Your garden journal in October: 5 notes that save you time in spring

If you garden, you know the feeling: in spring you stand in front of an empty bed and can’t remember where the tomatoes grew last year or which bean variety did so well. October is a good moment to write it down – the main harvest is in, your impressions are fresh, and there’s time for a calm look back.

What grew where? The most important entry

Note for every bed which crops grew in it this year. This is the basis of any crop rotation: potatoes and tomatoes are both nightshades and share diseases and pests. So don’t plant them straight after each other in the same spot, and ideally leave a gap of three to four years. Also note whether a crop is a heavy, medium or light feeder, so you can plan next year what suits the soil. A simple sketch with bed numbers is enough.

Rate your varieties honestly

Write one or two sentences per variety: Did it crop well? How did it taste? Was it prone to disease? Varieties differ enormously, especially with tomatoes and beans. A short rating means that when you order seeds in winter, you decide from experience rather than gut feeling.

First frost and weather oddities

Note the date of the first frost, longer dry spells and heavy rain. In spring, also record when the last frost arrived in your spot. After two or three years you’ll spot patterns: when can you realistically plant out, and when is it still too risky? Your own garden is often a more reliable source than the rule of thumb about the Ice Saints in mid-May, because hollows, slopes and walls each create their own microclimate.

Harvest amounts and storage results

It doesn’t have to be accurate to the gram: a rough impression is enough – too many courgettes, too few carrots, pumpkins kept until February? For stored vegetables, also note where they were kept, for example in the cellar or in a box of sand. When you see what was left over and what was missing, you can plan more precisely next year how many plants of each crop you need.

What you want to do differently

Finish with a short list for yourself: two or three things you want to change next year – mulch a little earlier, plant the beans further away from the onions, leave more space between the tomatoes. Sentences like these are worth their weight in gold in March, because they have already made the decision for you.

Your knowledge stays in the garden

Whether on paper or digitally: what matters is that you do it while the memory is fresh. If you use Rootivo, you can record your observations in the garden journal and read them again in spring, before you sow the first seeds.