Paper Bag Garden Journal

I used to work in a gift shop. My employer brought in an album made of several paper bags. It was her Mom's garden journal. It was put together with twine binding it together. Each page had really cute notes about her garden and it was filled with empty seed packages. She showed it to me, because I did a lot of crafts with seed packs in those days. Here are some directions to make an album.It could be changed to make more pages easily. I think this would be a cute project for grand kids to do.

I have some ideas for keeping a garden journal.

Here are my ideas with a little help from my friends.

Balisha's Garden Journal

DESCRIBE VISITS TO OTHER GARDENS- Friends gardens...garden walks...botanic gardens.

Record the date, garden's name or gardener's name-What flowers did you see?- Did you get ideas for your garden? Take pictures.

Garden GUEST BOOK

When friends and family visit your flower garden have them sign a visitor's guest page in your garden journal.-Record the date. Ask visitors to write comments about your garden! A friend of mine did this. She had friends names from years ago. This would be a good idea if you are young.

She also kept track of menus from dinners when her friends would visit. They signed the book after the meal. She could go way back and remember a good time with friends or family.

Reading RECORD

Keep a record of all the gardening books, magazines, gardening stories, and other reading material you have enjoyed reading to learn about gardening.-Note the name of the book and when you read it.-Keep track of ideas that you get from magazines. Cut out pictures and tape in the scrapbook.

PICTURES Take pictures of your garden at different times of the year; this is a great way to record how much your garden has grown, and to see how your garden looks from season to season.-Take a picture at the beginning, middle and end of each season. Than place them glue the pictures in order on journal pages to see how much your garden changes.-Take pictures of favorite flowers, insects, birds, wildlife, and anything else that catches your eye!We do so much of this in our blogs. We really have an online journal.

Garden Wish List..Keep a wish list page with lists of flowers to plant, or trade.This can be fun page about anything you dream for your garden! Then show the wish list to hubby and kids, so they have an easy time shopping for you. I guess one of my wishes would be a flower press.

COLLECT AND SAVE ITEMS FROM YOUR GARDEN Collect special items from your garden and keep in a storage area in your journal.-Flower petals; dry and save for crafts, or keep them in an envelope in your journal just because they are beautiful. Just make sure the petals or leaves are dried thoroughly first.-Save seeds from flowers to plant in your garden next spring.Place dried seed pods in envelopes and label with plant's name and date. Saving seeds is great way to be able to share with neighbors and friends who love to garden too! Keep flowers and herbs to press in a flower press.

These are all good ideas. I'm afraid that I haven't followed my own ideas. I have been doing pretty well with my garden blog and I do keep track of what I plant and ideas for the next year.

Balisha