A Year in the Garden: A Guided Journal

As a plant geek, I’ve been journaling for years in order to keep track of weather and the success and failures of my plantings. I know, for instance, that we had very little snow last year and that it was much warmer than usual. I also keep track of when plants bloom, a big help when I am designing gardens for succession of bloom or creating vignettes that will bloom at the same time. The journal is also a place where I make notes about changes I want or need to make in the following year.

I was recently introduced to a lovely journal by the Montenegro sisters. They have a company called The Far Woods that sells their artworks to serve as educational tools and inspiration for reconnection to nature, food, and community.  

Illustrations for A Year in the Garden

Each page of the journal is decorated with drawings of nature, both flora and fauna. Divided by month and week, the journal serves as a reminder of what has occurred but also is full of timely prompts. For instance: Plants to start from seed; tools to buy, replace, or maintain; perennials to transplant, divide, give away, or compost; color combinations to create and which plants to use; wish lists; good design ideas from gardens of others that you can implement in your own; possible container combinations for this year; bulbs to order for fall planting. There are also several prompts about edibles: which ones to plant, how you will use them, recipes for them.

A reminder to decide which seeds you want to order and grow

The drawings are a joy and made me want to keep turning the pages to see what would appear next. Use this journal for yourself and your own garden or as a gift to other gardeners.

Montenegro, Nina & Sonya, A Year in the Garden: A Guided Journal, Timber Press, Portland, 2017.