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You'll feel so smart next year when you pull out your garden journal, and know exactly what worked and what didn't, what you loved and what you don't want to try again. Perfect your gardening with every passing season using your trusty garden journal

• Step 1: Find a Notebook

  Get a notebook you’ll enjoy using, and keep a good pen with it, so you won’t have to hunt when you want to make a notation.

• Step 2: Keep Track of Garden Chores

  Jot down any chores you are doing in your yard and when you do them. Pruning, tool maintenance, seed starting, clean-up, re-organizing the shed, or anything else. It will give you a satisfying sense of accomplishment, and you’ll have a handy reference of what needs to be done, and when.

• Step 3: Catalog Seeds and Plants

  Keep a list of seeds you are ordering. How many, what varieties, and where they’ll go in the garden. Make room to note when you planted them. Are you starting seeds indoors? Using a cold frame? Artificial warmth or lighting?

  Also, make notes about new plants, where you put them, and how they performed. Did you like them?

• Step 4: Record the Weather

  Keep track of the weather. You don’t need a full report for every day, but it might be interesting to look back over the years and compare. Over time you’ll get a much better feel for your local cycles of wet and dry, frost dates, and other important data.

• Step 5: Use Pictures

  Draw a map of your vegetable garden, so next year you can rotate your crops. Rotating crops keeps soil healthy and balanced, as well as helping prevent disease spread.
  Include photos of plants and arrangements you want to repeat.
  Add pictures of ideas you want to try