It has come to that time of year where I look back at this year’s growing season now that it has just finished and reflect on how it went. Taking the time to review what worked and what didn’t work over the spring and summer is a good habit to develop, and it is a habit that I struggle with doing on a consistent basis. But the benefits far outweigh the time and effort it takes to do it.
The main reason that motivates me to keep notes on the garden is that it is a record of what I did and how I did it, which I can use to progress in my gardening skills faster and avoid making the same or similar mistakes in the following years. Ideally, it would be best to have a weekly or even daily journal where notes can be kept as the season progresses and then a space where a summary can be written of the gardening season in the fall or winter.
Another benefit of taking time to reflect on the growing season at the end of the year is that it is a way to keep a connection to nature when it is too cold or wet to be out during the winter. For me, living in Eastern Ontario, there is no outdoor gardening time from about the middle of October to sometime in April, so I find setting aside time to reflect on the garden a good way to break up the bleak days of winter and brainstorm some new things to try in the spring.
Writing notes on the garden also enables being better organised when the time comes in the spring when planting starts again. While it seems that winter can go on forever, spring does come again, and it is easy to be behind on seed starting or getting plants in the ground. As part of the end-of-season review, I like to write down some new ideas that I want to implement in the spring, and I am less likely to forget them if they’re written down. Also, it shows me where I need to do further research if needed.
Overall, I have found that keeping a garden journal is a really beneficial habit to grow and keep doing, regardless of how simple or in-depth it is. A garden journal can be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. For me, I like to have a small notebook that I keep with all of my seeds where I keep some simple notes and observations in.
The Heron and Rose 