Keeping Your Own Garden Journal

"The smaller the garden, the more vital it is to make full use of the space.  I garden organically and try to ensure the health of the soil and their crops using companion planting, rotation and observation.  No scheme is foolproof -- conditions vary radically in different parts of the country and from garden to garden; the weather will be unpredictable.  But I hope this journal will suggest and remind you of what to do when, wherever you live and whatever you grow.  Happy Gardening."

I was given Carol Klein's Grow Your Own Veg Journal as a gift recently.  I take notes of all sorts of things, but I hadn't considered recording developments in the garden; a record of things that work well and those that need improvement.  A scribing of the highs and lows that come with investing your time and energy into tenderly caring for plants through all conditions.

Wonderfully she has also included in this journal helpful reminders of what to consider in caring for you garden during different times of the year.  For example, next to the third week of October is recipe for Green Tomato Chutney.  What a great way to use those end of season tomato's that have given up home of ripening.

For November  she advises to pile up the leaves - "the most effective way to create rich, crumbly substance that adds humus to the soil so effectively.  The best leaves are oak and beech..."  But if like me you do not have any trees in your garden (or your neighbours for that matter) she suggest local councils can often provide road sweepings.

This journal was a great gift and I look forward to making notes of my garden progress...like the rocket seeds that I was able to save from my plants this year and will they sprout in the spring?!