I Made A Garden Notebook

I have wanted to make a garden notebook for several years now. I just never made time for it.  I usually make notes and lose them.

I start files each year on the computer and have some information saved from past gardens.  I save tags from plants I buy, but they are all mixed up.  After planting the onions yesterday, I threw the empty seed packets away, but then thought, I do not even know what I planted, so I took them out of the trash and decided to make the garden notebook.  I will keep track of what I plant and the dates.  The dates I plant outside.

I will take pictures of things as they grow and put in the book.  I think I will also keep track of how much I spend this year and keep receipts. I already had a notebook that was not being used. It was my daughter's that she bought for one of her homeschool classes and did not need it. If I was going to buy a notebook, I am not sure exactly what I would buy.  The cover could be decorated many ways.  I am not sure if the lined paper is the best choice.  The paper is thin.  I am not sure if I should glue things or use tape.  This will be kind of a learning year of how I want to make my garden notebook. I want to add more pictures to the cover. 

It was fun starting this and I can't wait to start adding things to the pages. 

What I Accomplished in January

It is hard to believe January is already over. I had a lot of fun beginning new things. This month I started a blog. I was not sure if I would really enjoy this, but I am and I think it is helping me with my diet.

I started collecting pins on Pinterest.  I now have 507 pins.  I am going to use these pins to help design the garden and use them for ideas to decorate and improve the house.

I made laundry soap, which was a big success. I am interested in how long the soap will last that I made.   I made the lotion bars, which I will be making more of those and that was a success.  I have started to crochet and this is addicting.  I love crochet!  I made a seed box, which is something I have been thinking of doing for a couple of years and I am so glad that I did.  I am also happy about the weight loss so far.  I lost 4.8 pounds for the month of January. I am motivated and I have started exercising, so all in all, January was a great month.  Thank you for following so far and see you in February! 

Organizing My Seeds

I have read a few articles lately about people organizing their garden seeds. I have just started ordering mine and after trying to look through all my seeds and finding out how unorganized everything was, I decided to design a seed box for myself.

My old boxes of seeds. 

I went to the store and found a clear plastic box that was $1.50

and shaped the size of a shoebox. I took all my seeds out and put them in piles - Basil - Broccoli - Cabbage - Carrots, etc. I had some large size index cards and I cut them so that they would fit in the box and allow the lid to close.

Sorted the seeds on the table. 

I have some large sacks of beans and peas that would not fit in the box and I am planning on planting them this year, so I just put them in a box for now. I also have 2 cans of nitro packed seeds from 1998. I have used some of the in the last 2 years. I will try some of them again this year. They were buried in the garage and I forgot that I had them or I would have used them years ago. 

Seeds put in the box. 

I have some other seeds that I did not want in the box right now. I am not going to plant melons for awhile or winter squash. I also had a lot of older seeds that I do not want to use, so I put those in a coffee can for now.

I found a picture of some hollyhocks on my computer and put it in Word and added the words My Seed Box, printed it out, cut it out, and taped it to the lid. All done and so much nicer than what I had before.

MY SEED BOX

What is left.