Garden Journal
Capture daily garden notes by bed and weather.
Overview
A garden journal is the difference between guessing what worked last year and knowing exactly when the basil bolted, when the aphids arrived, and what the weather did during the first week of fruit set. Daily notes, organised by bed and conditions, become a quiet reference you can flip through next spring when you are planning what to grow, where, and how much. The act of writing the entry also slows you down enough to notice things you would otherwise miss.
This tool gives you a structured but flexible journal: date, bed, weather, and free-form notes. Bed and weather inputs offer suggestions so you can stay consistent without forcing a rigid taxonomy, and a daily prompt chip at the top of the page rotates a reflective question to help you start writing when nothing obvious comes to mind. The current meteorological season is shown so seasonal entries are easy to scan later.
How it works
Add a journal entry by selecting the date, optionally choosing or typing a bed (such as "Raised bed A" or "Herb planter"), optionally describing the weather, and writing the notes. Notes are required and accept up to a couple of thousand characters of free text, so you can describe a quick observation or a long write-up of a whole work session.
If you cannot decide what to write, click Try prompt to insert today's reflective question into the notes field as a starter. The Try example button seeds a few sample entries so you can see the layout in action. Entries appear in a list with the newest first, and each one shows the bed and weather chips you assigned.
Examples
- Pruning day: bed "Raised bed A", weather "Sunny, 24 C", notes "Tomatoes flowering, pruned suckers and tied main stems to stakes."
- Pest watch: bed "Raised bed B", weather "Light rain", notes "Aphids on the kale; released ladybugs and sprayed neem in the evening."
- Quick observation: bed "Herb planter", weather "Cloudy, 18 C", notes "Basil bolted; pinched flower heads to extend harvest."
- Using the prompt: click Try prompt and today's reflective question lands in the notes field, ready to expand into a fuller entry.
FAQ
Do I have to choose a bed and weather?
No. Both are optional. Notes are the only required field, so a one-line observation without a bed or weather is still a valid entry.
Can I keep journals for separate gardens?
Yes. Use the bed field to distinguish locations, for example "Allotment row 3" versus "Greenhouse east bench". The bed suggestions adapt to your usage.
Is the daily prompt the same for everyone?
The prompt is deterministic per date, so everyone sees the same question on the same day. It rotates from a curated list of reflective garden questions.
Can I export my journal?
Not from this screen directly. The entries are stored against your account and can be deleted individually if needed.