Keeping a record!

[vikkib]

Thanks everyone. I'm just as confused as ever!! As you know I am not an organised person but there's a bit of me that keeps trying to be I like looking back at what I did on the same day in previous years. Some days I need an A4 page - others are completely blank! I want to record the weather, wildlife, what's in flower, and these things spill over into what I did, who I met, what I ate...much like the drivel that spills out of me on here. My apologies
Maybe next year it will be an undated journal, so that I'm not constrained by a few lines in a conventional diary - or feel guilty if I don't write something each day!

Sounds to me like you need another blog!

[veggiechicken]

Don't go there Vikki I've started another 2 Blogs that never saw the light of day - and somethings I write I wouldn't want read

[Bren In Pots]

I use a loose leaf a5 folder I just jot down the name, sowing date, when it sprouts plus how the crop did and by keeping it simple so its easy and quick to do.

I have got a rather posh RHS Allotment Journal but its far to nice to write in

[horticultural_hobbit]

I do have an allotment diary thing. I tend to make a note of what was sown and on what date. Don't diligently write notes anymore...though what I do now is blog to share with the universe.

[Two_Sheds]

I have an A5 diary which goes back 8 years now, I just use it to record the weather mostly, or any unusual happenings (such as roses blooming on Xmas Day).

My seeds are all in a month-by-month organiser, so I don't have to remember what to sow, when.

All other "knowledge" is in my head, eg I know that I start my tender veg off in April under glass, so I don't need to write that down anywhere.
I started off making detailed notes of what varieties I planted, how and in what conditions, but these days I want to spend my time growing, not making notes.

[PyreneesPlot]

I have a diary for noting weather and temperatures and a brief outline of what I've done each day and also what we ate each day. The NGP days are very sad (No Garden Produce)
I also have a an index book for all the planting - date sown, germinated, harvesting started and finished. I also make notes of which variatie were best flavour wise and try to keep a note of yield on things like spuds, squashes etc.
Finally on the laptop is a spreadsheet of sowing dates to help me plan the year. 2012 I stupidly ignored common sense and stuck to the schedule.

[muddyfeet]

I've got a diary on blogger, which works for me. I've only been doing it for two years, but I label the entries so I can sort all the sweetcorn (or whatever thing you want to look at) posts together and compare that way.
My blog address is in my sig so have a look and see if it would work for you

[VirginVegGrower]

I keep a sowing record and a diary, plus my garden planning tool.

[frogga]

I use a week to view diary, it's kept up to date until April, however the rest of the year it's a mess. I'm going to make a spreadsheet for 2013 that has the prices of each vegetable at our local supermarket, and then every time we harvest we can see how much is saved over the year, any myself, girlfriend and daughter are all making guesses at the savings. Losers have to buy meals!

[Kaiya]

If it's not in my blog it didn't happen.............or at least I didn't take a photo of it.

This is me too. My blog is my record. I don't know about Feral but mine's a Wordpress blog. You can get hosted ones here - WordPress.com - Get a Free Blog Here - they have a search function so if I want to know how my garlic did in previous years I just search 'garlic' and skim through my posts. My blog has non-gardening stuff in too but I've had it since 2004 so it has a fair amount of data in it now.

EDIT I've tried gardening journals and actual diaries and notebooks and also the growveg.com thing, however nothing has ever stuck - I either forget I have them, forget to write stuff down, or only write in a sort of "I feel I should be writing something" way. There seems to be something about taking a photo that prompts me to update my blog too, so taking photos is a good incentive to maintain a record. Even if it's something like "Here's a picture of my frost burnt broad beans. [picture] Also today I harvested beetroot and leek" - i.e. one picture on one subject prompts me to update the blog, including info about things I didn't take a photo of too.

[arronb]

I started off this year using a diary of everything I sowed, planted and transplanted etc but soon chose to do an online blog and instead use the diary for more of sowing dates etc.

[Samurailord]

There seems to be something about taking a photo that prompts me to update my blog too, so taking photos is a good incentive to maintain a record.

I agree - I am often prompted to update my blog because I have a number of new pictures that I want to share.

I think that I tend to give a bit too much detail for the casual reader because my blog is primarily for me to use as a record of what I did and when.

Having said that, it is still great to look back over the months and see how much the plot has changed and how far some of the seedlings have come since they were planted out as I quite often don't appreciate how much growth has been achieved until I check back.

Andy

[BUFFS]

i am with FERAL007,i write nothing down as with our weather it wouldnt help,some years are bad ,some rubbish,some okay,and i go by the weather ,not the date,and i have a mental note of previous years stages and thats all i go by,i dont want gardening and growing grub to be all about writing,i want it to be the feel of a bit of sun on your back as you pick a crop,thats the dates to remember,but good luck to all the organised folk,i do admire the dedication...

[MartinRSharpe]

I have usually done a bit of a plan year on year and then just add stuff afterwards as space frees up on the windowsill.

With (hopefully soon) moving to the new house & garden I am tempted to start a blog to I can keep track of the changes I make via photos etc.

[Alison]

I can see why a blog is nice to look back on and see what you've achieved but I find it too unstructured to use for planning / recording and reviewing which I want in one place, hence the spreadhseet works for me - also I can pass updating it off as work without people noticing