Happy New Year! For the past handful of years I’ve started the year writing out a long list of goals. Not really resolutions, but firm goals that I can physically cross off as the year passes. For months leading up to now, I’ve had the thought in my head that this year will be a great gardening year. I’m so tired of being disappointed in our garden the last few years. When folks ask, ‘how is the garden going this year?’ I’ve always answered a bit negatively. Not this year. This year’s going to be a good one.
A few of you have written in your comments that you were frustrated with this past year’s garden too. Let’s all leave those negative thoughts behind us in 2014 and let’s all make this a good gardening year. Maybe even the best gardening year ever? Is that too bold of a statement? Nope, let’s embrace it! The best gardening year ever!
To help keep us all motivated I’m going to make this a year long series. Keep your eyes out for the first Thursday of every month, when I’ll check in with you on our gardening to-do list. No matter if you only have one patio pot to grow in or an entire field to tend to, if we all stay motivated together, we can make this a great growing year.
Starting the Year with a New Garden Bullet Journal
To start the year off, I want to encourage you to buy a brand new gardening journal. Let’s leave the past in the past and begin fresh. This year I bought a brightly colored Moleskine lined journal. I like keeping my daily/weekly calendars minimalistic and these moleskin’s are perfect for that. They aren’t bulky or overly complicated, but they are well built which is perfect for when you are carrying though the garden with dirty hands.
We will be keeping our journal in the style of a bullet journal, which you learn more about in the video below. I’ve kept a bullet inspired daily calendar for a year and a half now and it really works well for me. I’ve started my Garden Bullet Journal with January, listing all the days and dates on the left hand page. I think this would be a good spot to keep notes on weather. On the right hand page I’ve started a list on what jobs we need to get done during the month. January is the time for pruning here, so you can see that roses, fruit trees and various other shrubs are listed.
Following these pages, we’ll put an entry in for each day we do garden work and what we did. Along with various growing notes. We don’t garden every day so we won’t have a daily entry, but on the days we do we’ll make a note of what we did and how things are growing.
We now have raised beds, which I have drawn a template for that we can trace onto the pages each month to visually record what is in each bed and how they are doing. The Moleskines have a back pocket where I can keep that template.
Things You’ll Want to Make Note Of:
In January, I suggest you start making these lists in your journal:
- Things to Do In The Garden in January
- Vegetables Your Family Likes to Eat
- Vegetables, Flowers & Herbs that You’ve Grown Well in the Past
- Pests, Diseases & Troubles You’ve Had in the Past
- Gardening Hopes and Aspirations
What else would you make note of in your gardening journal in January?
Happy New Year & Happy Gardening!
Interested in what other bloggers are doing to make this their best year ever?
1. How to Set and Keep Goals to Make This the Best Year Ever | Jen @ Girl in Garage
2. 15 Ways to Stay Organised at Work During 2015 | Elizabeth Harrin @ A Girl’s Guide to Project Management
3. How Personal Style Will Help You Achieve Goals Faster in 2015 | Cherene Francis @ Aura Image Consulting
4. Completing Those Unfinished Projects in the NEW YEAR | Angela Lerew @ Unexpected Elegance
5. 42 Ways to Practice Perfectly & Become an Expert at Almost Anything | Amy Garro @ 13 Spools
6. Easy Exercises to do on a Cruise Ship | Amanda Woods @ Adventures All Around
7. 10 Simple Ways to Eat Healthier This Year | Dawn @ Reveal Natural Health
8. 31 Days to a More Fabulous You | Julie Bonner @ Mom Fabulous
9. How to Make This the Best Gardening Year Ever | Kendra Spencer @ a Sonoma Garden
10. 5 Ways to Make this Your Best Monarch Season…Ever! | Tony Gomez @ Monarch Butterfly Garden
11. 12 Scriptures for Goals and Guidance | Julie @ Loving Christ Ministries
12. How to Build a Starter Emergency Fund in 30 Days or Less | Jackie Beck @ The Debt Myth
13. Family Verse of the Week Challenge for 2015 | Jamie Yonash @ Life is Sweeter By Design
14. Hot Work at Home Jobs for 2015 | Holly Hanna @ The Work at Home Woman
15. A Year of Intention | Hilary Bernstein @ Accidentally Green
16. 2015: Our Best Year Yet | Ashley @ Leaving the Rut
17. Create a Better Life Story | Bronwen Warner @ Tummy Time and Beyond
18. Get Ready to Get MDfit | Tom and Anne @ Eat & Be Fit
19. 5 Free Ways to Learn Something New This Year | Sarah Fuller @ Earning and Saving with Sarah Fuller
20. Healthy Leek Soup | Mirlandra @ Mirlandra’s Kitchen
21. Health Resolutions: Baby Steps to a New You | Ellen Christian @ Confessions of an Overworked Mom
22. 5 Ways Busy Moms Can Get Motivated to Work Out | Diane Nassy @ philZENdia
23. Be Prepared for the New Year | Jennifer Dunham Starr @ The Memory Journalists
24. 3 Steps to a Healthier Life in 2015 | Joe Goodwill @Average Joe Cyclist
25. New Year’s Resolution: Cook More Often! | Kim Pawell @ Something New for Dinner
26. I Should What? 28 Ways to be Happier | Karen Young @ Hey Sigmund
27. 9 Ways to Get Healthier In The New Year | Amy Maus @ Home and Farm Sense
28. In 2015 Resolve to Take Control of Your Money | Kristia @ Family Balance Sheet
29. Eucharisteo: A Year of Thanksgiving | Lani Padilla @ Simply Fresh Vintage
30. No More Tears at IEP Meetings: Make This Your Best Year Ever! | Lisa Lightner @ A Day In Our Shoes
31. Learn to Save Money on Groceries | Melissa Buckles @ Everyday Savvy
32. How to Achieve Your New Year’s Resolution – For Real This Time! | Michelle @ Dishes and Dust Bunnies
33. 52 Weeks to a Better You: Week 1 – Go to Bed Early | Mindi Cherry @ Moms Need to Know
34. Food Street: How a Community Has Joined Forces to Start a Street Farm | Sam Walker @ Bubble ‘N Squeak
35. Organizing Coupons with the Binder Method | Sara Steigerwald @ Sisters Shopping on a Shoe String
36. How to Make This Year the Happiest Yet | Shambray @ Shambray.com
37. A New Year, A New You | Sharon Rowe @ How to Get Organized at Home
38. 5 Ways to Get Paid for Losing Weight This Year | Anna @ Real Ways to Earn Money at Home
39. Tips for Successful Whole30 | Deanna Michaels @ From This Kitchen Table
40. 75 Ways to Be Healthier in 2015 | Maryea Flaherty @ Happy Healthy Mama
41. How to Make 2015 the Best Year Ever! | Jennifer @ My Boys & Their Toys
Bonus links:
Fashion Resolutions: How to Add Style to Any Outfit | Ellen Christian @ The Socialite’s Closet
Happy New Year Kendra! Thank you for a great and motivating post to start off the year (along with my little hangover
Happy New Year Kendra! Thank you for a great and motivating post to start off the year (along with my little hangover
What a great New Years post – thank you! I’m excited to start the journal and especially like the idea of keeping track of what is planted in the raised beds. The only other thing I can think to add is notes on the amount of sunlight each spot receives, since it changes throughout the year. Looking forward to the best garden year yet!
Happy New Year Kendra! I will be planting my first garden this spring (I’m in Sonoma too) and I will be following your blog for advice. I love the idea of keeping a gardening journal, what a great way to keep track of successes (and missteps). Woke up to frost this morning, and I am grateful that we took our Christmas tree lights and wrapped them around our citrus trees yesterday. Brrrrr!
Great to hear that you’ll be starting your first garden tcrisler. Hopefully you’ll find some tips here that will help you!
Here’s a bit of advice for having the best GARDEN ever: exaggerate the wins; forget the losses. LOL
I’ve learned through the years that I cannot control everything (does nature ever cooperate?), so I’ve learned to relax a lot and be happy with whatever my garden brings my way.
As a Master Gardener, I must also let you know to rely heavily on your ANR (Agriculture and Natural Resource) Agent and Master Gardener’s, they are here to help everyone. If you are concerned, Cooperative Extension has tested and can recommend organic alternatives to conventional gardening methods.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you all remain healthy, happy and prosperous!
Ha! Great advice Jody! Let’s ignore the losses this year! And thank you for the great resources too.
This is great. Marking my spot.
Thanks so much for sharing my post. Off to check out the others. Pinned & Tweeted!
I really love the idea of a garden bullet journal. I will use this as an inspiration for my garden notebook.
The template is inspiring! I’ve been racking my brain how to get vertical columns in my bullet journal without using dot or graph paper. I too am trying to make my baggage literally and physically lighter. Thanks for sharing.
How funny that I came across this post via pinterest! I was searching garden bullet journal. I just started keeping one, and was trying to find a way to intergrate the BJ and the garden journal. Now that I re-read this, I remember reading it when you published it, and remember thinking “wow, she’s so good- she records the weather!” I’m lucky if I remember to note when I plant seeds!
Did you do all 12 months consecutively, or did mix them in with your normal calendars?