Keeping a Gardening Journal

Successful organic vegetable gardening doesn't happen by accident. The three "P's" are essential to the process: planning, preparation and persistence.

You will enjoy higher yields and better results over the years by paying attention and keeping track of what works and what doesn't work in your garden. It's one of the things I love about organic gardening - it's a continual learning process. Some of the success in your garden depends on factors outside our control, like the date of the last frost, how much or little rain falls, extreme weather, temperatures and infestations. Yes, and a certain amount of luck. But we can do a little research to find out what grows successfully in our region, and so control what we plant. We can also have a lot of impact on the quality of our soil by testing and amending it, or by using raised beds and pots.

A vital element of organic gardening is maintaining a good supply of nutrients for your plants to take up as they need them. We provide nutrients organically to the soil by adding compost, mulch, green manure cover crops, mature or well composted animal manures, or mixed organic fertilizer. In this way, your vegetables will grow robustly, which will help deter pests and diseases. And having healthy plants will also provide you with bigger yields and faster maturing plants.

When you have a list of plants that typically do well in your region and growing season, and have tested and amended your soil to provide those plants with the nutrients they need, I suggest keeping that information in a gardening journal. Record what you plant, where in the garden it's planted, when and how. Add an entry whenever you need to in order to record what's happening in the garden. Next year refer back to that journal and see what worked, what didn't, and hopefully, why.
Happy Composting!