my doubts.

Ian

Your doubts are well founded, Ian. It seems that, because I have time that I didn't when working, I try to do more - and end up with a record that peters out in July!

[northmaid]

Oh dear, seems like I've a long way to go to get as organised as others on the Vine. My first full year of lotty and I thought I was organised just by making out a plan of what goes where and updating for the next year! All my seeds are in an old fridge salad drawer kept in the cupboard under the stairs and I'm afraid in no particular order; I try to remember to look through once a week to see what I can start sowing but that's about it. Successional sowing is a hit and miss affair and I often forget to sow something at the right time (forgot to sow french beans entirely last year) and I haven't a clue what varieties I've grown. I do try to label things when planting out but either the label gets broken or the name is washed off or so mucky I can't read it. Note to self - MUST DO BETTER THIS YEAR. Keep telling myself that now I have a greenhouse I'll be better organised but .....

[vegnut]

As i dont get down to the lottie every day, it seems pointless for my needs to have a diary. So i use an A5 pad and just write in each page as and when i visit the lottie. This way i dont have 365 pages to look through and i use the book for following years untill i run out of pages. So date at the top then whats been done and how, also hilighting the seed type so its easy to spot at a glance. As for seeds per month, what a disaster. I tried that and to be honest, i may as well go through the seed box on each visit, i found that worked better for me. Each to their own i suppose. HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL

[Brengirl]

I'm terrible at organisation. I attempted to use my blog to keep track of what I did/should do and when - but I'm finding less and less time to update that these days.

I keep meaning to write a small diary/notebook but I never remember. I love pens too.

So do I, if only I could find one when I need it.

[Paulottie]

if someone asks me how I grow a certain thing, then I can refer back to my note books (yes I have more than one).

Those long winter evenings must just fly by.

[kate&rob]

i'm in the same state as most on here, constantly telling myself i must be more orgainised the next year. yesterday i actually got out my tin of seeds, all put into month by month bags, the ones that wash tablets used to get used for, i went through all my seeds and threw out all the out of date ones so i can't use old sed as an excuse for failure. i had more out of date seeds than in date ones, so my new years resolution is to be more organised and to stop hoarding old seeds.

[amandaandherveg]

My plans have gone completely out of the window as we had hoped that our new house would be finished by now so my time would be spent between the much smaller garden in the new house, the Walled Garden that I do with my friend Mariell and my elderly neighbour Jessie's garden (that I look after).

As we will still have to look after our existing large garden until the house is built I've pretty much decided that Jessie's Garden is going to be spud central (to keep things tidy and low maintenance). My OH is no gardener but he's mega fit and turns into a digging machine if you point him in the right direction, he will be drafted in/exploted more this year.